Seahawks: Four coaches worthy of replacing Pete Carroll

Seahawks head coaching target: Dan Quinn

Bring Dan Quinn back home! Quinn, as most 12s know, was the defensive coordinator during two of the best seasons in Seahawks history, 2013 and 2014. The team went to back-to-back Super Bowls and won one of them. Before that, he had been the team’s defensive line coach in 2009 and 2010. After leaving Seattle before the 2015 season, Quinn went to coach the Atlanta Falcons and was highly successful during his first three years with Atlanta.

And that head coaching experience should come in handy if he winds up back in Seattle as the HC. There can be no doubt that Quinn is one of the best defensive coaches in the NFL over the last 15 years, though. Bradley’s Falcons teams suffered from a lack of quality and depth in the secondary while he was there so that hurt the defense overall. But twice his rushing defenses finished in the top ten of the league.

Quinn is currently the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. He has been the DC for two seasons. in 2022, Quinn’s rushing defense is 22nd in yards allowed but third in touchdowns allowed. And his pass defense has gone from 20th in 2021 to second this year.

The bottom line is Quinn’s teams improve after he is hired. Quinn is a pure defensive coach so he would need to make a smart offensive coordinator hire (or he could just retain Shane Waldron). But Quinn resembles a younger Pete Carroll in that he has previous head coaching experience and is a defensive-minded coach. Seattle’s offense should be good enough to win for several more years and with an improved defense the team could be a championship contender in 2023.