The Dallas Cowboys’ defensive overhaul is officially underway in Arlington, where first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was fired on Tuesday.
The former head coach of the Chicago Bears was widely expected to be on his way out the door after guiding a unit that finished 30th in yards allowed and dead last in defensive scoring.
The Cowboys’ elite offense was undermined by a defensive unit that lost All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons in a trade to the Green Bay Packers before the season. As a result, Eberflus failed to generate much of a pass rush in his first season since he was fired in Chicago in the midst of the 2024 season.
After recording 52 sacks in 2024 (third in the NFL), the Cowboys dropped opposing quarterbacks just 35 times this season. And with plenty of time to throw, opposing passers completed 68.5 percent of their attempts against Dallas, which ranked 30th out of 32 NFL teams in that category.
Worst of all, the Cowboys were the only defense in football to surrender points on more than half of their opponents’ possessions in 2025.
The move is expected to become official Tuesday, but has already been widely reported by local and national media.
The Dallas Cowboys’ defensive overhaul is officially underway in Arlington, where first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus (pictured) was fired on Tuesday
First-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s job looks safe for now, given his success with the offense dating back to his time as coordinator. But there are no shortage of candidates to replace Eberflus as the team’s top defensive coach.
Namely, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ contract is set to expire after the season in Minnesota, where his blitz-happy defense ranked third in yardage allowed this season.
Like the middling Cowboys, the 9-8 Vikings only had success on one side of the ball in 2025. In their case, it was on defense, where Flores turned a patchwork of role players into one of the better units in football.
However, Flores has also been mentioned as a potential replacement for fired Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll.
Veteran Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator and former Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz is rumored to be among the potential DC candidates in Dallas, along with fired Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris.
