Wigan boss Steve Bruce is favourite to replace Ricky Sbragia as manager at the Stadium of Light.
“It would be foolish for us to jump in and go for the first name available,” said Quinn.
“There’s a process to be gone through and the main part of that process is identifying someone who is available and who will bring a different mentality, a mentality that puts the heart outside the jersey, so you can see the effort and commitment of the players.
“They would have to change the mentality in the dressing room, everything will rub off on that, so we need a strong character, hopefully with plenty of experience of doing that, who can spot a good player.
“We need people who will buy into being a Sunderland player, because we’ve made a few mistakes in the past.
“Someone who can lead, with a stronger, tougher mentality, who can make men out of the talented players we’ve got.”
