New York Giants coaching search: Ranking the candidates from Patrick Graham to Brian Daboll

4) Dan Quinn

Dan Quinn’s turnaround of the Dallas Cowboys defense this season has been remarkable, and is what has him on the shortlist for head coaching vacancies across the NFL, including the New York Giants.

Under Quinn’s tutelage, who led the Atlanta Falcons to an appearance in Super Bowl LI, the Cowboys finished last season ranked seventh in total defense and held opponents to just 21 points per game.

If the Giants settle on Quinn as their next head coach, former San Francisco 49ers’ defensive lineman Bryant Young, who played under Quinn in San Francisco and coached alongside him with the Florida Gators believes Quinn would import a uniquely collaborative effort to New York’s coaching staff.

“There’s a mutual respect and understanding,” Young told FanSided by phone last week. “You know he’s in charge, but it was never a big ego in terms of ‘I’m the head coach,’ it was always about ‘what’s the best way we can do this, and be on the same page?’ He was always welcoming of different opinions. He wanted you to understand it was okay if you had a different opinion. He welcomed that. He always wanted to make sure that every guy and every voice was heard, and that you felt relevant in the room. He brought that. Understanding, too, if we adopt an idea that it was ‘our idea,’ and we were leaving on the same page when we left that meeting.”