Cowboys Defender Admits He Still Talks to Dan Quinn 'All the Time'

The Dallas Cowboys saw a notable piece of their coaching staff leave in the offseason as defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was named the next head coach with the Washington Commanders.

Quinn played an integral role in helping the Cowboys’ defense be one of the better units in the NFL last season, so his presence will be missed. That said, Dallas found a solid replacement for their defensive coordinator vacancy, hiring former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer.

Zimmer steps into a great situation in Dallas, where he has playmakers almost at all three levels on defense. One of those playmakers Zimmer will be leaning on this season is veteran safety Malik Hooker.

The 28-year-old defensive back has been in the headlines for his comments about Micah Parsons on the All Breaks No Breaks podcast with Keyshawn Johnson. However, that wasn’t the only thing Hooker said on the podcast. He also talked about the Cowboys having a new defensive coordinator and said something interesting about Quinn.

“Look, scheme-wise, it won’t be much of a difference,” Hooker said (h/t Heena Singh of Essentinally Sports). “We’ve had some success in this defense last year. Both coaches are gonna demand excellence, that’s for sure. DQ [Dan Quinn] definitely did that too – I love DQ; I still talk to him all the time, and he’s a big reason I’m even here in Dallas.”

If you are a Dallas fan, you can take solace in the fact that there won’t be a complete overhaul of the defense, which bodes well for Hooker and the rest of the players to build off the success they had last season.

At the same the time, it’s good to see Hooker still keeping in touch with Quinn as he helped get the former first-round pick back on the right track. The veteran safety only played in two games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020 due to a torn Achilles.

After his time with the Colts, Hooker landed an opportunity with the Cowboys in 2021 and has been a consistent playmaker in the secondary over the last few seasons. Last season, Hooker had 50 combined tackles, three pass deflections, a forced fumble, and a tackle for loss.

The Cowboys hope that the veteran safety can build off his performance from 2023 under new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

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