Dan Quinn Won’t Be Able To Be Retained By The Cowboys
The job Dan Quinn has done for the Dallas Cowboys this season has been a thing of beauty that most fans have enjoyed. It may not last long as he will be a prime candidate for a head coaching job in the offseason.
Dan Quinn’s unit has been nothing short of impressive to start the season. They are currently seventh in the NFL in total defense, sixth in pass defense, third in points per game, and second in sacks with 15. His unit is the first Cowboys defensive unit since 1973 to hold their first four opponents under 20 points each game.
What has been more impressive than the stats has been watching the defense play out on the field. The front seven have been able to apply plenty of pressure on the quarterback as they are one of the best pass defenses in the league. While the secondary has not gotten as many turnovers as they did last year, they have been able to stop passing games.
2021 Dallas Cowboys Defense through 4 games: – Sacks, 9 – Takeaways, 10 2022 Dallas Cowboys Defense through 4 games: – Sacks, 15 – Takeaways, 4 — RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) October 4, 2022
The secondary has not allowed over 200 yards in a game this season through four games. On average, they are allowing 171 yards per game so far this season.
Dallas Cowboys passing yards allowed by week: 1. 195 2. 165 3. 169 4. 155 Avg: 171 yards per game. — Massey ✭ ✌🏻 (@TheJAMassey) October 3, 2022
Last offseason, Dan Quinn interviewed for six head coaching jobs including the Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Denver Broncos among three other teams. Quinn decided to pass on all those teams when he made the announcement that he would return as defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Part of it was he didn’t think he would be a good fit for any of the teams out there.
He has been brought up as a topic of discussion when it comes down to taking over for current Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy should he ever be fired. With the storyline dominating the headlines throughout the offseason and the summer, Quinn told McCarthy at one point that he would leave the team if it made it easier for McCarthy to coach the team. McCarthy declined his offer and wanted to bring Quinn back to coach the defense.
The Impact of Dan Quinn’s Success For The Future
The continued success of the defense for Dallas this season only means that Dan Quinn is going to once again be one of the hottest candidates for head coaching jobs this offseason. He has the love of his team and the players that play under him. That was made clear when Fox reporter Erin Andrews commented Sunday that Micah Parsons told her about Dan Quinn, “I’ll go where you go.”
When a once in a generational player speaks that highly of their coach, that goes a long way. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if Quinn leaves Dallas, Parsons will follow him. This speaks to more of what kind of player-coach he is and how any player would play under him.
It would be a massive surprise to see Dan Quinn coach the Cowboys’ defense next season as there will be plenty of head coaching jobs open for him to choose from. He’s shown that he can build great defenses and as a head coach led teams to the Super Bowl as he did when he was in Atlanta. It would instant success, but it took him less than three years to get the Cowboys’ defense to become an elite unit as they are now.
This will most likely lead to the Cowboys having to find another coach to lead the defense which will be devastating especially since they finally have someone who fixed their defense. There will be someone who will come along and be able to lead the defense to success, but none might be able to compare to Quinn. The job he has done over the last few years will be hard to match. This is why Dallas must take advantage of the success this year and make a run to win a Super Bowl with Quinn coaching one of the best defenses in franchise history.