Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has become a hot head coaching commodity for the third offseason in a row.
Quinn is reported to have five head coaching interviews lined up over the next week, and it appears it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that the Cowboys will be able to keep Quinn from taking a job in three consecutive years.
There are plenty of coaches around the league and right here in Dallas who could take the job if it’s left vacated. Here are three names who could be in the mix if the Cowboys enter the market for a defensive coordinator:
Joe Whitt Jr.
Probably the likeliest in-house candidate for the job, Joe Whitt Jr. has been the secondary coach and pass game coordinator for the last three seasons in Dallas. This was also the 14th season Whitt has spent on Mike McCarthy’s staff dating back to when he was hired in Green Bay in 2008.
Whitt has helped oversee a secondary that saw the blossoming of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland into top tier NFL corners, and the team has improved its net yards per pass attempt allowed each of the last three years under his direction.
Mike Zimmer
A familiar name to Cowboys fans, spent 13 seasons with the Cowboys from 1994-2006, including 7 years as the team’s defensive coordinator. Zimmer was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings for eight seasons before he was dismissed in January 2022, and he’s been out of the NFL since.
Zimmer has experience successfully coaching both 3-4 and 4-3 schemes at a high level, and he has deep coaching contacts to fill out a staff should assistants follow Quinn out of town. Zimmer is well-regarded by the Jones family and is said to be looking to make a return to the NFL.
Jerry Montgomery
The first two names on this list have their expertise in the area of the secondary, but what if the Cowboys choose to hire a coordinator with a focus in the trenches like Quinn and Rod Marinelli?
Packers DL Coach and Running Game Coordinator Jerry Montgomery is a popular name in coaching circles. He’s only 44 years old and has developed a reputation as a player’s coach who develops toughness and physicality.
Montgomery joined Mike McCarthy’s Green Bay staff in 2015 and spent four seasons with him before McCarthy’s departure in 2018. Montgomery was one of the few coaches retained in Green Bay when Matt LaFleur was hired in 2019.
