After the Denver Broncos gave Nathaniel Hackett a second interview and then appeared to be in no rush to schedule a second interview with Dan Quinn, it became very apparent that Hackett was the favorite to replace Vic Fangio.
Hackett met with general manager George Paton for about 10 hours on Monday, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB. After news broke Wednesday that Hackett had scheduled a second interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver moved quickly to finalize a four-year contract with the coach.
Not long after news broke that the Broncos reached an agreement with Hackett, the Chicago Bears finalized a deal with Matt Eberflus to become their new head coach. Quinn had interviewed twice with Chicago.
After the Broncos’ and Bears’ openings were filled, Quinn confirmed that he will remain with the Dallas Cowboys for the 2022 season, which presumably means Denver and Chicago were his top picks (and/or the two teams seriously considering him).
After the Broncos fired Fangio earlier this month, Quinn was considered the favorite to replace him, but Hackett ended up being Denver’s choice.
Quinn, 51, starting coaching in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers as a defensive quality control coach in 2001. He spent four years in San Francisco before being hired as a defensive line coach by the Miami Dolphins in 2005.
While in Miami, Quinn worked with Broncos general manager George Paton, who was the Dolphins’ director of pro personnel at the time.
After two years in Miami, Quinn spent two seasons with the New York Jets before joining the Seattle Seahawks in 2009. Later, from 2011-2012, Quinn coached the Florida Gators’ defense before returning to Seattle as defensive coordinator in 2013.
In his first season coaching the “Legion of Boom,” Quinn reached the Super Bowl and his defense shut down a record-breaking Denver offense in a 43-8 blowout win. The Seahawks returned to the Super Bowl the following year but lost to the New England Patriots 28-24.
After an impressive tenure as DC in Seattle, Quinn wanted to reunite with Paton in 2015, hoping a team would hire him as head coach and Paton as GM. The timing wasn’t right for Paton, who waited until 2021 to accept a GM role with the Broncos.
Quinn opted to take the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach job in 2015 and he reached Super Bowl LI in 2016, but the Falcons suffered an embarrassing 34-28 loss to the Patriots after building a 28-3 lead in the third quarter.
Quinn went on to coach three more full seasons in Atlanta before being fired five games into the 2020 season. He went 43-42 as a head coach.
This season, Quinn served as the Cowboys’ DC. Before Quinn arrived, the Cowboys allowed the fifth-most points in the NFL in 2020. Under Quinn in 2021, Dallas allowed the seventh-fewest points in the league.
Quinn will now remain with the Cowboys for at least one more year, perhaps with an eye toward potential head coach openings in 2022.
