Over a two year period, there were three coaches hired directly from NCAA teams to become head coaches of NHL teams. Quinn was the last of the trio hired and he is the only one still employed.
NHL teams have always been leery of hiring coaches right out of the college ranks. The first was Cornell coach Ned Harkness who was a failure with the Detroit Red Wings in 1970. The most successful to make the jump was Badger Bob Johnson who was hired by the Calgary Flames from the University of Wisconsin in 1982. While Johnson had some success with Calgary, he guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 1991.