And now there are nine.
The Dallas Cowboys requested three new defensive coordinator candidates to interview on Wednesday, people familiar with the situation told The Dallas Morning News, in Philadelphia Eagles defensive passing game coordinator Christian Parker, Green Bay Packers defensive run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington and Charlie Bullen, who finished the season as the interim defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.
The Cowboys will hold virtual interviews with Parker and Bullen on Thursday, while Covington will be interviewed Friday morning.
Parker, 34, has been with the Eagles the last two seasons. He helped lead a secondary that played a significant role in the team’s Super Bowl win last year. Parker spent three seasons in Denver as the team’s defensive backs coach prior to joining the Eagles. Vic Fangio, the current defensive coordinator of the Eagles, originally brought Parker to Denver before bringing him to the Eagles, as well. There should be intrigue about the idea of plucking a young disciple of one of the best defensive minds in the league.
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Covington, 36, was the defensive coordinator in New England in 2024 before he was hired onto the Packers staff this past season. He also was the team’s defensive line coach.
Bullen, 41, has been with the Giants the last two years, as well, serving as the team’s outside linebackers coach before he was promoted to interim coordinator after the Giants fired Shane Bowen, the previous defensive coordinator, in late November. The Giants allowed an average of 21 points per game under Bullen’s direction, including 17 in the season-ending win over the Cowboys.
All three coordinator requests also follow suit with a developing trend in Dallas — one that’s contradictory to the trend the Cowboys have had for the last decade. None has been a head coach before, like the previous five Cowboys defensive coordinators. Outside of Bullen’s brief experience this season and Covington’s experience last year, they hadn’t been defensive coordinators, either.
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So far, only one known defensive coordinator candidate for the Cowboys has previous head coaching experience. That would be Arizona’s Jonathan Gannon, who interviewed virtually with the team on Tuesday. Gannon has interviews for other jobs, as well, including the Washington defensive coordinator job and the Tennessee head coaching opening.
The Cowboys have also interviewed defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, Minnesota Vikings defensive passing game coordinator Daronte Jones, Cleveland Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda, Denver Broncos defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard and Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who held the role for the last two seasons.
One candidate who hasn’t been requested by the Cowboys is Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores. His contract reportedly expired on Wednesday and he didn’t waste any time on the coaching market. He interviewed in Washington for their defensive coordinator job. Flores has also interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs. The Cowboys could have interest in Flores if he doesn’t garner a head coaching job, but for now, they have yet to interview him.
The Cowboys don’t appear to be in a rush for their next defensive coordinator. The current interviews, all done virtually, have been the result of a wide net the team wanted to cast from the beginning of its search. They would qualify as the first round of interviews. After that, the Cowboys are expected to refine their list of potential candidates and likely do follow-up interviews in person.
Time will tell if this initial list of interviews grows, or if the Cowboys are ready to start homing in on fewer candidates.
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