Wednesday saw the surprising news that Pete Carroll won’t return as Seattle Seahawks’ head coach for the 2024 season. That came despite Carroll saying after their final game Sunday and again on his radio show Monday that he hoped to continue in that role for a 15th year. But with Carroll out and shifting to an advisory role, focus has now shifted to who might replace it. And a lot of early reports there are featuring Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator Dan Quinn:
Quinn’s 2009-10 stint with the Seahawks saw him serve as defensive line coach and assistant head coach, while his 2013-14 time there was as defensive coordinator and defensive playcaller. He then was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-2020. Since 2021, he’s been the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, and his unit there produced excellent results this year:
And that had many prominent NFL analysts discussing how Quinn might be a good fit in Seattle, or in other head coaching jobs:
The talk about Pete Carroll being out as Coach in Seattle had really perked up lately as has him being moved into the front office. The name I heard connected over and over to replace Carroll – Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, former Seahawks DC
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) January 10, 2024
Big moves in Seattle with Pete Carroll leaving the sideline for an advisory role. I was told a couple of weeks ago to watch out for Dan Quinn as the new coach there. Was Seahawks DC in 2013-14
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) January 10, 2024
Of course, even if the Seahawks want Quinn for their newly-open coaching position, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get him. The Tennessee Titans (who made their own surprising coaching move Tuesday by firing Mike Vrabel, who might also get interest from Seattle) have also reportedly asked to interview Quinn, as have three other teams:
And with Quinn working for a team still in the playoffs, he can only do virtual interviews before Jan. 21. And if the Cowboys make the NFC Championship Game, he wouldn’t be able to do a second interview (virtual or in-person) until at least Jan. 29. So there are plenty of potential complications. But many are already discussing the idea of Quinn to Seattle:
Pretty clear that the #Seahawks will target "retread" Dan Quinn …and then they will win a bunch of games/championships..
— Chris Russell AKA the
! (@Russellmania621) January 10, 2024
We’ll see if the Quinn to Seattle talk leads to anything in the end. But it’s certainly interesting how much of the focus here has landed on him.
[Ian Rapoport on Twitter]