Jerry Jones reveals Cowboys’ philosophical change that led to Christian Parker’s hire

To make a change, there must be reflection.

This is true for Jerry Jones. The Cowboys’ owner and general manager saw the failures in his defense during the 2025 season. He saw communication issues between the players and staff, and from within the staff.

Sure, the Cowboys traded star pass rusher Micah Parsons before the start of the season, but he didn’t envision his defense allowing a franchise record 511 points. Jones didn’t believe the best pass rusher on his team (Jadeveon Clowney) would arrive two weeks into the season and would now be high on a list of players the club wants to re-sign in free agency.

As the 2025 season progressed, Jones returned to the hiring processes of defensive coordinators Matt Eberflus, Mike Zimmer and Dan Quinn — former head coaches with years of experience calling defenses — to find out what went wrong during the season.

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All the reflection points led to the Cowboys hiring 34-year-old Christian Parker as their new defensive coordinator. Parker is the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history. He’s never called defensive plays before. He has seven years of NFL coaching experience.

Jones said the hiring process is what needed to change. A handful of coaches were interviewed each time the Cowboys hired their previous three defensive coordinators. After head coach Brian Schottenheimer was hired last January, Eberflus was picked 24 hours later.

Jones said his comfort level was high with hiring former head coaches and coordinators. But 2025 made him change that thinking.

“I spent a lot of time looking at the past, when I look at the coaching situation, a lot of times,” Jones said. “I do that on everything, frankly, that I can get my hands on. I’m not trying to be philosophical, but I did less of whatever I’ve been doing [in the past] and a lot more of what I am doing in this process.”

Jones interviewed more coaches. He relied heavily on Schottenheimer. He saw how Schottenheimer put together his offensive staff, not so much relying on people he knew but simply finding good coaches regardless of connection.

The Cowboys offense finished second in yards per game last season. It was the pulse of the team. Receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens each had 1,000-yard seasons. Running back Javonte Williams, like Pickens, had a career year by going over 1,000 rushing yards. Dak Prescott was the NFL’s passing leader going into the final game of the season before finishing second in yards.

The defense was a mess. Jones relied on Eberflus to hire coaches whom he knew. It was similar to what other coordinators had done. It’s easier to hire coaches to teach the defensive philosophies they know well. Jones said that needed to be changed moving forward.

“I probably put too much emphasis on their individual place in life, their individual place in the profession and should be more attentive to what’s coming out the box today,” he said. “And that is all that counts, is tomorrow.”

Another problem for Jones was the lack of flexibility when a change was needed on defense. Eberflus, a good coach, stuck mostly to what he believed. He made some changes, from simplifying the defensive plays in the secondary, blitzing more and calling the defensive plays from the coach’s box over the sideline. But the talent was also lacking in several areas.

During the 2025 season, Jones remembers meeting with the coaches and telling them the hard truths of what was occurring.

“It’s really unfortunate to have the kind of team, in my mind we could have had, and I think the obvious is the obvious,” Jones said.

In his chat with the coaches, he recalls saying, “We got a lot of things pushed out here with the Cowboys. None of it works if you can’t get them off the field on third down. All this stuff, pretty buildings out here [The Star], you’ve got to get them off the field on third down.”

After Eberflus was fired following the first year of a three-year contract, Jones remembered how past staffs were put together and finally decided to do something different.

“When you’re set up the way I am, that old mirror, that self-evaluation really is appropriate and has to be done,” he said. “My way of doing things doesn’t work if I don’t change. I’m not successful, then I haven’t [changed]. There’s no other way.”

During the hiring process, there were nine known interviews with potential replacements for Eberflus. It would have been 10, but the Atlanta Falcons denied the Cowboys an opportunity to interview defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

The finalists were Jonathan Gannon, Daronte Jones and Parker. Gannon was the only former head coach among them. Parker came highly recommended and from the Vic Fangio tree. Fangio’s defenses had stifled the Cowboys’ offenses over the years, whether he was in Miami, Denver or Philadelphia.

Denver Broncos defensive back coach Christian Parker during the NFL football team's training...

Parker was a teacher. He spoke to Cowboys’ officials about putting a staff together of fellow teachers, regardless of age or if they’d been head coaches elsewhere.

Jones said this might be the youngest defensive staff he’s had in a long time. Five assistants have been hired and there’s a chance the team might add an assistant with head coach or coordinator experience, but it’s not a must.

In Jones’ mind, the only thing that was needed was a change in the hiring process. Get out of the comfort zone in a similar fashion to the hiring of the offensive coaches.

“Schotty had that last year,” Jones said. “Certainly, the emphasis was more on his input because we had Flus and had that opportunity, who were on the same page with him. But I think this was done with last year’s success in mind with the offense and it was done in my mind. Well, how we’ve been doing it, hadn’t hit the mark. Let’s operate on a little different basis.”

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