There are those who believe Cowboys coach Matt Eberflus should be fired in-season. … with the recent bye week having provided a fine opportunity for a chance.
FRISCO - There are, I suppose, sound and justifiable reasons for the Jones family and the Dallas Cowboys to continue to back flailing and failing defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
But “revisionist history’’ shouldn’t be one of them.
Dallas has spent most of this season allowing over 31 points per game, with a defensive that serves as an albatross around the neck of a team that’s a lowly 3-5-1.
There are those who believe Eberflus should be fired in-season. … with the recent bye week having provided a fine opportunity for a chance.
Team owners Jerry and Stephen Jones feels differently, and if their reason is stability? I get that. But COO Stephen is suggesting that he’s hopeful that Eberflus will remain as coordinator beyond this season.
And that I do not get.
“(We hope) the situation is going to continue to evolve, which I know it will,’’ Jones told 105.3 The Fan. “Coach Eberflus has been a high-end coach. … “He was a really top coordinator throughout his stay in Indianapolis, where it got him the head job in the NFL, which we all know is difficult. And then he had really good defenses (as the head coach) in Chicago.’’
Eberflus’ resume - even after being fired by the Bears last year - isn’t the problem. Eberflus got this job in part because of his accomplishments and in part because because he’d spent time in the Cowboys organization from 2011 to 2017.
The Joneses like stability and familiarly. That’s cool.
But Jerry is also saying that one reason to keep Eberflus around is “regret.’’ He’s suggesting that he’s been too quick to change defensive coordinators in the recent past.
And situationally speaking … he’s wrong.
In 2020, head coach Mike McCarthy gave the job to one of his best pals, Mike Nolan. It was a disaster. Nolan was canned. “Regret’’? No way.
A couple of years later, Dan Quinn was the coordinator. Jerry didn’t orchestrate a change; DQ got the head coaching job in Washington. “Regret’’? Not a factor.
Last year, long-time Cowboys guy Mike Zimmer did the Joneses a favor and took the job. Should they have retained him? Not possible, and here’s the scoop: Zimmer tells me he was told by the Joneses to “hang tight’’ after the firing of McCarthy, the suggestion being that he’d get interviewed for the top job.
“All I ever wanted,’’ Zimmer tells me with a chuckle, “was to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.’’
But the Joneses fell in love with Brian Schottenheimer and hired him - reneging on their promise to Zimmer. And after that? Zimmer wasn’t coming back to work here.
So no room for “regret’’ there, either.
Meanwhile … Eberflus’ stubborn marriage to a zone defense combined with a dislike for blitzing has been problematic. Blown coverages and missed assignments are a plague here.
Does all of this make Eberflus a bad coach? Not necessarily.
Does it make him a coach who deserves a hug from ownership? Not at all.Said Schottenheimer recently: “I’ve been where people are calling you out and saying you don’t know how to coach and, ‘Man, this guy is the worst coach in history.’ Matt Eberflus is a damn good football coach. We have to perform better. …
“We’re gonna ride this thing out. And we’ll play better. We really will.”
Maybe. But based on Stephen’s remarks, even if Dallas’ defense doesn’t play better, Eberflus might have a comfy future home here. And Cowboys fans have every right to be bothered by that vision.