The Dallas Cowboys new defensive coordinator had his introductory press conference Wednesday, one curiously absent of owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas Cowboys fans got their first glimpse of what the team’s defense might look like under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker in a quite productive introductory press conference on Wednesday. He was joined by head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Interestingly, owner Jerry Jones did not make a usual appearance. That sort of allowed for a focused presser that gave real answers about a Cowboys defense that essentially needs a rebuild.
Parker is the youngest coordinator in franchise history at 34 years old and has been a position coach in the NFL since 2021 – most recently, he was the Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator for the last two seasons. He’s tasked with turning around a defense that allowed the most points per game and were bottom three in the league in yards per game allowed. Parker was candid about the scheme he wants to run, how the personnel fits, and what Dallas’ plans are in free agency and the like.
Here is the full story from Cowboys Roundtable writer Mike Fisher on 10 key issues and impressions learned from Parker’s insightful presser.
The Cowboys will have two top 20 picks in the 2026 NFL draft, with the Nos. 12 and 20 overall selections. One of the important takeaways from the presser is that Parker intends to push for those to both be spent on defense, showing a full scale plan to fix one of the more broken defenses in the league last year. It was clear that the talent, vision, and scheme were there and greatly improved on Dallas’ offense last season. But if they have any hopes of sniffing the postseason for the first time in three years, Parker will need to lead a defense to match.