As expected, Dan Quinn’s dance card is filling up quickly.
The Cowboys defensive coordinator, fresh off his unit’s stifling of Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the postseason, is being approached by the Indianapolis Colts for their head coaching position, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.
The Colts finished the 2022 season with a 4-12-1 record under interim head coach Jeff Saturday. Saturday, the team’s longtime center with no coaching experience at any level, had been hired midway through the season in a surprise move after the firing of Frank Reich following a Week 9 loss to New England.
Quinn, of course, has great familiarity with current Indianapolis quarterback Matt Ryan. The two were paired for five-plus years in Atlanta when Quinn was the club’s head coach. The Falcons went to Super Bowl LI in 2016, Ryan’s second year under Quinn, and made the divisional round the year after.
Ryan’s status with the team for next season is unknown. Even though the 37-year-old is technically still under contract for 2023, the Colts’ new head coach would likely have a key role in determining Ryan’s future in Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis Colts have put in a request to interview Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, according to multiple sources. Quinn is scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos on Friday.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) January 17, 2023
A timeline for Quinn’s chat with Colts owner Jim Irsay and GM Chris Ballard is not yet known, but the 52-year-old coordinator is already set to meet with the Denver Broncos on Friday about their head coaching job.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Quinn’s upcoming interviews wouldn’t detract from the team’s short-week preparations for San Francisco this Sunday.
“Dan is the consummate, experienced coach,” Jones said Tuesday on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan. “Nobody relies on being focused at the game at hand, and no one has a better appreciation. His background, his experience there in Atlanta, there at Seattle. And so he is not going to compromise one iota anything that we’re doing with the Cowboys and what we’re doing this weekend.”
The Colts have a long list of candidates lined up for interviews. Eagles OC Shane Steichen, Lions DC Aaron Glenn, Rams DC Raheem Morris, Lions OC Ben Johnson, Broncos DC Ejiro Evero, and Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy are among those who have already sat down with the team. Additional prospects include Giants OC Mike Kafka, Giants DC Wink Martindale, and 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans.
Saturday is also reportedly in the running to keep the job on a full-time basis.
[vertical-gallery id=708960]
[listicle id=708906]
[listicle id=708989]
[lawrence-newsletter]