FRISCO, Texas – Well, meet Christian Parker, the Cowboys next defensive coordinator. We did Wednesday afternoon. Press conference with his new boss, Brian Schottenheimer. On the side A good 40 minutes.

He might of just turned 34 years of age two months ago. If first impressions are meaningful, you’d have never known it if his ability to answer questions is any indication.

This guy doesn’t seem to just have removed the training wheels.

Can see why the Cowboys after going through as Schotty said some 40 Zoom interviews, and then bringing in the now former Eagles pass game coordinator for a formal, in-person interview, he knocked the socks off the Cowboys, and that includes owner Jerry Jones, co-owner Stephen Jones and certainly vice president of player personnel Will McClay, and anyone else upstairs or down the hallway sitting in.

Prepared. Insightful. Affable. Charismatic. No answers merely, as Brad Sham would like to say, salad dressing, you know, answers just to be answers.

When asked his own feelings after the extensive in-person interview, you know that feeling many of us have gone through when completing such a job interview in retrospect, he thought to himself leaving for DFW, “No regrets how I handled the process.”

Schotty said during the interview process, they asked Parker on the spot to conduct a “mock” first day team meeting address. Me went through a similar newspaper job interview request when told they wanted me to sit in “the slot” that night on the copy desk to lay out the morning paper by the sports editor who was a nationally known baseball writer on the side at The Sporting News. Probably had a lump in my throat, when I asked, “You mean me, by myself, on deadline?”

Schotty said Christian passed with flying colors. In fact, after being here like three weeks, he already has a nickname, “CP.”

He was asked if he sees his “youth as an advantage here,” being named a defensive coordinator in just his sixth NFL season as anything more than a quality control coach, having spent three seasons in Denver as the defensive backs coach and just two more in Philly as the pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach, then fast tracking to taking over a struggling Cowboys defense.

Parker deadpanned, “I don’t know, I’ve always been young, so (laughs), I don’t know anything else. I think work ethic and schematic diversity, in terms of who I’ve worked for (Vic Fangio twice), who I’ve been around and how I was raised, and that has to be an advantage of the staff we have hired and the collaboration more so than my age.”

Starting to sense what I mean?

Then there was the question about some of the young cornerbacks he’s raised, like Denver cornerback Pat Surtain II as a rookie in 2021, the eventual NFL 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, and then the likes of 2025 Eagles Pro Bowl corners Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell over the past two seasons.

Parker didn’t break his arm patting himself on the back.

“I think great players make great coaches,” Parker deflected. “I think when you are around talented players who love the game like you do and they are willing to put in that work; there is a happy marriage there when it comes to player development and challenges you as a coach.”

Starting to catch my drift? Sense what I’m sensing, and likely most everyone in the packed press conference room out here and those who will choose to listen to this 40-minute press conference, along with like another 10 minutes or so as he walked off the podium.

Now we’ll eventually get into scheme, some of Parker’s player analysis, more football meat and potatoes. Heck, it’s just Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras was yesterday. He’s only just met a few of the players, but as Schottenheimer went out of his way to say, “What’s been awesome to me is the excitement of our players. Our players are around a little bit . . . but there coming to see (Christian Parker), to be around. You see the excitement for Christian and the other staff and the connection that has already started.

“So, for me, that gets me excited, because again that’s what you want.”

Big picture: Says Schottenheimer, “This was a great hire for the Cowboys.”

Meaning, so far, so really good.