NFL Rumors: Cowboys’ Dan Quinn ‘Strong Candidate’ for Seahawks to Replace Carroll

In the wake of the Seattle Seahawks’ surprise move to part ways with Pete Carroll as head coach, they may be targeting Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as his replacement.

Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Quinn is considered a “strong candidate” to be hired by the Seahawks. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed Quinn is expected to draw interest from the Seahawks, “amongst others.”

Seahawks chair Jody Allen announced on Wednesday that Carroll will remain with the organization in an advisory role.

Carroll said multiple times after Sunday’s season finale he planned to return as Seahawks head coach next season.

“I plan to be coaching this team,” he told KIRO’s Seattle Sports (h/t ESPN’s Brady Henderson). “I told you guys that I love these guys and (this is) what I’d like to be doing and see how far I can go. I’m not worn out. I’m not tired. I’m not any of that stuff. I need to do a better job and I need to help my coaches more and we need to do a better job of coaching, and there’s a lot of area for improvement.”

Carroll has been Seattle’s head coach since January 2010. He’s the franchise’s all-time leader in games coached (227), wins (137), winning percentage (.606), playoff games (19) and playoff wins (10).

The Seahawks won their first—and to date only—Super Bowl under Carroll during the 2013 season. They also played in Super Bowl 49 during the 2014 season.

Seattle’s decision to move on from Carroll as head coach comes after the team wrapped up a second straight 9-8 season. The team missed the playoffs this year after being a wild-card team in 2022.

Quinn has been a popular head coaching candidate over the past two seasons. He interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos last offseason before withdrawing from consideration from any of those jobs to remain with the Cowboys.

The Seahawks would be a natural fit for Quinn if he chose to leave Dallas this offseason. He spent four seasons over two different stints in Seattle from 2009 to ’10 and 2013 to ’14. He was their defensive coordinator during the early days of the Legion of Boom team that helped the team defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 48.

Quinn is currently preparing the Cowboys defense for Sunday’s NFC Wild Card Round game against the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium.