A DC that checks all the boxes!

[Cowboyny]

Pettine 12-20 as a HC I think Dallas can do better

Many dc’s fail as hc’s and are better as coordinators

 

[BoyzBlaster]

Quinn was the last DC to get the best out of this group and even he had issues.
Changing DCs and Schemes over and over has not panned out.

Agreed. At some point you have to accept the obvious answer, which is the players are on the whole average. And they don't complement each other (too many small fast players, weak DL that gives no cover to the LBs, etc )

 

[SpaceCowboy99]

Until we change out the GM
We are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Genius.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

And they don't complement each other

Too many different coordinators........some of Quinn, Zim AND Eberflus players (lol). For God's sake, hire a guy and give him time to build his defense.

 

[nate dizzle]

Quinn was the only recent one worth keeping.
But getting rid of Eberflus does not mean you will get a new one that will solve the problems here.

That is not a reason to keep him

 

[Kwyn]

Interview Jim Leonhard secondary coach Broncos as well as being Bronco Asst HC he was promoted in 2024 .

It Vance Joseph gets another shot at HC either he brings Leonhard with him as DC or Payton promotes him to DC .
He’s young 43 and the Broncos with a top rated D rave about his work . He also played safety in the NFL he knows what he’s doing .

This is my personal hope.

 

[Kwyn]

I like Pettine and wouldn’t have an issue if he were to come in board. He was a 3-4 guy in the past and seems more of a Rex Ryan guy than Brian Flores.

Here are my thoughts on some others.

1. Jim Schwartz - DC Browns. - If they clean house and don’t promote him, he’s the best there is. Three top ten defenses are in his coaching tree
2. Brian Flores - DC Vikings - they would have to clean house and he’s suing the NFL, so he’s a million to one long shot but he’s terrific
3. Jim Leonhard - Asst HC/Defensive pass game coordinator - Broncos - if we can’t have Vance Joseph, give me one of his guys - this is my ideal choice if I can’t luck out with Schwartz
4. Rob Leonard - D-Line coach/run game coordinator - Raiders - Vegas players love him. Worked under Flores.
5. Christian Parker - DBacks/passing game coordinator - Eagles - very young, “phenom” type talent. Risky, but he’s been under Fangio
6. Dave Merritt - DBacks - Chiefs - five time champion on Spagnuolo’s staff. In his 50s but great at developing secondary talent
7. Al Harris - I only put him here cause you’ll see his name a million times. I wouldn’t hire him. Our defense wasn’t good last year with him and in my opinion, Chicago’s success, including their DBs, is due to Dennis Allen

 

[BoyzBlaster]

Too many different coordinators........some of Quinn, Zim AND Eberflus players (lol). For God's sake, hire a guy and give him time to build his defense.

Agreed. It's an example of the real problem others have referenced - Jerry has no ability to plan long term, or even medium term.

 

[LysleE]

Diggs is a shell of his former self;
Bland has regressed;
Poor safety play;
No pass rush;
Poor LB play;
DEs still cannot set edges against the run;
OTs are suspect;
Pickens is not a #2 WR; if he is not the featured WR he checks out of games;
TE having a down year;
While Eberflus has not impressed, he doesn’t have a lot of talent with which to work. I think scheme is irrelevant when there is a lack of talent to execute.

We fans make the assumption that a new DC will come in and his new scheme will be light years better…but won’t it be with the same players, who aren’t getting the job done now? Is Kenneth Murray going to transform into Jack Lambert all of a sudden…think we all know the answer to that.

Jerry needs to blow-up this defense and start anew. There are a few good players that one can build around. But Jerry’s in denial about the talent level and believes his defense is much better than it really is; the same thing can be said of the coaching…Jerry is not going to replace Eberflus or Shotty. He let JG coach this team to a slightly better than .500 record over his ten-year tenure, so precedent has been set.

More importantly, who would Jerry bring into the fold to replace Shotty and Eberflus? We all know of Jerry’s propensity to meddle; and undermine the coaching staff. Couple that with his narcissistic need for relevance and attention, thus making the Cowboys more of a marketing brand than football team. What self-respecting coach with skins on the wall would want to coach in Dallas, or more to the point tolerate Jerry’s shenanigans? Well..it is those coaches who show deference to Jerry and allow him to do his schtick that will be hired. So Dallas has had Wade, Jason, Zimmer (twice) in the past and now gets Schotty and Eberflus. But in the final analysis, these coaches will stay because getting rid of them will mean that Jerry made the mistakes given he hired them.

Long story short…get ready for more Schotty and Eberflus in 2026.

 

[sunalsorises]

Let Schottenheimer pick his DC. The defense and the offense have to play complimentary football. The offense can't score 40 if the defense is going to give up 45.

 

[NDGAEDE]

My hope is they find an up and coming guy like they did with Adams. Would rather have someone with new ideas than a guy constantly replaying their greatest hits

 

[Avenging Hayseed]

1.....Jim Schwarz if available
1B....Jimmy Leonhard










2........?

Long past due to bring in someone with actual talent. Then flood the defense with the right kinds of upgrades in free agency and the draft.

 

[Chuck 54]

Honestly, I'm genuinely hoping they fire DQ and comes back. It's my pipe dream for this year.

What the heck did Quinn accomplish besides having a great pass rush against the weak teams when we had a lead. All of the good teams and playoff teams embarrassed him and his defense. He never had an answer for teams, good and bad, that decided to just run the ball down our throats. He now has a similar defense in Washington. No thank you.

 

[Cowboyny]

I like Pettine and wouldn’t have an issue if he were to come in board. He was a 3-4 guy in the past and seems more of a Rex Ryan guy than Brian Flores.

Here are my thoughts on some others.

1. Jim Schwartz - DC Browns. - If they clean house and don’t promote him, he’s the best there is. Three top ten defenses are in his coaching tree
2. Brian Flores - DC Vikings - they would have to clean house and he’s suing the NFL, so he’s a million to one long shot but he’s terrific
3. Jim Leonhard - Asst HC/Defensive pass game coordinator - Broncos - if we can’t have Vance Joseph, give me one of his guys - this is my ideal choice if I can’t luck out with Schwartz
4. Rob Leonard - D-Line coach/run game coordinator - Raiders - Vegas players love him. Worked under Flores.
5. Christian Parker - DBacks/passing game coordinator - Eagles - very young, “phenom” type talent. Risky, but he’s been under Fangio
6. Dave Merritt - DBacks - Chiefs - five time champion on Spagnuolo’s staff. In his 50s but great at developing secondary talent
7. Al Harris - I only put him here cause you’ll see his name a million times. I wouldn’t hire him. Our defense wasn’t good last year with him and in my opinion, Chicago’s success, including their DBs, is due to Dennis Allen

Like the top 3, but they are mostly unavailable. I would also add Bowles if he would get fired.

 

[blueblood70]

Mike Pettine

-former HC of the browns
-firmilar with Schott as he was the dc when he was the oc with the jets. Reportedly still has a strong relationship with.
-runs a hybrid, attacking scheme that employs a lot of man coverages
-is currently on Brian Flores staff with the Vikings

It's nice that you have a name,

but you know what would be nicer if we just be patient and first we need to see a Matt EberPOO is fired 2nd why don't we just let the coaching staff pick the defensive coordinator let me Let's let Brian Schottenheimer go to Jerry with a list let's let them make a compromise and figure out what's best for this roster fans are not going to make this decision..

And it's a nice option last year I was really high on trying to get Brian Flores in here he was my first pick so if yeah if he comes from the blind Flores tree that's an option but II just think we need to be patient there's still games left to be played here there's not a job opening for ADC in Dallas right now so we need to like slow and tap the brace because guess what we're going to have all these same conversations all over again in february...

 

[blueblood70]

What the heck did Quinn accomplish besides having a great pass rush against the weak teams when we had a lead. All of the good teams and playoff teams embarrassed him and his defense. He never had an answer for teams, good and bad, that decided to just run the ball down our throats. He now has a similar defense in Washington. No thank you.

I Don't want him back,

but it was miles better than what we have now, that's how big difference when Nolan left, to Dan Quinn ,

we need that again, doesn't have to be Dan Quinn, but we need a quick one all season turnaround to go from maybe 30th to 16th that's what we need, And Dan Quinn did that...

you have to give him credit for that, I mean he even went the first year in Washington and went to an NFC championship game that's what he brings it's not great no and I don't want him back I agree but we need something like that...


Fun thing Dan Quinn was willing to do is do whatever he could with the roster he had to develop a scheme week to week that actually at least was respectable.. Matt Eberflues has an ego or he's just not good at doing anything but cover three or zone and this doesn't work we need a guy that can do multiples that are willing to do whatever he can to make the defense good each week even if he doesn't have enough toys to play with...

 

[john van brocklin]

Genius.

Well, thank you, my good man.

 

[Chasing6]

Quinn was the only recent one worth keeping.
But getting rid of Eberflus does not mean you will get a new one that will solve the problems here.

Problems here can not be solved unless more talent is added to the roster on defense.

If we think this will be solved through the draft alone, we will be wondering this time next season what happened.

 

[Bobhaze]

Mike Pettine

-former HC of the browns
-firmilar with Schott as he was the dc when he was the oc with the jets. Reportedly still has a strong relationship with.
-runs a hybrid, attacking scheme that employs a lot of man coverages
-is currently on Brian Flores staff with the Vikings

I’m not disagreeing at all with your thinking or Mike Pettine’s credentials….The real problem is we do not have a GM who thinks beyond who he is comfortable in hiring.

Comfort is always more important to him than winning. I know he wants to win. Just not at all costs. Winning isn’t as important to him as control. So we can list a half dozen great candidates for DC and it won’t register with the owner.

When the owner is THE problem we have to overcome, it makes it very difficult to use rational thinking to problem solve. It’s like the former BritishKing George III. Near the end of his reign he had lost his marbles and no one could really talk to him or change his mind on what the real problems were.

That’s where we are IMO.

 

[BrassCowboy]

Quinn was the last DC to get the best out of this group and even he had issues.
Changing DCs and Schemes over and over has not panned out.

Well keeping a scrub surely isn't gonna work out. Eberflus is terrible