FRISCO, Texas – On Tuesday, the Cowboys released defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus after one year of calling Dallas' defense.
Now, the search is on for the team's fourth defensive coordinator in as many years. At their annual end of season press conference, Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones, COO/co-owner Stephen Jones and head coach Brian Schottenheimer outlined some of the things they're looking for in the next defensive coordinator.
"A teacher…" Schottenheimer said of what he wants from his next DC. "Someone that's a great teacher, a great communicator… I'm full of energy, and love what I do. I think someone that is passionate about football."
"The ability to take what's complicated information, what we ask our players to do in all three phases is complicated. We want guys that can say complicated information in a simple manner. And if I say something to you that you don't understand, I need the ability to say it in a different way, because how you learn may be different… I think that's the starting point for me."
Each of the last five defensive coordinators that the Cowboys have hired had been NFL coaches at some point in their career prior to taking Dallas' DC job. Will that be a prerequisite again this time around?
"No, it's not a requirement to have been a head coach," Jerry Jones said. "And yes, it's possible to have a first-timer."
That opens many more options up for the Cowboys, and Jones said they would cast a wide net in their upcoming search. That said, Jones appears to be wanting a change in the process with the same people, himself, Stephen and Schottenheimer, making the final call on this decision.
"The way we've done it in the past, that alone will cause me not to do it that way now," Jones said. "That simple logic, if whatever we've been doing to do it in the past, if we need to change that, that'll happen. That's what you have to do when you're making the ultimate calls. We'll make it the same way that we've made all of the calls around here on staff."
Just as the Cowboys are looking to be more flexible with their pool of candidates and their process, Schottenheimer wants a coordinator that can be fluid with his scheme and adapt to players' strengths.
"The best coaches, in my opinion, are flexible," Schottenheimer said. "So we're not going to pigeonhole ourselves and say, 'Hey, we have to be three-four, four down,' whatever it is… Good coaches take their players that they have. They've got an identity. They take their players and they fit their players into the model that fits what they do well."
The good news for the Cowboys? They feel like they've got some key defensive pieces that can be massive for their next coordinator. The biggest question they're looking to get answered is how that individual plans to piece the players together to create a strong unit.
"You want this guy to have a vision for how he's going to use [Quinnen Williams], how he's going to use Kenny [Clark], because we've made big commitments there, how he's going to use Osa [Odighizuwa], obviously [Donovan Ezeirauku] at the end. You got [DeMarvion] Overshown at linebacker, you got [DaRon] Bland, you want to see that vision and then the vision for how fast we can get two number one picks." Stephen Jones said.
"I'm not saying we're for sure going to pick defense. [If] CeeDee Lamb's sitting there again, you have to look at it, but we've got to see that vision for where you bring in two number one picks and get them contributing right away. I think that's going to be really key when we start to talk to these different coaches, what is their vision and how they're going to use those pieces."
The scheme and player utilization portion is just one part of the process too. Schottenheimer wants his coordinator to convey their plan to the players clearly, and get them to buy in to the new process and defensive identity that they'll play with.
"We're salesmen," Schottenheimer said. "When you're up there in front of the players, you're selling them on why what you're doing offensively, defensively, special teams, why it's going to work. And part of that's your personality, part of it's your ability to communicate."
"But when we cast this wide net to go find the right guy for this job, which we will find, no question about it, it's going to be the things that Jerry was talking about, but also the flexibility of, 'Hey, we can do different things,' because those are the things that when I talk with Jerry and Stephen, those are the things that cause us problems, the flexibility and some of the unknowns and things like that."
