Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator and former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn has received
interest from multiple teams for their head-coaching vacancies. The only two vacancies remaining are the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks.
Quinn is a candidate for both. He already had a second interview with the Seahawks last week and will have his second with the Commanders Tuesday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter joined the Pat McAfee show to talk about the coaching vacancies Monday.
“People have said here that they think [Detroit Lions offensive coordinator] Ben Johnson is going to Washington and Dan Quinn is going to Seattle,” Schefter said on the show. “I will bet you that at a minimum one of those is not right, at minimum, maybe both.”
When talking about the Commanders job, Schefter also added that they are “pretty impressed with [Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator] Mike McDonald, [Lions defensive coordinator] Aaron Glenn and [Ravens defensive line coach] Anthony Weaver, as well. And I think those guys are going to have a legitimate chance to get that job.”
Quinn has no prior experience coaching in Washington, but he does in Seattle. In his 20 years coaching in the NFL, four were spent with the Seahawks in two separate stints. The first came from 2009-2010 when he was their assistant head coach and defensive line coach under Jim Mora.
The second came in 2013-2014 as the defensive coordinator under Pete Carroll. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl in the 2013 season, which featured the league’s best defense (fewest points allowed per game), spearheaded by Quinn.
The 53-year old has led the Cowboys defense for the past three seasons, which has been a top-7 defensive unit each year under him. Dallas’ defensive line coach Aden Durde has been requested by multiple teams for their defensive coordinator job. Durde was with Quinn for his final three seasons in Atlanta, and could take another job or follow Quinn if he ends up with one of the two vacant jobs.
If both left, that would leave room for a former in-division rival to potentially fill Quinn’s defensive coordinator role.
“I am told that the Cowboys have some interest in potentially looking into [Ron] Rivera as their defensive coordinator if Dan Quinn leaves,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Sunday.
Rivera is 62 and hasn’t been a coordinator since 2010 after head-coaching stops with the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders. He’s been a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears (2004-2006) and the San Diego Chargers (2008-2010). The Pro Football Writers of America voted him Assistant Coach of the Year in 2005. He also won two AP Coach of the Year awards with the Panthers (2013, 2015).
