Change and Continuity: Cowboys OC and DC history since 2000

[Bobhaze]

Change is normal. It probably happens more often than most of us like but it is certainly part of life and sports. But there’s also something to be said for continuity as well. The Steelers for example have had 3 head coaches in 55 years and have used their 3-4 defensive scheme almost 35 of those years. Continuity has value if it’s effective.

The Cowboys just finished hiring a new head coach in Brian Schottenheimer and now have new offensive and defensive coordinators in place as well. I wasn’t crazy about the Schotty hire for a million reasons but hey, I’m a Cowboys fan so I hope he succeeds. We can’t judge a coach before playing a single game so let’s see what happens.

But when you look at the history of Cowboys HCs and Coordinators in the Jones era, it’s been all over the map as far as philosophy, scheme and style. Continuity has not been a hallmark around here.

So here is a look at the coordinators we’ve had just since 2000. For the sake of brevity I won’t focus on their schemes but just how many coordinators we’ve had in the 21st century:

OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS SINCE 2000

• Jack Reilly- 2000-01 under Dave Campo. (0 playoff appearances)
• Bruce Coslet - 2002 under Campo. (0 playoff appearances)
• Maurice Carthon - 2003-04 under Parcells (1 playoff appearance, no wins)
• (Between 2005-06 Parcells did not have an official OC- the team did make the playoffs in 06 but no wins)
• Jason Garrett - 2007- 2011 - became HC in 2011 but JJ wanted a “walk around” HC starting in 2012 (no playoff appearances)
• Bill Callahan - 2012-14 under Garrett. (made playoffs in ‘14, and 1 WC round win)
• Scott Linehan - 2015-18 under Garrett (made playoffs in ‘18, 1 WC win)
• Kellen Moore 2019-2022 under Garrett one year, two years under Mike Mike McCarthy. (Made playoffs in ‘22 and ‘23, 1 WC win)
• Brian Schottenheimer - 2023-24 under McCarthy. (1 playoff year in ‘23, no playoff wins)
• Klay ton Adams - 2025-? Under Brian Schottenheimer

DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS SINCE 2000

• Mike Zimmer - 2000-2006 under Campo and Parcells - (Two playoff appearances, no wins)
• Brian Stewart - 2007-2008 under Wade Phillips (one playoff appearnce no wins)
• Paul Pasqualoni 2009-10 under Wade and Garrett (one playoff appearnce, 1 WC win)
• Rob Ryan 2011-12 under Garrett (no playoff appearances)
• Monte Kiffin 2013 under Garrett (no playoff appearnce)
• Rod Marinelli 2014-19 under Garrett (3 playoff appearances, 2 WC wins)
• Mike Nolan 2020 under McCarthy (no playoff appearnce)
• Dan Quinn 2021-23 under McCarthy (3 playoff appearances, 1 WC win)
• Mike Zimmer 2024 under McCarthy. (No playoff appearances)
• Matt Eberflous- 2025-? Under Brian Schottenheimer

So 10 DCs and 9 OCs in 25 years. Here’s hoping we get some stability based on success!

 

[maryquality]

Ha ha Bob. I read your post a while ago, and the last two lines were missing. You just had Matt Eberflous and then nothing. I assume, maybe you were in the middle of posting when the site went down for "maintainance". LOL
@Reality , next time give us a head's up when you have to do maintainance. One minute the forum was there, the next, it went poof!! I thought @Coogiguy03 finally broke the site!! LOL

 

[GMO415]

Dallas will never recover from a decade wasted under Jason Garrett

 

[fivetwos]

Change is normal. It probably happens more often than most of us like but it is certainly part of life and sports. But there’s also something to be said for continuity as well. The Steelers for example have had 3 head coaches in 55 years and have used their 3-4 defensive scheme almost 35 of those years. Continuity has value if it’s effective.

The Cowboys just finished hiring a new head coach in Brian Schottenheimer and now have new offensive and defensive coordinators in place as well. I wasn’t crazy about the Schotty hire for a million reasons but hey, I’m a Cowboys fan so I hope he succeeds. We can’t judge a coach before playing a single game so let’s see what happens.

But when you look at the history of Cowboys HCs and Coordinators in the Jones era, it’s been all over the map as far as philosophy, scheme and style. Continuity has not been a hallmark around here.

So here is a look at the coordinators we’ve had just since 2000. For the sake of brevity I won’t focus on their schemes but just how many coordinators we’ve had in the 21st century:

OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS SINCE 2000

• Jack Reilly- 2000-01 under Dave Campo. (0 playoff appearances)
• Bruce Coslet - 2002 under Campo. (0 playoff appearances)
• Maurice Carthon - 2003-04 under Parcells (1 playoff appearance, no wins)
• (Between 2005-06 Parcells did not have an official OC- the team did make the playoffs in 06 but no wins)
• Jason Garrett - 2007- 2011 - became HC in 2011 but JJ wanted a “walk around” HC starting in 2012 (no playoff appearances)
• Bill Callahan - 2012-14 under Garrett. (made playoffs in ‘14, and 1 WC round win)
• Scott Linehan - 2015-18 under Garrett (made playoffs in ‘18, 1 WC win)
• Kellen Moore 2019-2022 under Garrett one year, two years under Mike Mike McCarthy. (Made playoffs in ‘22 and ‘23, 1 WC win)
• Brian Schottenheimer - 2023-24 under McCarthy. (1 playoff year in ‘23, no playoff wins)
• Klay ton Adams - 2025-? Under Brian Schottenheimer

DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS SINCE 2000

• Mike Zimmer - 2000-2006 under Campo and Parcells - (Two playoff appearances, no wins)
• Brian Stewart - 2007-2008 under Wade Phillips (one playoff appearnce no wins)
• Paul Pasqualoni 2009-10 under Wade and Garrett (one playoff appearnce, 1 WC win)
• Rob Ryan 2011-12 under Garrett (no playoff appearances)
• Monte Kiffin 2013 under Garrett (no playoff appearnce)
• Rod Marinelli 2014-19 under Garrett (3 playoff appearances, 2 WC wins)
• Mike Nolan 2020 under McCarthy (no playoff appearnce)
• Dan Quinn 2021-23 under McCarthy (3 playoff appearances, 1 WC win)
• Mike Zimmer 2024 under McCarthy. (No playoff appearances)
• Matt Eberflous- 2025-? Under Brian Schottenheimer

So 10 DCs and 9 OCs in 25 years. Here’s hoping we get some stability based on success!

Yeah another thing that used to irritate me but has slipped my mind of late lol.

Garrett was here for 10 years but the coordinators were far from anything stable or anything good for that matter.

My favorite was paying dearly to trade up for Claiborne and signing Carr because Rob Ryan’s system required better corners, only to fire him a year later and hire the Tampa Two boys, whose system didn’t necessarily need great corners….but thrived with a stud DT, MLB and SS….exactly what they did not have, yet could have if they took Brockers and Wagner over Claiborne.

Why? Because there’s no organizational theory or plan. It’s what whoever is currently in their head thinks, and why it’s such a killer that the bosses depend entirely on what people tell them to make key decisions.

This whole situation was eventually going to catch up with them, and now that the division has improved and Prescott is in decline, here we are.

 

[Nova]

Yeah another thing that used to irritate me but has slipped my mind of late lol.

Garrett was here for 10 years but the coordinators were far from anything stable or anything good for that matter.

My favorite was paying dearly to trade up for Claiborne and signing Carr because Rob Ryan’s system required better corners, only to fire him a year later and hire the Tampa Two boys, whose system didn’t necessarily need great corners….but thrived with a stud DT, MLB and SS….exactly what they did not have, yet could have if they took Brockers and Wagner over Claiborne.

Why? Because there’s no organizational theory or plan. It’s what whoever is currently in their head thinks, and why it’s such a killer that the bosses depend entirely on what people tell them to make key decisions.

This whole situation was eventually going to catch up with them, and now that the division has improved and Prescott is in decline, here we are.

Or Fletcher Cox for that matter.

Any DC that prioritizes corners over front 7 shouldn't be hired.

Corners are overrated, and despite popular opinion, have short shelf lives just like RBs (just for different reasons).

 

[fivetwos]

Or Fletcher Cox for that matter.

Any DC that prioritizes corners over front 7 shouldn't be hired.

Corners are overrated, and despite popular opinion, have short shelf lives just like RBs (just for different reasons).

Jerry’s been building from the outside in forever.

The opposite is the general rule, and he doesn’t win, but don’t try questioning it.

 

[Cowboys5217]

It's telling that Rod Marinelli was the most successful DC for the Cowboys since 2000 with a whopping 2 playoff wins.

"Defense wins championships" they say...

I no longer believe that. A good GM who finds a great QB and builds a complete team wins championships.

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

Dallas will never recover from a decade three decades wasted under Jason Garrett Jerral Jones.

Fixed that for you.

 

[Bobhaze]

Ha ha Bob. I read your post a while ago, and the last two lines were missing. You just had Matt Eberflous and then nothing. I assume, maybe you were in the middle of posting when the site went down for "maintainance". LOL
@Reality , next time give us a head's up when you have to do maintainance. One minute the forum was there, the next, it went poof!! I thought @Coogiguy03 finally broke the site!! LOL

That’s exactly what happened!

 

[Bobhaze]

Yeah another thing that used to irritate me but has slipped my mind of late lol.

Garrett was here for 10 years but the coordinators were far from anything stable or anything good for that matter.

My favorite was paying dearly to trade up for Claiborne and signing Carr because Rob Ryan’s system required better corners, only to fire him a year later and hire the Tampa Two boys, whose system didn’t necessarily need great corners….but thrived with a stud DT, MLB and SS….exactly what they did not have, yet could have if they took Brockers and Wagner over Claiborne.

Why? Because there’s no organizational theory or plan. It’s what whoever is currently in their head thinks, and why it’s such a killer that the bosses depend entirely on what people tell them to make key decisions.

This whole situation was eventually going to catch up with them, and now that the division has improved and Prescott is in decline, here we are.

This is part of what drives me crazy about this history. Since our last SB, we’ve now had 7 HCs including Schotty and all those coordinators. We’ve had a 4-3 defense in the 90s followed by 3-4 in the Parcells and Phillips years followed by a return to 4-3 or some hybrid version of 4-3/4-2-5.

And offensively, we’ve had multiple approaches as well, almost always chasing another org‘s success after the fact in a reactive way.

To me, one of the biggest unsolved issues of this entire organization is I don’t know if the front office has ever really decided what kind of team they are trying to build and then stick to that. Aligning scheme, draft, free agency and existing players is SO important.

So tell me fellow fans - what kind of team is this organization trying to become?

 

[Gambit]

OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS SINCE 2000

Good work Bob.

Question though, haven't most of these ran some version of the Airy Coryell system? Up until McCarthy at least (though Id argue he ran a whole lot of it)

 

[Bobhaze]

Good work Bob.

Question though, haven't most of these ran some version of the Airy Coryell system? Up until McCarthy at least (though Id argue he ran a whole lot of it)

Good question. Don Coryell‘s “Air Coryell” was very influential on multiple head coaches and offensive philosophies. But your question is certainly a good one.

 

[Ranching]

Ha ha Bob. I read your post a while ago, and the last two lines were missing. You just had Matt Eberflous and then nothing. I assume, maybe you were in the middle of posting when the site went down for "maintainance". LOL
@Reality , next time give us a head's up when you have to do maintainance. One minute the forum was there, the next, it went poof!! I thought @Coogiguy03 finally broke the site!! LOL

I thought I had been benched, again....but, I'm glad Bob finished his thoughts. Good to see he has hope, again. As for the other guy you mentioned, I thought Cougars were women, shouldn't it be Coogigal? Just sharing my thoughts. Lol

 

[Nova]

It's telling that Rod Marinelli was the most successful DC for the Cowboys since 2000 with a whopping 2 playoff wins.

"Defense wins championships" they say...

I no longer believe that. A good GM who finds a great QB and builds a complete team wins championships.

I've always understood the saying "defense wins championships" to mean that defense is a trump card in the playoffs.

The QB is obviously massively important, but in the playoffs, defense is the thing that will survive the gauntlet best.

Defense travels. Defense mitigates the other playoff worthy QBs. Etc.

A good example is basically Peyton Manning's entire career.