Sometimes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. That’s the feeling many fans of the Dallas Cowboys are feeling after seeing a couple of their former coaches advance to the NFC Championship game. On Saturday, the Washington Commanders shocked everyone with a 45-31 win over the top-seeded Detroit Lions. And then on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Los Angeles Rams 28-22. Just like that, two former Cowboys coordinators will be playing for the right to go to New Orleans and play in Super Bowl LIX.

Dan Quinn spent three years in Dallas. The Cowboys went from a franchise-worst 473 points allowed in 2020 to finishing top seven in points allowed in all three seasons he was here. His defense finished best in the league in takeaways in his first two seasons and they were one of the best pass-rushing teams in the league. From the moment he stepped foot in Texas, it felt like the clock was ticking and it was only a matter of time before he’d be a head coach somewhere else once again.

That time came this season when he went to Washington. His presence was immediately felt. With the help of a talented rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels and a new offensive coordinator in Kliff Kingsbury, the Commanders had their best season in over 30 years. They finished 12-5, which is the first time they’ve had over 10 wins in a season since their Super Bowl-winning season in 1991. Now, in just Quinn’s first year with the team, the Commanders are playing in the NFC Championship game.

Kellen Moore spent eight years in Dallas, three as a player and five as a coach. He was a QB coach in 2018 before taking over as offensive coordinator the following year where he held that title for four seasons. Moore’s offenses performed well, finishing first in total yards in two of his four seasons. Despite his success, the Cowboys opted to give Mike McCarthy more control over the offense in 2023, so Moore headed west to take over the play-calling with the Los Angeles Chargers.

This season, he joined the Philadelphia Eagles staff as their new offensive coordinator and helped Philly have one of the better offenses in the league. Led by a strong rushing attack, the Eagles continue to move down the field and are back in the conference championship game for the second time in three years.

It wasn’t long ago when both Quinn and Moore were on the Cowboys staff. At times we felt fortunate to have these two, but when the team fell short of postseason success, some fans got antsy. These two coached together for two seasons and both units finished in the top seven in points scored/allowed in each of those seasons. It was the first time the Cowboys accomplished such a feat in back-to-back seasons since the year they last won a Super Bowl.

Now, these two are helping two other NFC East teams advance to the Super Bowl and one of them is guaranteed to do it. Will it be Quinn as he keeps the Commanders’ Cinderella story going? Or, will it be the dreaded Eagles that make three Super Bowl appearances over the last eight seasons? Whichever it is, we know it won’t be Dallas and these coaches we once took for granted will be celebrating in some other team’s locker room.