In 1929 Quinn was Eastern Oregon Normal’s (later Eastern Oregon State College) first head coach and the only coach the school had for 20 years. He coached three sports, many of those years without assistants. He successfully coached football for 20 years and continued coaching basketball and baseball for nearly 40 years.

An inspiration to his athletes, as well as a model coach, Quinn took Eastern Oregon State to three straight Oregon Collegiate Conference basketball titles, with his teams compiling a 451-417 win-loss record before his retirement in 1967.