The Cowboys have lined up their first three interviews with defensive coordinator candidates.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they will speak with Vikings defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones and Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda on Friday. Broncos defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard will meet with the Cowboys on Saturday.
The last three Cowboys defensive coordinators — Dan Quinn, Mike Zimmer and Matt Eberflus — all had NFL head coaching experience in the past, but that’s not the case for any of these three candidates. Leonhard was the interim head coach at the University of Wisconsin in 2022 and went 4-3.
None of the three have been defensive coordinators in the NFL either, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this week that is not a prerequisite for the job.
The Commanders have requested permission to speak with Cowboys tight ends coach Lunda Wells about their offensive coordinator opening, Todd Archer of ESPN reports.
Wells has spent six seasons in his current job, which includes three seasons with Commanders head coach Dan Quinn on staff.
The Commanders are seeking to replace Kliff Kingsbury, whom Quinn fired earlier this week.
Washington had starting quarterback Jayden Daniels for only seven games this season because of injuries. The Commanders ranked 22nd in yards and 22nd in points.
Wells also coached for the Giants from 2013-19, first as an offensive quality control coach and then as the assistant offensive line coach. From 2008-11, he was on the LSU staff.
The Cowboys fired Matt Eberflus earlier this week, putting them in the market for a new defensive coordinator for the third consecutive offseason. The new hire will be the team’s fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons.
The Cowboys have requested permission to speak with Vikings defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones, Broncos assistant head coach/pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard and Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda, Todd Archer of ESPN reports.
The Cowboys were denied permission by Atlanta to talk with Jeff Ulbrich, who remains under contract despite the Falcons’ search for a head coach, Archer adds. The Cowboys could eventually speak with Ulbrich after the Falcons settle on a head coach.
Dallas ranked last in the NFL in points allowed, giving up a team-record 511. The team was 30th in yards allowed.
The new coordinator will follow Dan Quinn (2021-23), Mike Zimmer (2024) and Eberflus (2025).
Former NFL tight end Jason Witten’s coaching career is shifting to the next level.
Per multiple reports, Witten will become the tight ends coach at Oklahoma.
Witten has coached Liberty Christian high school in Argyle, Texas, for five years. Some believe he’s destined to coach the Dallas Cowboys, one of these days. He’ll now commence getting coaching experience at the college level.
Witten played college football at Tennessee from 2000 through 2002. The Cowboys made him a third-round pick in 2003.
He spent 15 years in Dallas, retiring for a one-year stint on Monday Night Football before returning to the Cowboys in 2019. He finished his career with the Raiders in 2020.
An 11-time Pro Bowler and a two-time first-team All-Pro, Witten is a finalist for the next Pro Football Hall of Fame class. It’s his first year of eligibility.
Witten is fourth on the all-time reception list, with 1,228.
Jerry Jones has gotten even more specific about his own personal meaning of the term “gloryhole.”
It’s more like “glory whole.”
Via Todd Archer of ESPN.com, the 83-year-old Jones set forth his career objectives during a Wednesday press conference.
“My goal in life is to retire as the owner that won the most Super Bowls,” Jones said. “That’s my goal. To be retired in the NFL as the owner that won the most super bowls. We’ve got three. How many more do I have to go as a single owner? [New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft] has got how many? Six? So, I got work to do. Got work to do. But at least I’m up to the second rung in the ladder.”
If nothing else, Jones’s comments underscore the simple reality that, if he’s in the Hall of Fame, Kraft should be, too.
Beyond that, Jones does indeed have plenty of work to do. After the Cowboys played for the right to get to the Super Bowl 16 times in the first 30 installments of the game, they’ve played in the NFC Championship zero times in the next 30.
Will they suddenly become an even bigger dynasty than they were in the ‘90s, allowing Jones to win four more?
We’d suggest starting with trying to get one.
And if Jones wants to do that quickly, maybe he’s the owner with a coach currently in the job who called about John Harbaugh.
