![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gettyimages-2169493435.jpg\")
article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
DALLAS, TX – AUGUST 31: SMU Mustangs defensive coordinator Scott Symons looks on during warm-ups during the college football game between the SMU Mustangs and the Houston Christian Huskies on August 31, 2024, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, TX. <\/p>\n
DALLAS – The Dallas Cowboys have dipped into the college ranks to build their defensive coaching staff for 2026.<\/p>\n
A new job across town <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
The Cowboys announced the hiring of Symons on Friday. He will serve as the team’s inside linebackers coach.<\/p>\n
It’s the first NFL job for Symons. Prior to serving as SMU’s defensive coordinator, he worked as a coach at Liberty and Memphis.<\/p>\n
SMU saw success with Symons <\/p>\n
By the numbers:<\/p>\n
In his time at SMU, he was a three-time finalist for the Broyles Award, which is given to college football’s top assistant coach. In 2024, he helped the Mustangs reach the College Football Playoff for the first time.<\/p>\n
His 2025 defense finished fifth in the country in turnovers and 23rd in sacks. SMU finished the season 9-4.<\/p>\n
SMU has elevated Maurice Crum Jr. and Rickey Hunley Jr. to co-defensive coordinators to replace Symons.<\/p>\n
A revamped Cowboys defensive staff <\/p>\n
Local perspective:<\/p>\n
The addition of Symons marks the sixth external addition to the Cowboys’ defensive coaching staff.<\/p>\n
Symons will work under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who was hired in January to fix a Cowboys defense that was among the worst in the NFL in 2025.<\/p>\n
Dig deeper:<\/p>\n
Symons will coach games at AT&T Stadium going forward. His former employer will play two future games there as well.<\/p>\n
SMU announced this week that their 2027 matchup with Oklahoma and their 2029 matchup with LSU will be played at AT&T Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Source: Information in this story came from the Dallas Cowboys’ official website and SMU’s official website.<\/p>\n
Sports<\/a>SMU Mustangs<\/a>Dallas Cowboys<\/a>NFL<\/a>College Football<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article DALLAS, TX – AUGUST 31: SMU Mustangs defensive coordinator Scott Symons looks on during warm-ups during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[339,230,229,257,2461,7,48,6,4710,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-750843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-college-sports","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-dallascowboys","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-ncaa-football","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-smu-mustangs","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116067282482232727","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750843","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=750843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}