FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys took the easy first step in fixing the 2025 season’s last-ranked scoring defense (30.1 points per game allowed): firing defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus on Tuesday.

Before Dallas gets into making any significant roster changes for their defense, they’ll need a new defensive coordinator to collaborate with in order to have the best fit between scheme and personnel. The Cowboys plan to get their hiring process for their new defensive coordinator going by the end of the week with Dallas COO Stephen Jones saying that’s when they’ll send out interview requests to candidates who don’t have playoff games they’re currently preparing for at the moment. With the Cowboys entering 2026 with their fourth DC in as many seasons, it’s critical Dallas get the hire right, especially with owner and general manager Jerry Jones being 83 years old.

“We’ve got to do a better job of when we have a change that needs to be made for our own volitation. We got to do a better job of picking who’s going in there,” Jerry Jones said Wednesday. “Brian, again, will be very involved in that process as we were last year when we made those changes. We’ll do a very intense, complete, focused job of replacing Eberflus and any holes that are left here because of Flus’ job.

After the Cowboys’ Week 16 home loss against the Los Angeles Chargers, Jerry Jones intimated that the hire of Eberflus was more so his call than first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s in 2025. That’s noteworthy considering most NFL head coaches end up having final say on their coordinator choices.

“Ultimately, you point your finger right back at you on who hired Matt Eberflus,” Jones said back in Week 16. “It’s easy to say you could have done things differently, but that goes with the territory. Any time you make the ultimate decision, then you’ve got to look at that and weigh it.”

So will the next defensive coordinator be a Schottenheimer pick or a Jerry pick? If you take Jones’ word for it after he cracked a geopolitical joke to make it clear he is in charge of the Cowboys, the next defensive coordinator hire will be a collaborative effort.

“Trump just said it ‘I’m running it [Venezuela],” Jones said laughing, joking about who will be running the next Cowboys’ defensive coordinator search. “Seriously, Schotty had everything to do with hiring Matt Eberflus last time. No way in the world is he here with Schotty didn’t want him here. Let me be real clear about that, but I particularly had a part when we got to have him [Eberflus] come in, and I was excited about the uniqueness of his staff.”

Dallas’ last five defensive coordinators — Rod Marinelli (2014-2019), Mike Nolan (2020), Dan Quinn (2021-2023), Mike Zimmer (2024) and Eberflus (2025) — were all former head coaches in the NFL. Jerry Jones did say the Cowboys’ next defensive coordinator wouldn’t have to be a former head coach, and he also said he would be open to the team hiring a first-time NFL coordinator for the role.

What does Schottenheimer want out of his next defensive coordinator? Takeaways, the ability to communicate and scheme flexibility.

“Turnovers create momentum. Those are game-changing plays. … I think we want a teacher. I love what Jerry said. We want to cast a wide net of candidates and find someone that’s a great teacher, a great communicator,” Schottenheimer said on Wednesday. … “We want guys that can say complicated information in a simple manner. … The best coaches, in my opinion, are flexible. So we’re not going to pigeonhole ourselves and say ‘hey, we have to be 3-4, four down [linemen] or whatever it is. I’ve been in the West Coast system, the digit [play calling] system [on offense]. Hell I played for Steve Spurrier in the fun and gun right? Good coaches take the players that they have, they’ve got an identity. They take their players, and they fit their players into the model that fits what they do well.”

So who might the Cowboys be looking at to fill their defensive coordinator vacancy? Here is a look at four prospective candidates.

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Brian Flores: Vikings defensive coordinator

The Minnesota Vikings thrived under Brian Flores’ complex scheme, which blitzed at the highest rate in the NFL (49.5%) this season and helped power Minnesota into racking up 49 sacks, tied for the fourth most in the league. His coaching job was even more impressive when noting how brutal quarterback J.J. McCarthy was in his first season as the team’s starter in 2025. McCarthy ranked dead last in the NFL in completion percentage (57.6%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (0.9; 11 touchdowns, 12 interceptions) and passer rating (72.6).

Providing Flores with a top 10 offense on the other side of the ball, which Dallas had in Year 1 under Schottenheimer, would allow him to get even more creative with a higher chance of playing with more leads. Schottenheimer also routinely praised Flores’ coaching in the lead up to and in the aftermath of the Vikings’ 34-26 victory over the Cowboys in Week 15. Flores is a former NFL head coach, and if gets passed over again in this year’s cycle, his scheme creativity and flexibility would be exactly what Dallas is looking for in its next defensive coordinator.

“Brian Flores was better than me today, and I won’t sleep very good tonight, but I promise you I’ll wake up tomorrow, I’m going to work my ass off and I’m going to figure it out,” Schottenheimer said postgame after facing Flores’ Minnesota defense.

Jonathan Gannon: former Cardinals head coach

The Arizona Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon as their head coach on Monday, but before that role, he was the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles during their 2022 run to Super Bowl LVII when they came up three points short of Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs in a 38-35 defeat. Being with the Eagles, he obviously knows the NFC East. Gannon coached alongside current Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams when they were both assistants with the Indianapolis Colts, and Gannon hired him as his Cardinals offensive line coach.

Raheem Morris: former Falcons head coach

Before being fired as the Atlanta Falcons head coach on Sunday, Raheem Morris was the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023. The Rams were the Super Bowl LVI champions to conclude the 2021 NFL season with Morris as their DC. That year he coached one of the best defensive tackles of all time in three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. In Dallas, he would have All-Pro Quinnen Williams, three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark and the up-and-coming Osa Odighizuwa.

Morris has also been a cornerbacks coach, secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator with various NFL teams, so he has experience that could help Dallas fix the NFL’s worst pass defense in 2025 that allowed 251.5 passing yards per game.

Jim Leonhard: Broncos assistant coach/pass game coordinator

Schottenheimer’s and Jim Leonhard’s relationship goes all the way back to their days with the New York Jets over 15 years ago where Schottenheimer was the offensive coordinator (2008-2011) and Leonhard played safety (2008-2011). Leonhard was a defensive coordinator at the college level for his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin (2017-2022), and he even served as the interim head coach in 2022. He’s been with the Broncos since the 2024 season, and earned the additional title of assistant head coach in 2025. If current Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph doesn’t get a head-coaching job, Leonhard could be amicable to becoming the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator.

“Yeah, I saw Jim before we played Denver. Jim is a heck of a football coach. You talk about just a great football player man. We had some great years together in New York,” Schottenheimer said. … “You got to speak to what Sean [Payton] and that entire staff has done there, and [defensive coordinator] Vance Joseph I obviously got a ton of respect for. So Jim’s an excellent coach.”

Aden Durde: Seahawks defensive coordinator

Aden Durde and Schottenheimer overlapped on Mike McCarthy’s coaching staff when Durde worked as the defensive line coach under Dan Quinn from 2021 to 2023, helping develop Micah Parsons into an All-Pro. Durde departed Dallas to become the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator under head coach Mike Macdonald, but Macdonald calls the defensive plays. A Cowboys return would be a promotion for Durde in terms of job responsibilities even though his title would remain defensive coordinator.