Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn could have summed up his commencement speech in only four words. But, as he told the 100th graduating class at his alma mater — Salisbury University — on Thursday, that would make for too short a speech.
So Quinn did deliver some remarks.
To conclude it, he delivered a knockout punch, using the aforementioned four words.
“Let it f—ing rip!” Quinn said, before walking away from the podium to applause.
Quinn — who along with wife, Stacey, received an honorary doctorate degree — implored the graduates to be aggressive and seize opportunities. Quinn has long worked with a mental skills coach, which has helped him over the years to channel any negative thoughts into positive solutions.
He told the students to turn any nerves into positive energy.
“Embrace all of it,” Quinn told the crowd. “I want to be really clear about this: The entire world is open to you. My wish and my hope for every single one of you is to not let the world change you. You go and change the world.”
At times, Quinn’s speech resembled what he’d tell his players. He wished the students an “abundance of success” but also said he wished them “some really hard-ass fights because that’s where the growth is, where you will learn and teach from — and where your superpowers will absolutely fully reveal themselves.”
Quinn told them about how after he graduated from Salisbury, where he played on the defensive line, he applied for 115 Division-I football jobs. He received no interviews.
“It may have changed my course, but I didn’t let it change my belief,” Quinn said.
