FRISCO, Texas – At the Cowboys' end of season press conference, one of the things head coach Brian Schottenheimer lined out in his expected qualities for a new defensive coordinator was someone who was a good teacher.
Dallas believes they have that now with Christian Parker, even despite being a first-time coordinator. So, what was Parker's teaching style that sold the Cowboys on his ability?
"I think you have to know the student first and foremost," Parker said. "You have to know who you're talking to. What might hit one player's brain is going to hit different than another. So being thorough, being detailed, being very clear and concise in terms of your messaging and when to correct, when not to correct."
Another aspect of Parker's teaching style is helping his players learn from failure and use it as a lesson for improvement.
"Sometimes players got to touch the stove," Parker said. "You just want to do it in a controlled environment. Just how to do that, the diversity of teaching, whether it's on the field, in the meeting room, Kahoot quizzes, physical quizzes, showing them video examples, having them teach in front of the room.
"There's so many different ways to kind of get in the weeds of teaching scheme, technique, situational awareness and really just want to expose players to as many different examples because it's going to hit everybody differently in terms of how they're able to learn it."
Just like Parker saying an important element to being a good teacher is knowing your students, it's ultimately the students that make a good teacher.
"I think great players make great coaches," Parker said. "When you're around talented individuals that love the game like you do and they're willing to put in that work, there's definitely a happy marriage there when it comes to player development."
"They challenge you as a coach. There's been plenty of players that you learn from them, whether it's how you taught them or things that might have done at a different stop or how they see the game between the lines. I think it's definitely some give and take when it comes to that. I was definitely blessed to have coached some of the guys in my past."
Evident by the hiring of Parker, Schottenheimer was pleased with his teaching style in the lengthy, but beneficial interview process that showed Parker was ready for this opportunity. That wasn't the only thing that stood out about Parker, though.
"What impressed me even more was when I saw him interacting through this process of going through the interviews for the position jobs," Schottenheimer said. "There was alignment he and I talked about before we offered him the job…"
"Seeing him through the interview process got me really excited about him as a leader, him being very comfortable having the hard conversations. That's what I am. I'm a person that loves having hard conversations. Again, the reason we wanted to talk before we decided to do this partnership was to make sure we could have those hard conversations. I think that's something from the very beginning that I felt great about."
One more portion of the defense the Cowboys feel good about is the staff around Parker. Dallas interviewed 40 candidates in this cycle, including nine for the defensive coordinator position, and feel their process has landed them a strong overall group with a process similar to how Schottenheimer assembled his offensive staff last year, where the Cowboys interviewed 30 candidates.
Even though some are inexperienced or just coming to the NFL for the first time in their careers, Schottenheimer isn't worried about having a greener group of coaches on defense.
"I think six of the nine guys we hired on defense have NFL experience," Schottenheimer said. "I think I go back to two things, energy and connection. I can see the excitement of our players. Markquese Bell was in today. DeMarvion Overshown came in yesterday. The guys are excited. They're excited about Christian and the staff that we've put together."
"We left no stone unturned in the search. A couple guys from college, a couple guys that have been coordinators before at different levels of football. At the end of the day, man, if you can teach and motivate these guys and get them to know you care about them, these guys have shown they will run through a brick wall for you. And I think that's what we're going to get.
Most importantly, Parker believes that the group he's hired can allow him to handle his additional responsibilities as a defensive coordinator, where he won't be able to spend as much time with the secondary, where he's been most of his career.
"I think it starts with the coaches that we've hired. I have a lot of confidence in Ryan Smith and Rob Muschamp in the secondary to drive the bus when it comes to that and the development," Parker said.
"Obviously, my eyes will naturally start there when it comes to it, and I'm going to have to fight the magnetic force during individual drills that will take me to the DBs and go somewhere else, but I have the confidence in those guys to teach and develop those players, and we're excited about that."
As for Parker himself, the fact that he's just 34 years old and in a coordinator role for the first time doesn't give him pause whatsoever, and his staff is a reason for that.
"I've always been young, so... I don't know anything else," Parker said. "I think that work ethic and schematic diversity in terms of who I work for, who I've been around and how I was raised, that has to be the advantage of the staff we've hired in the collaboration, more so than maybe my age."
