Yes, the Dallas Cowboys hired Brain Schottenheimer as their new head coach, so we can get that out of the way, he has been here and clearly is not a new face.
Yet, if you have seen what they have done throughout parts of the rest of the staff, you will see they have hired some outside guys, and have one other in the building for an interview yesterday.
Sure, the hiring of Schottenheimer was weak and we all know that, but the staff does not look awful, still not great, but it is good to see some outside faces coming in to at least shed some light on a few things.
Matt Eberflus
Matt Eberflus is a retread if you want to call it that, but still comes from being out of the organization for nearly 10 years.
He spent seven seasons on Jason Garrett’s staff from 2011-2017 as linebackers coach and pass game coordinator.
Following his first stint in Dallas, Eberflus took his first defensive coordinator position with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018. He’d spend four seasons in Indianapolis before the Bears him to be their next head coach in 2022.
Let’s get this straight, he is not a good head coach, but as a defensive coordinator, he has a solid track record.
His defenses were among some of the best in the league at taking the ball away and defending the run, but ultimately couldn’t find ways to win games.
In his seven years as a defensive play caller, Eberflus’ defense ranked in the top half of the league five times and were top 10 in takeaways in six of those seven seasons.
With the weight of head coaching duties off his shoulders, focusing on the defense in a place he’s familiar with gives Eberflus a chance to prove himself as a defensive mind again.
Nick Sorensen
Now this hire is a bit of a gross one. Nick Sorensen is the former defensive coordinator of the 49ers, a role in which he was not good in.
He takes over as the special teams coordinator for Dallas, a job he had in Jacksonville in 2021.
He had an eight-year tenure with the Seahawks as an assistant special teams staffer and, later a defensive backs coach.
His third phase experience landed him the Jaguars’ special teams coordinator gig in 2021, although that only lasted one season. Sorensen was not retained when Jacksonville hired Doug Pederson, and he moved on to San Francisco as a result.
John Fassel had his fair share of problems, but he had some great times as the special teams coordinator. I just hope Sorensen can have some repeat success.
Klayton Adams
This was made official in the late afternoon Friday.
Dallas has had him in for two interviews, and we know that Brain is going to call the plays and be the head coach, so Adams would come here and be a behind the scenes type guy.
Adams joined the Cardinals staff after Jonathan Gannon was hired as their head coach in 2023. He spent the previous four years with the Colts as an assistant offensive line coach and tight ends coach.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said this week that the team is looking for a coordinator who is “outstanding” in the run game. The Cardinals finished seventh in the league in rushing yards during the 2024 season.
All three of these guys would be coming in from other teams, and that would be good for all of us fans to see, but I still don’t like the Dallas Cowboys head coach, and that is where it starts.
We will see how this season shakes out.