Dan Quinn committed to staying, building in Dallas despite head coaching interest

It truly cannot be. The Cowboys may have just struck incredible amounts of luck again this offseason following the reports that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is committed to building upon what he has established in Dallas.

According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, Quinn has committed to a Dallas return despite a massive influx of head coaching interest from other teams. This comes as a significant shock to the Cowboys community, as most believed he was certain to land a job. He has been interviewed by every team searching for a new head coach and recently had second interviews with both the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals. The Carolina Panthers are the only team to have filled their head coaching vacancy thus far with Frank Reich, so it is reasonable to assume that teams were still heavily interested up to now.

“This is big for us,” McCarthy said of how important it is to have Quinn back. “It gives us continuity. On a personal note, I can’t tell you how thankful I am. Clearly, Dan is in the position to be selective. I’m extremely excited about the decision.”

Quinn will likely be a serious head coaching candidate for the next several years as long as Dallas’ defense continues to improve. This presumably gives Quinn options as to when he wants to take a head coaching job and likely what teams he would like to work for. He has a choice, and the choice he made was Dallas.

It is clear that the players love playing for him. Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons even expressed how important Quinn is to him by saying, “I’ll go where you go.” Quinn has been given the reputation of a players coach, and it has followed him to Dallas.

The Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways with 33 over the course of the regular season and finished third in sacks. They ranked fourth in the league in scoring defense and 11th in total defense. Early in the season, Dallas struggled stopping the run but progressively got better as the season went along.

Quinn will enter his third season as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator following a six-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons as their head coach.