Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, is once again in high demand for various head-coaching positions. The Los Angeles Chargers made the decision to part ways with head coach Brandon Staley following a disappointing 5-9 start to the 2023 season and a humiliating 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15 of “Thursday Night Football.” Staley’s tenure with the Chargers included a 24-24 record over two-plus seasons and one playoff appearance, where they went 10-7 but lost 31-30 in the AFC wild-card round to the Jacksonville Jaguars despite holding a 27-0 lead in the first half.
In a similar move, the Washington Commanders released Ron Rivera, aged 62, as part of the recent “Black Monday” coaching changes. The Commanders finished the season at the bottom of the NFC East for the second consecutive year, concluding with a 4-13 record and an eight-game losing streak. Rivera led the team to a 26-40-1 record in his four seasons, with only one playoff appearance in 2020, where they won the NFC East with a 7-9 record but lost 31-23 in the wild-card round to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
#Cowboys DC Dan Quinn is in-demand as a head coaching candidate again: The #Panthers, #Commanders and #Chargers all put in requests to interview him, per sources.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 9, 2024
The Carolina Panthers, on the other hand, fired head coach Frank Reich in late November 2023, just 11 games into his first season. Reich’s short-lived tenure saw the Panthers at an NFL-worst 1-10 record. Interim head coach Chris Tabor took over after Reich’s dismissal, guiding the team to a 1-5 finish, including being shut out in their final two games. Panthers owner David Tepper also dismissed general manager Scott Fitterer on Monday.
Dan Quinn, formerly the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-2020, where he achieved a 43-42 regular-season record and a 3-2 playoff mark, notably leading the Falcons to the brink of their first Super Bowl title in 2016, has been with the Dallas Cowboys for the past three seasons. He was let go from the Falcons in 2020 after a 0-5 start to the season.