Let’s just call them the Dirty Dozen shall we?
The Dallas Cowboys will begin interviewing candidates to replace Dan Quinn as the team’s defensive coordinator this week.
Some of the names have been confirmed — Mike Zimmer, Ron Rivera, and Mike Vrabel – while many others have been rumored to be in the mix. A few have been suggested only, but make sense.
At 60 years of age, is Mike McCarthy looking for a coach his own age? Does he want someone who has been a head coach – and could possibly be a mid-season replacement?
Or does he look for a younger coach with new and innovative approaches to the job?
Does it even matter what McCarthy wants? Or is Jerry Jones already looking for McCarthy’s replacement under cover of hiring the next defensive coordinator?
Here’s a look at the 12 most likely candidates to replace Quinn – who has moved on as the new head coach in Washington — this year.
Mike Zimmer
Zimmer was once the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys from 2000-2006. He served under head coaches Dave Campo and Bill Parcells.
He was a defensive assistant coach for Dallas from 1994-1999 before being promoted.
Zimmer was the defensive coordinator in Atlanta (2007) and Cincinnati (2008-2013). From 2014-2021 he was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
In 2022 he was a consultant at Jackson State in Deion Sanders’ final year there before moving on to Colorado.
Zimmer did not have an official football job in 2023.
Zimmer does have connections with Dallas – mainly within the front office. And his defenses were ranked highly for the most part.
More importantly, his defenses were very hard to run against.
And Dallas’ biggest issues on defense are centered up the middle at stopping the run and containing mobile quarterbacks.
Zimmer’s biggest downside is his age. At 67 years old, can he relate to – and motivate – a new generation of players?
Ron Rivera
Like Zimmer, Rivera is also in his 60s. At 62 years old, the same question of his being able to connect to younger players hangs overhead.
He has spent the last 13 seasons as a head coach – nine at Carolina and the last four at Washington.
The last time he was a defensive coordinator only was with the Chargers from 2008-2010.
His defenses were usually very good. And he would bring familiarity with the three NFC East division rivals.
Not to mention extra motivation to beat the Commanders and the man who replaced him.
Rivera was a linebacker and played for the Bears’ Super Bowl XX-winning team in 1985. He would likely revamp the Cowboys’ linebacker corps.
Mike Vrabel
Like Zimmer and Rivera, Vrabel brings experience as a former head coach to the table.
However, he’s only 48 and might connect a little better with his players. He’s also a former linebacker, like Rivera, and would revamp the room in Dallas.
Also like Rivera, he has won championships as a player – a total of three with the Patriots.
But he has just one year as a defensive coordinator – 2017 in Houston – under his belt before his six -year run as the Titans’ head coach.
A bonus? If he were to land the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator job, he might also be able to recruit Derrick Henry to sign in Dallas too.
Internal candidates
Al Harris
Harris has been the Cowboys’ Defensive Secondary coach since 2020. He was an assistant with the Chiefs from 2013-2018 before spending a year at FAU.
He has said many times that he has no interest in being a coordinator.
But he was a player with the Packers when McCarthy was the head coach there. He might be coaxed into the job if McCarthy wants him in there.
He’s also 49 and could have some new ideas on the defensive side of the ball.
Aden Durde
Durde has been the Cowboys’ Defensive Line coach since 2021.
The 44-year-old has never played a down of football in the NFL but was on the rosters in one way or another for the Panthers (2005) and Chiefs (2008).
He did play professional football for the London Olympians, Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils. He was an assistant coach for the Falcons from 2018-2020.
There has been talk of Durde as an NFL head coach in the making. Some time as a defensive coordinator would help his resume.
And he might be the young innovator that Dallas needs.
Joe Whitt Jr.
Whitt had been rumored to be a possible candidate. But he was named the Commanders’ defensive coordinator on Saturday, joining Quinn with the Commanders.
Dark Horses/Long Shots
Brandon Staley
Staley, at 42, just ended a three-year run as the Chargers head coach. In 2020 he was the defensive coordinator for the Rams.
Would Staley even be interested in stepping back into a coordinator role?
He might want to take a year off and wait and see if another opportunity presents itself in the NFL’s never-ending coaching carousel.
Wink Martindale
At age 60, Martindale is coming off a very messy divorce with the Giants as their defensive coordinator.
Like Rivera, he knows the NFC East well. And he would have added incentive to beat the Giants.
Unlike Rivera, Zimmer, and Vrabel, he doesn’t appear to have any interest in moving up to be a head coach.
He does bring some baggage from his past, being known to eventually grow tired of the team he is coaching on and engaging in disputes with his head coach.
That might be the kind of drama Dallas and McCarthy would like to avoid.
Ejiro Evero
The 41-year-old spent one year on the Raiders’ practice squad in 2004. He’s been a coach ever since.
He was the defensive coordinator in Denver in 2022 and served in the same role in 2023 for the Panthers.
Could he be lured to Dallas? Would he bring a new approach to the defense that would make the Cowboys take notice?
Jack Del Rio
His name has not been mentioned but, like Zimmer, Del Rio has connections to the Cowboys.
He was a linebacker in Dallas from 1989-1991. At the time, the Cowboys did not retain their linebackers and Del Rio left in free agency.
After his playing days ended in 1996, he became a coach.
In 2002 he was the defensive coordinator in Carolina. He was named the Jaguars’ head coach in 2003 and remained there through the 2011 season.
He spent three years as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator from 2012-2014 then three more as the Raiders’ head coach from 2015-2017.
After two years off, he was named the Commanders’ defensive coordinator in 2020. He was fired in 2023 in Rivera’s desperate attempt to save his own job.
Del Rio will be 61 in April.
Bill Belichick
Now, calm down. Even I doubt Belichick would step back into a defensive coordinator role after 24 seasons as a head coach.
But he’s currently unemployed and he is out there. At 72 years old though, he is nearly a quarter century removed from being a defensive coordinator.
What could he bring to the table in Dallas – unless he’s the head coach – that would benefit the Cowboys’ defense right now?
But he might not be the Belichick that actually could be on Jerry Jones’ radar.
Stephen Belichick
The son of Bill Belichick has been an assistant coach on the Patriots staff under his father since 2012.
He took over calling the defensive plays for New England when Brian Flores departed in 2019. He could be ready to take on a defensive coordinator role.
He’s 36, he has an impressive coaching family pedigree in his genes, and he might just have a few new ideas.
He’s a long shot, but he’s going to move up and be someone’s defensive coordinator somewhere.
Could that somewhere be Dallas?