Broncos Request Permission to Interview Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, per Report

The Dallas defensive coordinator was a finalist for the Denver job last year.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn reportedly will interview with the Broncos about their vacant head coaching job after the team requested permission to speak with him, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday.

Since the Cowboys are still in the playoffs, Quinn is not allowed to speak with the Broncos until after Dallas’s wild-card playoff game against the Buccaneers next Monday. It’s unknown at this time if Quinn will speak with any other teams this offseason.

Quinn was a finalist for the Broncos head coach position last year, but Nathaniel Hackett ultimately was given the job. Hackett was fired Dec. 26 after posting a 4–11 record in his first season.

As of now, Quinn joins a list of Broncos candidates that includes Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, former Saints coach Sean Payton and current Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. 

Quinn has previous experience as a head coach, leading the Falcons from 2015–20. He was fired by Atlanta after an 0–5 start to the 2020 season. In those five plus seasons, the team posted a 43–42 record. The Falcons made the playoffs in the 2016 and ’17 seasons, including a trip to Super Bowl LI.

The 52-year-old Quinn has worked as the defensive coordinator in Dallas since the 2021 season. On one occasion in his first season with the Cowboys, Quinn stepped up to fill coach Mike McCarthy’s role when he was out with COVID-19. The Cowboys beat the Saints, 27–17, with Quinn in charge.