The Dallas Cowboys made a strong move to fix what was one of the league’s worst defenses in 2025, poaching defensive backs coach Christian Parker from the Eagles to replace Matt Eberflus as the defensive coordinator. The move was hailed as a change of approach for the Cowboys, who had an established near-tradition of taking fired head coaches and allowing them to retrench their careers as defensive coordinators.
It worked well with Dan Quinn, who led a strong defense before getting another chance as a head coach with the Commanders. But the last two picks–67-year-old former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and 54-year-old former Bears coach Eberflus–were disasters, each departing after one season.
To be fair, both dealt with significant injuries and personnel loss. But both were criticized for their rigidity. Under Eberflus, the Cowboys were 32nd in points allowed and 30th in yardage allowed. Under Zimmer, they were 31st in points and 28th in yardage.
Parker is a first-time coordinator, and just 34 years old. And now that he has got the job, he is putting his mark on it–the team is cutting ties with three defensive assistants, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Cowboys Defense Struggles Past 2 Years
From the report by Cowboys beat writer Calvin Watkins: “The Cowboys on Monday let three assistants go, two people with knowledge of the decision told The Dallas Morning News on Monday. Defensive passing game coordinator/safeties coach Andre Curtis, secondary/cornerbacks coach David Overstreet II and linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi were let go by the organization.”
Given the fact that Parker made his bones as a defensive backs coach, the moves should not come as a major surprise. Parker clearly wants to clean up that area of the defense, and he should. Again, to be fair, between injuries to Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, and poor personnel decisions by the front office, the Cowboys assembled one of the worst groups of defensive backs in the NFL.
Of the three corners who played enough snaps to qualify for a Pro Football Focus ranking, Bland came in at No. 45 out of 112. Reddy Stewart was No. 99 of 112, and rookie Shavon Revel was 112 out of 112.
Aaron Whitecotton Still the D-Line Coach, for Now
While it remains to be seen how Parker will fill out his staff with the Cowboys, he did request an interview with Ronell Williams, the Eagles’ assistant linebacker coach, someone he has been working with in Philadelphia for the past two seasons.
The Cowboys are also interviewing Denzel Martin, the Steelers‘ outside linebackers coach.
One of the big cliffhanger questions is what will happen with popular defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, who is coaching in the East-West Shrine Game in Frisco. The Cowboys did not move on from him, but he has an interview to rejoin Robert Saleh, his old boss with the Jets who is now coaching the Titans.
The Cowboys interviewed Whitecotton to be the defensive coordinator, but went with Parker. That’s the job Whitecotton could be up for in Tennessee.
“I’m just trying to live in the present,” Whitecotton said. “I’m so busy with this East-West game and what we’ve got going here in Dallas. I haven’t [interviewed with the Titans yet], so I haven’t really had a chance to go through that in my mind. The game has been an incredibly good distraction.”
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