Defensive Coordinator Search

Now that the Dallas Cowboys fired Matt Eberflus, they have their works set out to fix this defense. The draft and off-season will provide ample oppurtunities for the Cowboys to bounce back and fix their defense, but none of that matters if they don't have a coach that can maximize their potentials.

1. The main candidate for this has to be one of the most heralded DC's in all of football, Brian Flores. Flores has been an insane defensive mind who has been able to elevate defenses with subpar talent time and time again. The Vikings defense this year was beyond impressive without any real standout players. Flores has made quarterbacks life's living hell, and the Cowboys got the first taste of this in the week 15 matchup. Sure Dak and company moved the ball and got a few touchdowns, but they were 2-5 in the redzone and had to settle for field goals allowing the Vikings offense to finally take advantage of the horrible Dallas defense. His signature show blitz look and mugging the line of scrimmage just to send some or back a few into coverage is a great tool for this defense, one that relies on scheming, blitzing, and confusing the defense. This day and age the traditional field generals are becoming more and more of a rarity, and with a scheme like Flores, a guy who's expirienced and can get after the top QBS not just physically but also mentally is my top pick for this team's defensive coordinator.

2. Next guy in line that should be in mind for Jerry and this staff for hire is Jonathan Gannon. Gannon is a modern defensive coordinator who primarily focuses on modern zone coverages, not your traditional cover 3 or 4 but inverted variations and disguised coverages. He is a former Eagles DC, during the tenure of Jalen Hurts so he has insight on how to deal with Hurt and the Eagles Offense. Also implements a blitz package featuring nickel blitzes off the edge or delayed blitz by backing one off and bringing another from the other side. The Cowboys this year struggled a lot with communication, execution, and situational defense, and Gannon could help a lot with this with what he brings.

3. For me, another name the Cowboys should look at is Chiefs DB Coach Dave Merritt. He was on staff with the Giants for their super bowl and the Kansas city chiefs for theirs, a long list of dbs that have thrived under his coaching like Trent mcduffie, Charvarious Ward, DRC, Janoris Jenkins. The Chiefs ranked 8th this year in disguised coverages and 11th in man coverage. For a db room that specializes in man coverage like Bland and Revel do, this guy could be a great fit for their scheme. The Cherry on top with Merritt for me is the fact that he has been under Steve Spagnola for 5 years. We know the brilliance of Spagnola, and how he operated. The Chiefs are a heavy man with a ton of safety rotation/ disguised blitzes. Dak Prescott threw an interception vs the Chiefs because Spagnola tricked him into throwing a corner in cover 2 after he rotated safeties from 1 high to 2 high while sending a delayed blitz from the other side, another thing Dak didn't see. This would be a great scheme fit for Dallas.

4. Lastly, another guy Dallas should sorely consider is Broncos defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard. Leonhard led and still leads one of the best defenses in the NFL, not to mention how he has been able to utilize the Broncos pass rush pairing it with their all pro corner pack PS2. Leonhard is big on discipline, no silly flags or penalties, something Dallas desperately needs because they rank last in penalties accepted. Runs a ton of sim pressures(showing blitz on way but bringing 2 from the other side whilst dropping the backers into coverages), Emphasizes a lot of man and cover 3, something that could help this defense as both these coverages essientially entail more from their cornerbacks and linebackers in man coverage. Dallas saw Denver this year and similar to how they play Dak, they play aggressively towards the offense. Not a ton of disguising or delay blitzes but be sure that they will get after the Quarterback and force him to make quick decisions, and lastly, he runs a 5 man front. The Dallas d-line had a few bright spots this year, and taking less off the linebackers( which is Dallas's weak point) can help the defense a lot here.

None of this matters if Dallas doesn't execute the search properly and let the HC make the final decision on who the DC will be instead of Jerry Jones. Jones cannot also promote someone in-house without looking outside of it for potential solutions, they need to let Brian make the final call ultimately.