NEWSLETTER
While the Jaguars’ list of coaches set to interview to fill the head coach vacancy is a who’s who of who you’d want the Bears to be talking to if they were in the same situation, one prominent name is withdrawing from consideration.
Cowboys’ DC Dan Quinn will not interview with the Jaguars for their HC job during the two-week window in which HC interviews are allowed, per source. Jaguars requested permission to interview Quinn earlier this week.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 29, 2021
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn will *NOT* be interviewing with Jacksonville regarding its head-coaching opportunity. The Jaguars gig figures to be a plum job. It’s an organization with a young, potential franchise QB in place, a team with ample cap space, and room to implement a new culture. But maybe that job isn’t for everyone. As of right now, interviewing for it isn’t for Quinn.
To be clear, Schefter specifies Quinn turned down the chance to chop it up with the Jags during the two-week window in which teams that aren’t employing a head coach can speak to assistants on other teams. This leaves a window open for Quinn to possibly run it back after the regular season or once the Cowboys are eliminated from the playoffs.
It’s also possible that Quinn doesn’t have an interest in that job. Or perhaps he has eyes on another opening. Maybe even a gig that isn’t even available just yet. Heck, there is a non-zero chance Quinn is comfortable where he is and doesn’t want any head coaching job right now. Quinn is running the show as Dallas’ defensive coordinator. That Cowboys unit is rocking with a ton of young talent in a perennially winnable division. It is possible Quinn will continue to build that Dallas “D” and bolster his résumé for a head coach job down the line. I suppose it’s all on the table.
In a still developing head coaching market, it might be as important to note who isn’t interviewing somewhere as it is to point out who is taking interviews. This might be a hiring cycle in which assistants with previous head coaching experience get second chances. And in that case, someone like Quinn or Buccaneers DC Todd Bowles figures to be a person of interest. But whether the interest is mutual between coaches like that and teams remains to be seen. Although, I’ll admit I’ll show far more interest in Quinn as a Bears head-coaching candidate possibility if he agrees to wear his ball cap backward like he was Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993. Style points matter.
