Sharks fire Head Coach David Quinn

The San Jose Sharks have fired Head Coach David Quinn. Just a few days after General Manager Mike Grier told the media he had not made a decision on the coaching staff yet, he made a move.

“After going through our end of the season process of internal meetings and evaluating where our team is at and where we want our group to go, we have made the difficult decision to make a change at the head coach position,” said Grier in a statement from the team. “David is a good coach and an even better person. I would like to personally thank him for his hard work over these past two seasons. He and his staff did an admirable job under some difficult circumstances, and I sincerely appreciate how they handled the situation.”

In a post-firing interview, Grier reiterated he did not expect the Sharks to be a playoff team, but he wanted more.

Mike Grier explains the Sharks' decision to fire David Quinn pic.twitter.com/i4Dcl8qEL4

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) April 24, 2024

“The roster was what it was. It wasn’t a playoff team by any means. Like I said, I think they did a good job,” said Grier. “There were some things that I don’t really want to get into too much that we would have liked to have seen better … going through our process and digesting this and speaking … same as I did last year, kind of going through the process of evaluating everything, we just felt it was what we needed to do and get a new, different voice for the group where the group is now and what’s going to be good for the group.”

According to The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka, the assistant coaches, Scott Gordon, Ryan Warsofsky and Brian Wiseman will remain with the team until the new coach arrives. They will be allowed to look for new opportunities if they choose to do so in the interim.

Mike Grier says the Assistant coaches are still with the team for now. He'll allow the new coach to decide who he wants to retain. Those coaches can also decide in the interim whether they want to pursue other opportunities

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) April 24, 2024

So far, Grier has made no decisions regarding the coaching staff with the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL. Right now, John McCarthy is the head coach of that team.

Quinn served two full seasons as the head coach of the Sharks. He was hired just a few weeks after Grier took over as general manager. Quinn finished the two seasons with a 41-98-25 record.

Ray Tufts will not return as Head Athletic Trainer

As a bit of an afterthought, the Sharks also mentioned that Head Athletic Trainer Ray Tufts will not return next season. The announcement was made in the same news release as the one regarding Quinn.