Sources: Cowboys Want To Keep Dan Quinn; Ron Rivera As Coach Backup Plan?

Sources: Dallas Cowboys Want To Keep Dan Quinn; Ron Rivera As Coach Backup Plan?

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys' desire as it relates to Dan Quinn, sources tell CowboysSI.com, has not changed: If he does not end up locking up a new job as the head coach in Seattle or in Washington - he has a second visit in D.C. to start this week - the plan remains for him to return to The Star.

But if Quinn leaves? NFL Network is suggesting a game of NFC East "Musical Chairs'' in which his office here at The Star is taken by ... ousted Washington head coach Ron Rivera.

Quinn, the current defensive coordinator in Dallas, to Washington ... and Washington ex Rivera to Dallas? A compelling "trade'' of sorts.

Rivera has extensive coaching experience and defensive acumen, having been a Super Bowl head coach in Carolina and a long-time coordinator alongside that. In Washington, he may have failed in the end because former owner Dan Snyder simply asked him to do too much; Snyder, needing a public shield, had Rivera literally involved in almost every single aspect of running the franchise, including in the nickname changes.

We think of Quinn as a "leader of men,'' and it is true. But the same can be said of Rivera, whose career is highlighted by him leading the Panthers to three straight NFC South titles from 2013 to 2015 and a Super Bowl appearance in the 2015 season.

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It is fair to say that Rivera did change the Washington culture for the better, and he did end up winning the NFC East in the 2020 season (albeit with a losing record).

If Quinn leaves - and he's got steep competition in both Seattle and Washington with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald in play - the Cowboys could opt to promote from within. Quinn would likely want to take some assistants with him, but on the Dallas staff presently are Joe Whitt, Al Harris and Aden Durde, all of whom would be worthy of interviews.