The Cowboys' coordinator search faces a new challenge as Jim Leonhard, a top candidate, may draw interest from John Harbaugh's Giants.
FRISCO - When the Dallas Cowboys fired Matt Eberflus after a horrific 2025 season, many obviously wondered who the team would hire to replace him.
But perhaps another important question to ask was bout how wide their search would be.
We know that over the years, Dallas' coaching "searches" have sometimes featured only handful of candidates. ... many of them tied mostly to "The Jerry Tree.''
So, there was hope that with head coach Brian Schottenheimer now in the big chair, things would be different.
Well, Schotty spoke at the end-of-season press conference that he wanted to cast a wide net in search of the next defensive coordinator.
That's a start.
But we know that owner Jerry Jones often likes to lead these searches, and that led some to think this would follow the same lines.
Thankfully it hasn't.
A source tells us that Schottenheimer has "both hands on the wheel" of this coordinator search.
And if you were under any inclination that it wasn't true, just look at how many candidates the Cowboys have either already interviewed, or have requested permission to interview.
- Christian Parker
- Charlie Bunnen
- Jim Leonhard
- Daronte Jones
- Ephraim Banda
- Jonathan Gannon
- Aaron Whitecotton
- Zach Orr
- Demarcus Covington
That's nine already, and we would imagine that more will follow.
None of this means that there might not be obstacles to finding the right guy, of course. A new such obstacle?
The Giants are hiring John Harbaugh as their head coach. Meanwhile, a top Dallas candidate for the coordinator job here is Denver's Leonhard.
But ...
Now comes buzz that Leonhard might be on Harbaugh's wish list in New York.
Oh-oh.
Connective tissue? Yup, as in 2008, Harbaugh was a rookie head coach in Baltimore and one of his safeties was ... Jim Leonhard.
Meanwhile ...
Dallas hasn't interviewed Brian Flores or Jim Schwartz yet, in part because both are seeking head coaching jobs. If that idea falls through, then Dallas might circle back.
So, it is one thing here is Schottenheimer is staying true to his word: Turn over every stone to get the right person.
We often talk in this space about interviewing 15 or more candidates; Dallas is on the path toward doing that.
But suddenly it seems that maybe it's not just the Cowboys picking a coordinator ...
It's also - even with Leonhard - about a coordinator picking the Cowboys.