Morris County Native Flying High on New York Jets Radar as Next Coach

If the New York Jets have their way, Dan Quinn will be coming home.

The Morris Township native and current defensive coordinator for the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks is atop Gang Green’s head coach wish list, according to espn.com.

Quinn, 44, graduated Morristown High School in 1989 and, like so many other coordinators and assistant coaches throughout the National Football League, has bounced around for much of his career.

After coaching at William & Mary, Virginia Military Institute, and Hofstra during his college career for seven years, Quinn joined the defensive staff for the San Francisco 49ers in 2001. He spent a season with the Miami Dolphins, then the New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks before going back to the college ranks with University of Florida in 2011. Quinn went back to Seattle in 2013 where he helped orchestrate one of the stingiest defenses in NFL history.

But Quinn’s current success puts the Jets in a tough spot. No NFL team is able to negotiate or speak with coaches of other teams until his specific season is over. The Seahawks, fresh off Saturday’s divisional round win over the Carolina Panthers, have Quinn locked up for another week as Seattle prepares to host the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game.

Adding another wrinkle to the Jets game plan was the Denver Broncos parting ways with its head coach John Fox Monday, and reportedly wanting to interview Quinn as well, according to nbcsports.com.

The allure for Quinn to come back home is a big one, especially considering the Jets practice facility is just miles away from his native Morris Township in Florham Park.

“I had an absolute blast growing up in Morristown and all of the sports I played had a huge impact on me,” Quinn told Patch in 2014.

On Super Bowl Media Day, Quinn told Patch it was his Morristown youth and high school coaches who helped him become a team leader in his profession. See the video here.

Members of the Jets ownership team were prepared to fly out to Seattle last Saturday in the event the Seahawks lost, but clearly that wasn’t the case, espn.com reported. While a handful of other teams around the league have shown interest in Quinn to fill their coaching vacancies, the Jets have shown to be the most aggressive.