Sure sounds like Cowboys made mockery of Rooney Rule with looming Matt Eberflus hire

The Rooney Rule was meant to increase the number of minority interviews – and thus actual opportunity for those coaches – in the NFL. In many ways it has achieved just that. Yet, some teams view it more as an obstacle than a means to speak with candidates they might otherwise overlook. Look no further than Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas hired Brian Schottenheimer as their next head coach, which was certainly a choice. In doing so, they provoked an already-angry fanbase looking to latch on to any piece of negative news in their early-offseason blues.

Schottenheimer has yet to solidify his coaching staff, which should come as no surprise given he was hired in one of the best-executed Friday news dumps I have ever seen. Mike Zimmer is not expected to fill that void, which is probably best given what he had to say about Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys late in the season.

"I was just doing things (schematically) that I was uncomfortable with," Zimmer said. ... "So here was the situation OK? They were good last year right? So I come in, so I don't really want to rock the boat. I probably wasn't as tough as I typically am. I probably wasn't as hard-headed about things about how I wanted to do things, so I wasn't. That's what I regret the most."

Dallas Cowboys made mockery of Rooney Rule with Matt Eberflus hire

Thankfully for Zimmer, he no longer has to worry about that. Zimmer is nearly 70 years old and the league has passed him by. Good on him for acknowledging that. In his place, the Cowboys are expected to hire former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, who has his own history in Dallas. Eberflus is a fine hire, but Dallas didn't look around all that much prior to cementing him as their DC-in-waiting. Don't believe me? Todd Archer and Mike Fisher had the details.

Archer noted the team interviewed Andre Curtis for their DC opening, which satisfied the Rooney Rule. However, did the Cowboys ever take Curtis seriously as a possible replacement? The team was linked to Eberflus well before Sunday, and Curtis has a history with him. Prior to his interview, Curtis spent time on the Bears staff with Eberflus as his former secondary coach. So, essentially, the Cowboys could hire Eberflus AND his hand-picked secondary coach all while satisfying the Rooney Rule.

The Rooney Rule isn't going away anytime soon, and the Cowboys were able to follow the rules all the while knowing full and well they had no plans on giving Curtis the DC job.

We're happy for Eberflus and Curtis, both of whom deserve their opportunities in Dallas. Yet, surely this wasn't the NFL's intention with the Rooney Rule.