Dan Quinn —- what might have been —- for Cardinals

What happened two years ago during Dan Quinn’s 2nd interview in Arizona?

This past week the Las Vegas Raiders made one of the smartest moves imaginable by hiring Pete Carroll as their new head coach.

Here is the best reason why:

Since Michael Bidwill took over the daily operations of the Cardinals in 2013, he has hired 4 head coaches in 12 years, none of whom had ever been a full-time NFL head coach. Bruce Arians had some success as the Colts’ interim head coach and had helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl as their OC in 2008. Therefore, Arians was the most qualified of Bidwill’s hires, which could account for him having the most success in Arizona.

• Bruce Arians (2013-2017): 49-30-1 (.619) —- 1-2 in playoffs (.333) —- NFC West Title 2015
• Steve Wilks (2018: 3-13 (.188)
• Kliff Kingsbury (2019-2022): 28-37-1 (.432) —- 0-1 in playoffs (.000)
• Jonathan Gannon (2023-now): 12-22 (.353)

This past hiring cycle with a new GM in Monti Ossenfort, Michael Bidwill had an opportunity to tab a head coach with valuable head coaching experience. Curiously, on the same day as Bidwill’s and Ossenfort’s interview with Brian Flores (24-25, MIA 2019-2021), no sooner than Flores had left the building the Cardinals announced they were rushing Dan Quinn (55-47, 5-4 in playoffs) back for a 2nd interview.

Second interviews typically mean that the team and the head coaching candidate are there for the express purpose of hammering out the details of a contract.

There was some national speculation at the time that Dan Quinn may have been using the 2nd interview with the Cardinals as leverage in trying to get the Broncos to make him their hire —- just as it appeared Sean Payton’s one interview in Arizona was an effort to do the same.

Perhaps Dan Quinn never had any intention of signing with the Cardinals.

But what if Dan Quinn was keeping an open mind? He admitted to the FOX crew over the weekend that he feared he would never get another head coaching job in the NFL.

If Quinn did have an open mind, what might have turned him off about the Cardinals’ job? The Falcons hadn’t really ever been good for several years when he signed there and then proceeded to take them to their 2nd Super Bowl in franchise history. The Seahawks hadn’t really ever been good before, when as their DC, he helped them go to consecutive Super Bowls, winning the first of the two and coming within an ill-fated one-yard pass of winning the second.

Could the job offer to Dan Quinn from Michael Bidwill have come with conditions? Was Quinn being asked to:

1. Keep Vance Joseph as DC?
2. Commit long-term to Kyler Murray?
3. Accept a lowball head coaching salary?
4. Accepting a full scale rebuild in year one?
5. Some of the above?
6. All of the above?

The point is —- whenever a team has a head coaching candidate in...