Getty Vikings HC Mike Zimmer
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is materializing as a “top candidate” to become the next head coach of the Denver Broncos, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora.
“The Denver Broncos are widely expected to part ways with head coach Vic Fangio and begin a coaching search this week, multiple league sources said, with several indicating Cowboys coordinator Dan Quinn will quickly emerge as a top candidate there,” La Canfora reported Saturday, January 8.
Quinn — who’s transformed the Cowboys defense into the league’s eighth-best scoring unit, allowing just over 20 points per game — is expected to be heavily courted during the 2022 head-coaching circuit. The 53-year-old already has drawn interest for the Jaguars’ vacancy. But Quinn, “having the time of my life with this group of guys,” turned down Jacksonville’s interview request.
“And so I just wanted to kind of be right where I’m at. It was nothing more than that or past that, so that’s where it went,” Quinn said January 6 on declining to interview, via DallasCowboys.com.
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Zimmer to Replace Quinn?
A carousel of sorts can be set into motion if Quinn, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, departs Big D for his second HC stint, and the Minnesota Vikings pink-slip embattled head man Mike Zimmer.
In such a scenario, the Cowboys would look into bringing aboard Zimmer as Quinn’s replacement, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who noted that Zimmer nearly filled the big seat eventually occupied by Mike McCarthy.
“Vikings ownership has been meeting on the direction of its football operation, and there’s a feeling that these will likely be Mike Zimmer’s final days in Minnesota,” Breer reported on Friday, January 7. “The fate of GM Rick Spielman is less certain, but there is an expectation among those in the industry that he’ll remain in some capacity (whether it’s his current one, or in an elevated executive role with input on picking his replacement).
“If Zimmer is out, the Vikings are another team expected to cast a wide net in their coaching search. Zimmer, for his part, could well land back in Dallas if he’s let go and Quinn lands a head coaching job somewhere. The Joneses have a strong relationship with, and respect for, Zimmer, to the point where had the Vikings pulled the plug on him earlier, he’d have been a leading candidate to replace Jason Garrett in Dallas.”
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Moore Interviews for Jags Job
On Friday (January 7), from the team hotel in Philadelphia, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore spoke with Jaguars brass regarding its search to succeed former HC Urban Meyer. The meeting was conducted via Zoom as Dallas readied for its regular-season finale against the Eagles.
Moore, like Quinn, should be a coveted commodity to franchises such as Denver seeking a culture change. However, the wunderkind play-caller has affirmed that his focus remains with his current employer and its impending playoff run.
“Oh, I think obviously that’s why you have agents,” Moore told reporters on January 6, via DallasCowboys.com. “They’re allowed to go through that process and I’m really just on Philadelphia and we’ll get to that when we get to it.”
He added: “I think those things will just pop up when they need to be addressed and I’m not too concerned with it right now.”