News: BR: Rod Marinelli Named Defensive Coordinator by Cowboys

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The Dallas Cowboys have found a defensive coordinator among their current staff, promoting former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli to the position.

ESPN's Todd Archer reports that Marinelli will replace Monte Kiffin, who will move on to assistant head coaching duties for the defense:

America's Team must fix their putrid defense from this past season, which finished at the bottom of the NFL in total yards allowed per game (415.3) and was 30th against the pass, 27th versus the run and 26th in points allowed.

Not much positivity to draw from, but head coach Jason Garrett feels confident in the tweaks made, explaining the decision to hire Marinelli to the Dallas Morning News' Jon Machota:

Marinelli was the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears from 2010 through 2012. In his final season with the Bears, the defense did indeed generate a lot of turnovers, as Chicago led the league with 44 takeaways, ranked fifth in total defense and third in scoring defense.

Creating turnovers was not the biggest problem the Cowboys faced this past season, though, as they managed a respectable total of 27.

Giving up the big play and yielding points are what Marinelli needs to curb, as Dallas yielded 2.5 touchdowns inside the red zone per game—dead last in the NFL, per TeamRankings.com.

Garrett also shed more light on the specifics of Kiffin's new role:

This reshuffling of the coaching deck also saw offensive coordinator Bill Callahan be retained, but former Detroit Lions OC Scott Linehan was hired as the passing game coordinator and play-caller. That was reported on by ESPN.com news services, citing insider Chris Mortensen's source with knowledge of the situation on Tuesday.

Per Machota, Garrett is seeking to give Dallas' dynamic offense even more room to grow in hiring Linehan:

Ed Werder of ESPN weighed in on the immense experience Garrett's staff has, which should only heighten the pressure to guide the Cowboys to the playoffs in 2014:

Dallas went 8-8 for the third consecutive season in 2013 and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year, but Garrett's contract allots him one more shot to turn things around for one of the NFL's premier franchises.

Hopefully for Cowboys fans—and for the sake of Garrett and his staff's job security—the new delegation of responsibilities works. Putting Marinelli in charge of the defensive play sheet may be the key to a necessary turnaround in what should be a wide-open NFC East division.

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