INDIANAPOLIS — A turning of the tide is seemingly occurring within the coaching staff of the Dallas Cowboys, and the question is if it'll be enough, in 2026, to direct that water toward a field of dreams starved by a drought that's lasted three decades.
The hiring of Christian Parker to as the defensive counterpart of Brian Schottenheimer, and the intriguing construction of his staff, has invigorated the organization — from its front office through its coaching ranks and into the locker room (yes, already) — and that very much includes Will McClay.
"This has been an exciting deal for me, to see that staff come together," said the Cowboys VP of player personnel, speaking from the 2026 NFL Combine.
Few scouting departments around the NFL have been as challenged as McClay's over the past several seasons. Parker marks the fourth defensive coordinator hire in as many seasons, and with that comes not only new position coaches but, this time, an entirely new scheme; and that means McClay's work is to marry a scout's eye with a different coach's vision — yet again.
"All staffs are particular about what they want and what they do, but it's been a unique layer in the way that they say what they want, why they want it, and how it accomplishes that," McClay said.
He readily admits that amount of turnover can be an obvious challenge, but one he welcomes and, with Parker, one that ratchets up his adrenaline, thanks in large part to the latter's exceedingly high football IQ, along with his experience, both combined in a young mind with tremendous upside as a leader and teacher.
It's contagious, to the point that McClay, who began his coaching career in 1993 and, subsequently, his career as a scout and executive in 1997 — a three-time Arena League champion as a player, a former AFL Head Coach of the Year (2006) as well — finds himself learning and expanding his scope because of conversations with Parker.
"That, for me, is exciting because it helps me continue to grow in this position going, 'OK, yeah, now I understand a little bit more why some people used to have a strong and a weak outside linebacker,'" McClay said. "... It's unique, it's fun, and it's been a great opportunity to learn more about football."
One of the most consistent reasons being communicated by Parker and his staff as to why they chose to leave their previous roles for the Cowboys is "alignment", and McClay echoed the sentiment from the team's perspective as his scouting team works to find and provide Parker all the talent he needs to excel as defensive coordinator in Dallas.
Parker, speaking from his inaugural press conference, made it clear his vision for the scheme will never be more important than getting the best players and then building the scheme around them.
"You build it around players," Parker said ahead of the NFL Combine. "You have your core foundation of beliefs but … you wanna build a package that has versatility and scheme. … You wanna highlight it around their strengths."
As he digs in at the Combine, McClay does so with the exactly same thought process: players first, scheme second.
"You have to build a roster of the best football players," he said. "If you can build a team with the best football players that have the traits that fit any system, you have a chance to continue to have success. And then you add the spark plugs. Every defense and offense has an engine, and the engines are a little bit different.
"There's certain oil filters and spark plugs, but it's still an engine. You just gotta figure out what fits."
The work is well underway in rebuilding the defense for Parker, and McClay says things are off to the races in Indy as the two bounce ideas off of each other with the goal of landing on the same wavelength and growing each other in the process.
"If you have a good enough relationship, both of you might grow," said McClay.
And maybe, just maybe, the parched earth can again bear championship fruit in Dallas, but the seeds have to be planted. McClay, Parker and the Cowboys are all tilling the land this offseason with that reality in mind.
