After being fired five games into the 2020 season, former Falcons head coach Dan Quinn has quite literally landed on his feet. Losing the first five games of the season didn’t discourage potential suitors for Quinn’s defensive expertise when he hit the open market last offseason. He joined the Cowboys and coordinated one of the best defenses in the league this season — one of the best turnarounds in recent memory.
Although the Cowboys lost to the 49ers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, teams are now lining up at Quinn’s door to make him their next head coach. Jacksonville extended an invitation for him to interview, which he promptly declined. Not because he is going to stay in Dallas; he rescinded the opportunity because the Jaguars are the most dysfunctional organization in the NFL. Quinn knew he’d have more bites, and he was right.
The Broncos are head over heels for Quinn — a report recently stated Denver is zeroing in on him. So much so that people believe George Paton — Broncos GM — has been interviewing candidates who are actually auditioning to be Quinn’s coordinators. The Vikings also confirmed they had interviewed Quinn for their vacant head coaching position. The Dolphins have an interview scheduled with Quinn on Thursday, and the Bears have an interview scheduled for Saturday.
It is hard to imagine Quinn won’t accept one of these positions. He’s one of the hottest names on the market, but another former Falcons coach is also garnering considerable interest this hiring cycle — Raheem Morris.
Morris, who was named interim head coach after the team let go of Quinn, has quite a diverse skill set as a coach. He has experience coaching on both sides of the ball, and much like Quinn, players love playing for him. The Vikings are the only team searching for a head coach that has interviewed Morris, but I’d expect more to come.
The Falcons were in the same position as these other teams last winter and came away with their guy, but it is still good to see Quinn and Morris as hot commodities. Let’s just hope one doesn’t get hired and terrorize Arthur Smith’s Falcons for years to come.
More must-reads: