{"id":680478,"date":"2026-01-16T00:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T00:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/680478\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T00:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T00:03:16","slug":"after-jerry-jones-hinted-at-changes-key-themes-emerge-in-cowboys-search-for-new-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/680478\/","title":{"rendered":"After Jerry Jones hinted at changes, key themes emerge in Cowboys\u2019 search for new DC"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tunnels of AT&T Stadium, after a home finale loss that felt like a death sentence for the 2025 season, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones <\/a>was peppered with questions \u2014 and he was enjoying it. He said as much after the loss to the Chargers on Dec. 21.<\/a> Even if you didn\u2019t believe his words, his consistent smile would tell you so. <\/p>\n

The questions, or \u201ccomeuppance\u201d in his words, were not only focused on a season that resulted in a second-consecutive losing record but also a conference title drought that has now reached three decades.<\/a> There\u2019s been a lot of change in that time, but one constant: Jones himself. <\/p>\n

Amid nearly 30 minutes of conversations with reporters, a comment Jones made about his decision-making moving forward stuck out. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you right now, one of the reasons that I\u2019ve enjoyed some of the things that work for me is because I will change, and I do change,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd I can make a decision, and I can make … one that is different from the ones I\u2019ve been making.<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m not afraid to change it up \u2014 at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 latest hiring process is proving it. <\/p>\n

The Cowboys\u2019 search for a new defensive coordinator<\/a> has gone distinctly different than recent ones. Last year, the Cowboys zeroed in on Matt Eberflus early. They interviewed the former Bears head coach and Cowboys linebackers coach early. They then interviewed only two other candidates, including Andre Curtis, who became the team\u2019s defensive passing game coordinator under Eberflus. Jones said he threw a party when they hired Eberflus. It looked like it wasn\u2019t a serendipitous celebration, either. <\/p>\n

Eberflus, who went one-and-done as the team\u2019s coordinator,<\/a> was the latest in a trend of defensive coordinator hires for the Cowboys. He, like the previous four defensive coordinators, were all former head coaches. That wasn\u2019t an accident. In theory, they possessed a personality trait that Jones admired. Reaching the top of the coaching world only to be fired should, in Jones\u2019 mind, create someone hungry to redeem themselves. He called it an advantage. <\/p>\n

After they fired Eberflus, Jones also acknowledged that focusing on a redemption arc might not be the best way to find a new defensive play-caller.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say to our fans: The way we\u2019ve done it, I assure you, that the way we\u2019ve done it in the past, that alone will cause me not to do it that way now,\u201d Jones said. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say they won\u2019t hire a defensive coordinator who was a former head coach. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, fired this year after three seasons, is among the nine candidates who have or will interview for the team\u2019s defensive coordinator job. Gannon could have an advocate on staff in Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who coached with Gannon in both Indianapolis and Arizona. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

If the Cowboys hired Gannon, however, it wouldn\u2019t solely be because he was a former head coach. Jones said at a news conference recently that they would be open to hiring a first-time defensive coordinator. <\/p>\n

Only four of the Cowboys\u2019 nine candidates have had defensive coordinator experience in the NFL. Outside of Gannon, it\u2019s limited experience, too. Zach Orr has been the Ravens\u2019 defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. Green Bay run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington spent one season as the Patriots\u2019 defensive coordinator in 2024. Charlie Bullen was the interim defensive coordinator for the New York Giants for just over a month. <\/p>\n

In addition, the nine interviewees are also younger coaches. Minnesota\u2019s Daront\u00e9 Jones, at 47, is the oldest. Orr, at 33, is the youngest \u2014 beating out Eagles assistant Christian Parker by just over half a year. The average age of their interviewees is just over 40. It\u2019s a far cry from what they showed in 2024, when they hired Mike Zimmer,<\/a> who was 67 at the time, and also interviewed former head coaches Ron Rivera and Rex Ryan. <\/p>\n

Instead of trying to find hunger in redemption, Jones and Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer<\/a> appear focused on hiring a potential candidate with a different type of appetite \u2014 a hunger to rise and establish. <\/p>\n

The Cowboys are still early in this process. They\u2019re scheduled to interview Covington on Friday. It\u2019s not known if that will wrap up their first round of virtual interviews. Eventually, they plan to trim their options and interview candidates further. <\/p>\n

The net they\u2019ve cast so far, however, indicates that Jones is willing to change this time around. We\u2019ll see if his hire cements that belief.<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the tunnels of AT&T Stadium, after a home finale loss that felt like a death sentence for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[1101,2886,230,229,257,2461,7,2883,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-680478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-brian-schottenheimer","10":"tag-cowboys","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys","13":"tag-dallascowboys","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-jerry-jones","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115901853004657889","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}