Dallas Cowboys assistant coach Dan Quinn, who is reportedly staying in Dallas next season, has been named the 2021 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America.
According to the Cowboys, Quinn's defense forced a league-high 34 takeaways and scored an NFL-best and franchise-record six defensive touchdowns in 2021, while also finishing second in the NFL in third-down defense (34.1%) and ranked seventh in opponent points-per-game (21.1).
Quinn is the third assistant coach in team history to win the honor. Dave Campo won in 1996 and Jason Garrett in 2007. Both Campo and Garrett went on to be named head coach of the Cowboys.
Quinn joined the Cowboys in 2021 and was reportedly named a finalist for the Bears and Broncos' jobs. Quinn was the head coach in Atlanta before coming to Dallas. He also served as defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks during their 2014 Super Bowl season.
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Dan Quinn
The NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Thursday Quinn notified teams he was staying in North Texas to try to bring a Super Bowl back to Dallas.
The PFWA also named Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as the 2021 NFL Executive of the Year and Titans head coach Mike Vrabel as the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year.
Earlier this week the same group named Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons the 2021 Rookie of the Year and 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year.