FRISCO — The official word from the Cowboys on the firing of now-former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is that it wasn’t all his fault. That there were more problems than just him, despite him being the only one fired thus far from a defense that was the worst in franchise history.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer — the main reason for optimism about the franchise moving forward, according to owner Jerry Jones — even raised his hand at one point during Wednesday’s season-ending news conference to take part of the blame, too.
So maybe, to use a quote from Jones on Wednesday, this is a “bass-ackward” way to look at things, but it’s hard not to hear what the Cowboys want in their next defensive coordinator as an indictment of what went wrong with the previous one.
If the on-field results didn’t make it obvious, there were a lot of things. Schottenheimer, sitting next to Jerry and co-owner Stephen Jones, was asked what went wrong with a defense that allowed more than 500 points for the first time in history.
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“When we go back through the year and we look at it, it was the inconsistency,” Schottenheimer said. “It was different things every week.”
And now the Cowboys will be searching for their fourth defensive coordinator in four years. The Cowboys described what they’re looking for in their next hire. The Cowboys said they plan to cast a wide net in their search, which hadn’t included any interview requests as of Wednesday afternoon. The candidates, unlike the past, won’t be limited to just former head coaches with defensive coordinator experience. The previous five defensive coordinators — Rod Marinelli, Mike Nolan, Dan Quinn, Mike Zimmer and Eberflus — have fit that bill. Some other likely candidates fall into that category, including former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
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After the latest iteration of that hiring philosophy, Jones said he’s not married to it. He said he — in conjunction with the rest of the team’s power brokers — would even consider a first-time defensive coordinator. Denver passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard and former Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich are two potential options down that path.
“There is an advantage to having your proverbial you know what kicked and still living to tell about it, and been shot and hid in the foxhole and come on back and have a go,” Jones said, referring to his hiring tendencies for defensive coordinators. “That philosophy has not worked several times around here. … I like to have guys that have had hard times and they’ve come back and had the chance to redeem themselves.
“I say to our fans: The way we’ve done it, I assure you, that they way we’ve done it in the past, that alone will cause me not to do it that way now.”
A different level of experience might not be the only change they pursue after this season with Eberflus.
Schottenheimer made it clear they want their next defensive coordinator to be a teacher. He said he wants someone who can communicate. That comment was telling, considering one of the Cowboys’ biggest issues on defense this season was their communication in zone coverage.
“What we ask our players to do in all three phases is complicated. We want guys that can say complicated information in a simple manner,” Schottenheimer said, “and if I say something to you that you don’t understand, I need the ability to say it in a different way — the same message, but in a different way, because how you learn might be different.
“I think that’s a starting point for me.”
Along the way, more issues presented themselves on the Cowboys’ defense. Tackling posed a problem at times. They struggled to generate takeaways, as their new franchise low of six interceptions in a season would indicate. Linebackers even struggled with their reads, as Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones said multiple times this year.
The Cowboys also dealt with a lot of personnel changes — both good and bad.
A new defensive coordinator should have the ability to adapt to the challenges posed throughout the season, Jones said. He recalled a story former Cowboys coach Barry Switzer once told him about the season being equivalent to traveling cross country in covered wagons.
“I’m the wagon master,” Jones recalled Switzer saying.
On that proverbial journey, the wagons break down, Jones said, and the wagon master would have to break it down, use some wood for firewood, use some wood to build a float across the Mississippi River.
“The whole point is there’s a little bit of that in football,” Jones explained. “What you start with is not what you end up with. What we’re talking about is you have to have somebody that can roll with the punch.”
Ultimately, it was Eberflus who got knocked out after one season. Jones was asked after the news conference if there was a disconnect between Eberflus and the players when it came to communication. Jones said no, adding that he thought Eberflus had to “overcorrect with trying to make up for deficiencies.” Based on what was said Wednesday, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Cowboys try to over-correct with their next hire, as well.
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