Cowboys rumored DC favorite isn’t actually as bad as it seems

The Dallas Cowboys followed their disappointing 2024 season by making perhaps the most underwhelming head coaching decision that they could have made, replacing Mike McCarthy with "career assistant" Brian Schottenheimer. Cowboys fans had wanted McCarthy gone for a while, but had they known Schottenheimer would be next in line, they might've just preferred Jones stick with McCarthy.

Now that the Cowboys have their head coach vacancy filled, attention now turns to the coordinator roles. Not only did Schottenheimer get elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach, but defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is not returning either, creating the need for a replacement.

The favorite for the position, according to Ed Werder of WFAA, is Matt Eberflus, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears. At first glance, adding Eberflus on top of their underwhelming head coaching hire sounds like a disaster, but an Eberflus hire wouldn't be nearly as bad as it seems.

Matt Eberflus would be better hire than most think as Cowboys defensive coordinator

If this was for the head coaching opening, Eberflus would've been a horrible idea. Eberflus spent the last 2.5 years as the head coach of the Bears and went 14-32 overall. After a 4-2 start this season, the Bears proceeded to lose six games in a row, leading to his firing. Obviously, not all of that was his fault, but that team greatly underperformed relative to its talent level, which Eberflus absolutely can be blamed at least partially for.

As disappointing as Eberflus was as a head coach, he would not be hired to serve in that role. Eberflus would be a defensive coordinator, and in that role, his track record is actually solid. The Indianapolis Colts had a top-10 scoring defense in three of his four years as a defensive coordinator, ranking ninth in 2021 - the year before Eberflus became a head coach.

Eberflus' head coaching stint in Chicago was a failure, obviously, but the Bears defense this past season actually performed quite well while Eberflus was there. The Bears held their opposition to less than 20 points in seven of Eberflus' 12 games, and less than 25 points in all but two of those contests. Their offense struggled mightily, but Eberflus' background is the defensive side of the football.

Considering his defensive track record, bringing him in as a defensive coordinator is a solid idea. Now, Jerry Jones must make sure not to pivot to Eberflus as the next man in line if the Schottenheimer experience is a bad one, but again, as a coordinator, Eberflus would not be as bad as he might seem at first glance.