In the tunnels of AT&T Stadium, after a home finale loss that felt like a death sentence for the 2025 season, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was peppered with questions — and he was enjoying it. He said as much after the loss to the Chargers on Dec. 21. Even if you didn’t believe his words, his consistent smile would tell you so.
The questions, or “comeuppance” in his words, were not only focused on a season that resulted in a second-consecutive losing record but also a conference title drought that has now reached three decades. There’s been a lot of change in that time, but one constant: Jones himself.
Amid nearly 30 minutes of conversations with reporters, a comment Jones made about his decision-making moving forward stuck out.
“I can tell you right now, one of the reasons that I’ve enjoyed some of the things that work for me is because I will change, and I do change,” Jones said. “And I can make a decision, and I can make … one that is different from the ones I’ve been making.
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“I’m not afraid to change it up — at all.”
Jones’ latest hiring process is proving it.
The Cowboys’ search for a new defensive coordinator has gone distinctly different than recent ones. Last year, the Cowboys zeroed in on Matt Eberflus early. They interviewed the former Bears head coach and Cowboys linebackers coach early. They then interviewed only two other candidates, including Andre Curtis, who became the team’s defensive passing game coordinator under Eberflus. Jones said he threw a party when they hired Eberflus. It looked like it wasn’t a serendipitous celebration, either.
Eberflus, who went one-and-done as the team’s coordinator, was the latest in a trend of defensive coordinator hires for the Cowboys. He, like the previous four defensive coordinators, were all former head coaches. That wasn’t an accident. In theory, they possessed a personality trait that Jones admired. Reaching the top of the coaching world only to be fired should, in Jones’ mind, create someone hungry to redeem themselves. He called it an advantage.
After they fired Eberflus, Jones also acknowledged that focusing on a redemption arc might not be the best way to find a new defensive play-caller.
“I say to our fans: The way we’ve done it, I assure you, that the way we’ve done it in the past, that alone will cause me not to do it that way now,” Jones said.
That’s not to say they won’t hire a defensive coordinator who was a former head coach. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, fired this year after three seasons, is among the nine candidates who have or will interview for the team’s defensive coordinator job. Gannon could have an advocate on staff in Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who coached with Gannon in both Indianapolis and Arizona.
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If the Cowboys hired Gannon, however, it wouldn’t solely be because he was a former head coach. Jones said at a news conference recently that they would be open to hiring a first-time defensive coordinator.
Only four of the Cowboys’ nine candidates have had defensive coordinator experience in the NFL. Outside of Gannon, it’s limited experience, too. Zach Orr has been the Ravens’ defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. Green Bay run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington spent one season as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator in 2024. Charlie Bullen was the interim defensive coordinator for the New York Giants for just over a month.
In addition, the nine interviewees are also younger coaches. Minnesota’s Daronté Jones, at 47, is the oldest. Orr, at 33, is the youngest — beating out Eagles assistant Christian Parker by just over half a year. The average age of their interviewees is just over 40. It’s a far cry from what they showed in 2024, when they hired Mike Zimmer, who was 67 at the time, and also interviewed former head coaches Ron Rivera and Rex Ryan.
Instead of trying to find hunger in redemption, Jones and Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer appear focused on hiring a potential candidate with a different type of appetite — a hunger to rise and establish.
The Cowboys are still early in this process. They’re scheduled to interview Covington on Friday. It’s not known if that will wrap up their first round of virtual interviews. Eventually, they plan to trim their options and interview candidates further.
The net they’ve cast so far, however, indicates that Jones is willing to change this time around. We’ll see if his hire cements that belief.
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