When Dallas hired Christian Parker, I wasn’t exactly fired up about it, until I looked into his background.
I wasn’t overly excited because he is a 34-year-old who’d never called an NFL defense and taking over a unit that needs more than a patchwork to get going. Dallas needs someone to develop players, clean busted plays and keep this from becoming another one-year experiment.
We have all watched this show and dance routine enough. A new defensive coach walks in, talks about pressure and turnovers, and we spend the offseason trying to talk ourselves into the hire.
I wasn’t ready to do that again. Then I went back through the coaches who ran Dallas’ Super Bowl defenses and Parker started making more sense.
Cowboys History Changed How I Saw the Hire
Ernie Stautner, Dave Wannstedt, Butch Davis, and Dave Campo all led defenses during Super Bowl seasons.
We know those names now because of what came later, but it doesn’t mean each one arrived as some famous NFL coordinator everybody wanted.
Stautner built his reputation with the defensive line under Tom Landry. Wannstedt followed Jimmy Johnson from the University of Miami and got his first NFL coaching job in Dallas. Davis worked his way up through the defensive front. Campo climbed through the secondary.
Dallas didn’t always chase the hottest name available, but instead trusted coaches who were still moving up and gave them a defense before the rest of the league knew who they were.
I think that’s where I’m at on the Christian Parker hire.
He’s getting his chance because the coaches and players who have been around him knew he was ready for more, not because he bounced around collecting coordinator titles.
I think we can all get behind that aspect of it easier than another recycled hire everybody knows.
Parker Has Done Everything Except Call a Defense
Let’s not forget that Christian Parker is a first-time defensive coordinator, but I also don’t see him as some random young coach Dallas just pulled out their hat.
He spent the last two seasons coaching under Vic Fangio in Philadelphia as their defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator. Before that, he coached the secondary in Denver.
I care more about what happened to the players around him at those stops than how long his resume is.
Patrick Surtain II became one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean stepped into the league and played like veterans. All three became first-year All-Pros after working with Parker.
I’m all about that, especially with the young cornerbacks room the Cowboys are sporting this year.
Show me players who improved. Parker can do that.
It doesn’t prove he can run the whole defense, yet. Coaching defensive backs is one job, while calling plays, handling the front and fixing things after the first plan goes sideways is another.
Time will tell.
Minicamp Gave Me Another Reason to Buy In
Christian Parker talked about the defense at minicamp and, after hearing that, it helped me see why the Cowboys believe in Parker.
Parker walked into his first offseason as coordinator taking over one of the league’s worst defenses and has been talked about like he is supposed to help save the whole team. I think that’s a rough place to start, but Parker doesn’t see it that way.
We haven’t seen any meaningful full snaps or practices yet, but Parker seems to be comfortable and not swallowed up by the job in front of him. He had this to say on dallascowboys.com:
“You want to build a package that has diversity in scheme, and you want to tailor it to the players you have. Of course, you have schematic fits, but I think the really good players are the ones you can’t peg them into a certain scheme and that’s the only way they can play football. You want to have guys that whatever scheme they are in, they can be significant contributors, and then you want to highlight it around those strengths.”
As we all know, he has built his reputation on getting young defensive backs ready to play, and this Cowboys roster has several young pieces needing that help.
Give me a coach who can teach and get players lined up correctly. After last season, that would be a great start.
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