Just call him Mr. Popularity.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was run out of Atlanta just five games into the 2020 season, the most notable line item on his head coaching resume being the Falcons’ epic collapse in Super Bowl LI. But his 43-42 record on the sidelines there has been superseded by the remarkable turnaround he’s engineered with the Dallas defense, from most points ever surrendered before his arrival to the league leader in takeaways in one season.
It seems plenty of other teams are interested in seeing if Quinn can help them reverse their fortunes as well. Quinn has drawn interest from the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins for their head coaching vacancies, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The interview requests for Quinn now number four, after the Jaguars and Broncos also reached out to the Cowboys asking permission to speak with the 51-year-old New Jersey native.
The #Dolphins put in a request to interview #Cowboys DC Dan Quinn for their head coaching job, per source.
Four teams have sent out interview slips so far, and DQ is on all four lists.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 11, 2022
The Bears dismissed head coach Matt Nagy following a 6-11 season, Nagy’s fourth in Chicago. Nagy was the AP’s Coach of the Year in 2018. But the Bears also fired general manager Ryan Pace on Monday, meaning Quinn (or any other head coaching hire) would be walking into a time of significant turnover within the organization.
Despite closing out 2021 with a winning record, the Dolphins relieved Brian Flores of his head coaching duties on Monday as well, after three seasons in Miami. The club lost seven straight games starting in Week 2, but then won seven straight games before dropping their season finale.
The Broncos asked permission to speak with Quinn on Monday after firing Vic Fangio over the weekend. Jacksonville had requested an interview with two weeks left to play in the regular season, though Quinn declined to follow through with that meeting at the time.
When asked by Dallas media on Monday about the prospect of returning to the sidelines somewhere else as a head coach, Quinn maintained- as he has all season long- that he is content with the job he has before him trying to help the Cowboys advance through the postseason.
“I’m not trying to avoid it or to be coy. There’s just simply nothing to report on on my end,” Quinn said. “When job changes happen and coaches are let go, it’s a difficult time for them, their families, the assistants, the team, everybody that goes into that. So listen, it’s nice to hear if someone is interested. That’s not lost on me. I had a difficult 2020 season that didn’t go so good, so that’s not lost on me. But there’s really nothing to add on my end. There’s not a lot of time management or anything that has to go into mind other than just kicking ass and being right where my feet are. Hopefully we can just talk Niners today because that’s really where my heart and my head are moving forward.”
Whether Quinn’s heart and head see things differently as more teams come to call- or when the Cowboys end their postseason run- remains to be seen.
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