SAN FRANCISCO – On the red carpet at the 2026 NFL Honors, Cowboys were scattered all over the place. Dak Prescott is up for Comeback Player of the Year, Solomon Thomas for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and plenty more.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was in attendance as well, the first time he's spoken since the team hired Christian Parker to be their next defensive coordinator. He's the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history at just 34 years old, and was part of an in-depth search with nine candidates interviewed.
So, what was it that made the now first-time coordinator stand out to Jones?
"His communication," Jones said. "He's a natural teacher. He inspires you to listen to him, especially if you're a young player looking for him to give you something to make you a better player. All of those things really impressed everyone, and I'm real impressed with how he's working to get in and put the staff together as well."
The Cowboys' deep dive on defense didn't just go into their defensive coordinator. It also went into the rest of the defensive coaching staff, which is composed of both NFL and college coaches that all come from different places. That reminded Jones of how head coach Brian Schottenheimer assembled his offensive staff last year.
"This year wasn't necessarily a product of what we didn't do last year. I think it evolved," Jones said. "And so anything we could do that we hadn't been doing, opened my eyes a little bit more. That was the intent, and I think we've gotten there because these guys are really on the [same] page with each other, and they've all not necessarily coached together, but we had a lot of success with that with Brian Schottenheimer last year. He brought in a lot of guys on offense that hadn't really coached together, and was outstanding, so that's a good example."
Now that the coaching staff has their defensive leader, getting the personnel right is the next step. Jones and the Cowboys are looking for players that can make a difference on decisive downs and distances.
"I think you get off the field on third downs," Jones said. "This bunch can do it. We put a lot out there with the Cowboys, we put a show on. All of it gets a dim light on it if you don't get off the field on third down."
