Dan Quinn is Off the Board as a Broncos HC Candidate

The Denver Broncos' hiring pool just shrunk.

For a second year in a row, a perceived favorite for the Denver Broncos’ head coaching vacancy in Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is taking his hat out of the hiring ring and returning to his previous job. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero broke the news. 

"Cowboys DC Dan Quinn informed interested teams that he is staying in Dallas, per sources. Quinn was a top candidate for the Cardinals’ head coaching job and also interviewed with the Colts and Broncos. But his heart is in Dallas and he wants to win a Super Bowl there.

#Cowboys DC Dan Quinn informed interested teams that he is staying in Dallas, per sources.

Quinn was a top candidate for the #Cardinals’ head coaching job and also interviewed with the #Colts and #Broncos. But his heart is in Dallas and he wants to win a Super Bowl there. pic.twitter.com/yl7gXtYIOv

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 26, 2023

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As Pelissero reports, Quinn was considered one of the top candidates for the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach as well as also having interviewed for the Broncos and Indianapolis Colts. Quinn has ties to Broncos GM George Paton, with the pair working together during a past stop at the Miami Dolphins. The defensive coordinator reportedly has long held a strong interest in working with Paton again, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. 

The fact that Quinn interviewed for the Broncos coaching position in back-to-back years and never even received a second interview is a bit of a head-scratcher on the surface. After reportedly not interviewing well for the Broncos’ head coach spot last season, per The Denver Gazette's Woody Paige, there were many who believed Quinn returning to Dallas this past season and fielding an impressive defense for a second year in a row would put him atop many teams’ head-coach wishlist.

With Dallas finishing second in Defensive EPA/Play at -0.087 and second in Defensive DVOA at -13.3% in 2022, as well as finishing third in Defensive EPA/Play at -0.089 and third in Defensive DVOA at -15.2% in 2021, many believed Quinn had shown enough as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator to earn a second attempt at being a head coach. 

Of course, Quinn’s tenure as Atlanta Falcons head coach fell off rapidly after the departure of Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator. However, the failure of that regime did not all fall at the feet of the team’s former head coach.

With Quinn returning to Dallas for a third straight year, the Broncos now likely set their sights solely on the only defense that outpaced the Cowboys this season in DeMeco Ryans’ San Francisco 49ers. With reports from a multitude of Broncos insiders indicating that Ryans is the team's current No. 1 target, the question will be whether Ryans is interested in the job. Or, would he rather return to Houston — the team that once drafted him as a second-round linebacker? 

While Ryans played for the Texans for the first six years of his career in the NFL, and Houston has more cap space and draft capital than the Broncos, perhaps playing for a more prominent franchise with the wealthiest owners in the NFL in the Walton-Penner group would intrigue him just as much. 

Also, it’s worth questioning the relationship between Ryans and the Texans’ ownership group, given the coach once sued the franchise over an Achilles injury he suffered. With Frank Reich landing the head-coaching gig with the Carolina Panthers and Quinn returning to the Cowboys, the picture for the Broncos is becoming clearer by the hour.

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