With Parker coming from a long list of accomplished defensive minds, he wants to make it clear that this will be his defense, not theirs.
When Christian Parker was hired as the Dallas Cowboys' new defensive coordinator, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Coming from the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles, Parker has had some superb defensive minds to learn from in Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio, and now he gets to run his own ship.
But the big question mark is how Parker will handle his first-ever coordinator job, and all that entails.
Being "the" guy at the top of the totem pole on defense, this is Parker's show, but he also knows that he can't do it all himself.
Part of what made Brian Schottenheimer's first year as head coach run relatively smoothly was his ability to delegate and trust others, including Klayton Adams, Conor Riley, and Lunda Wells, to do their jobs.
So, how is Parker managing the delegation aspect of his job while also getting his vision across to the rest of the coaches?
"I've had some really good examples to learn from with Mike Elko, Mike Pettine, Ejiro Evero, Vance Joseph, and Vic [Fangio] they did that," Parker said. "So, I saw that in that style. So, really just what was comfortable for me, meeting a lot together, explaining the vision, getting that input, us having a collective shared vision on what we want because it's our defense.
"I don't want to be called the Eagles defense or Vic's defense, this is going to be ours. We've been really intentional about that process from language that we use, the workflow that we have. So, it's been real fun."
Many expect Parker's defense in Dallas to be similar to Fangio's in Philadelphia, but obviously with Christian's own flavor thrown in.
With Caleb Downs seen as the quarterback of the defense, he'll be responsible for helping to get Parker's vision off the ground this offseason. Of course, it isn't all on Caleb; other veterans like Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, and Rashan Gary will help too.
But make no mistake, Parker has made it known that while there will be elements of Fangio's defense in his scheme, this will be his scheme, not one of his predecessors.
It's his and his alone, and how it looks in 2026 will perhaps be the one thing that can make or break the Cowboys' season.