Kellen Moore will get 2nd interview with the Dolphins after Dan Quinn stays with Cowboys

It’s Kellen Moore’s second interview in Miami as he made their first cut.

There was good news for the Dallas Cowboys today as defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has decided to stay with the team rather than continue pursuing head coaching opportunities. For a moment it looked for sure the staff would remain largely intact, but new reports indicate that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore will be brought back in by the Miami Dolphins for a second interview to fill their head coaching vacancy.

The invitation is not official yet, but it appears that Moore remains on the short list for the Dolphins. This is something of a surprise. Quinn was widely seen as one of the hottest names in this year’s very active cycle of coaching hires. Interviews were requested by a reported six teams. He was linked with both the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos jobs, but both are going a different direction.

After the way the Dallas offense struggled down the stretch and in the Wild Card Round, many thought Moore had lost his attraction for teams. That apparently has not dissuaded the Dolphins. He is still just one of their possible options. but this is still the opposite of how most saw things going. In the video above, Ian Rapoport mentions that Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is thought to be the favorite for the Dolphins’ job and will interview again.

Quinn’s return means stability for the defense, but now the Cowboys face at least a threat of having to rebuild the offensive staff. Many fans would be all in favor of that at Moore took the brunt of the criticism for what happened on that side of the ball. Having to make a change would not be a guarantee of improvement, however. All such changes come with a risk of things getting worse.

With the number of names still in contention for Miami’s job, it is too early to get overly concerned. But just as things seemed to have calmed down for Dallas, here we go again.