With Dan Quinn gone to Washington, who will replace him as the DC of the Dallas Cowboys?

With Dan Quinn hired as the new head coach of the Washington Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys are officially on the hunt for a defensive coordinator.

Making the process more interesting is that coach Mike McCarthy is heading into the final year of his contract with no future guaranteed beyond 2024.

His charge in a make-or-break season is a deep run in the playoffs and possibly get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.

How much will McCarthy’s uncertainty impact the team’s ability to hire a defensive coordinator to help him get that done?

Names like former Commanders coach Ron Rivera and former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel are sure to pop up. And Rivera reportedly already has an interview set up next week.

A Cowboys source said nothing has been set up yet for anyone.

The top in-house candidate is defensive passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., but he is considered a top candidate to follow Quinn as the defensive coordinator in Washington.

Others are defensive line coach Aden Durde and secondary coach Al Harris.

All give the Cowboys an opportunity to retain some continuity with the Quinn-led units that garnered more turnovers than any team in the league over the last three years.

Of that group, Whitt would seemingly be the favorite.

He was Quinn’s top lieutenant in Dallas, coming here with him from Atlanta, and has ties with McCarthy going back his role as the Packers secondary coach.

Whitt said two years ago that it was one of his dream jobs when he got into the business to become defensive coordinator of the Cowboys.

But considering that the Cowboys will let the process play out with an interview reportedly on tap for Rivera next week, Whitt’s dream could be altered with the defensive coordinator gig in Washington and a future beyond 2024 by then.

Durde is also highly regarded across the league. The Cowboys received requests for permission from the Packers, Falcons and Los Angeles Rams to speak to him about their defensive coordinator positions.

And Harris is a favorite among his players in the secondary. He is credited with developing former 2022 fifth-round pick DaRon Bland into a All-Pro cornerback in his second year in the league, leading the NFL interceptions with nine, including a league-record five for touchdowns.

Harris played a key role in Trevon Diggs leading the NFL with 13 interceptions in 2021.

All three are also options to be Quinn’s defensive coordinator in Washington if they don’t get promoted in Dallas.

But as much as the Cowboys may like to keep the continuity of Quinn’s success, they also know adjustments to the scheme and improvements need to made.

The Cowboys defense routinely struggled in stopping the run, and even star edge rusher Micah Parsons said the unit was out-coached and out-schemed in the 48-32 season-ending loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC wild-card playoffs.

It is reason the team is also looking at external candidates.

Rivera, who recently interviewed for the Rams job, has experience as a defensive coordinator in addition to 13 years as a head coach.

He was the Chicago Bears defensive coordinator from 2004-06, including a trip to the Super Bowl in 2006.

He was also the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers from 2008-2010 before a nine-year stint as head coach of the Carolina Panthers. He was fired in 2019 and became a Commanders coach before being let go in 2023.