Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has had quite the last decade as a coach. He was the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and 2014 at the height of the Legion of Boom era, which got him the head coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015. Quinn led the Falcons to their second Super Bowl at the end of the 2016 season, which of course they lost to the New England Patriots in the infamous 28-3 collapse. Quinn stayed in Atlanta through most of the 2020 season, but was fired along with general manager Thomas Dimitroff after an 0-5 start. He has spent the last two seasons turning the Cowboys’ defense into one of the NFL’s best.
That last job put him back on the radar as a head coach, and Quinn had interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, and Indianapolis Colts. But per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, Quinn has decided to keep running Dallas’ defense, at least in the 2023 season.
#Cowboys DC Dan Quinn informed interested teams that he is staying in Dallas, per sources.
Quinn was a top candidate for the #Cardinals’ head coaching job and also interviewed with the #Colts and #Broncos. But his heart is in Dallas and he wants to win a Super Bowl there. pic.twitter.com/yl7gXtYIOv
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 26, 2023
In 2023, the Cowboys — who lost in the divisional round of the playoffs — had the NFL’s second-best Defensive DVOA, behind only the 49ers team that beat them in the playoffs.
It’s a big win for a Dallas team that has a lot of offseason questions to answer — starting with the future prospects of head coach Mike McCarthy.
Coaching is about the little things. Is it any wonder the Cowboys fell short?