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The Dallas Cowboys will be under new but familiar leadership next season as they’ve hired Brian Schottenheimer as the team’s head coach. Though there will be some familiar faces returning, some will be leaving, and one of them is defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, according to Cowboys reporter Ed Werner.
“Mike Zimmer tells me that he will not be returning to the Cowboys as a member of Brian Schottenheimer’s coaching staff and will likely retire from coaching in the NFL,” Werder wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Zimmer served as defensive coordinator last season. Cowboys likely to hire Matt Eberflus as DC, per sources.”
Zimmer was in his second stint with the Cowboys, as he was on the staff from 1994-2006 and was the defensive coordinator for the past seven years. Between that time, he ran the defense for the Cincinnati Bengals for six years and spent eight years as the Minnesota Vikings head coach.
Matt Eberflus, who was fired from the Chicago Bears during the season, is now the top candidate to be the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys.
Over the past few days, many fans have not been fond of the hiring of Schottenheimer, including former players of the team. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones feels the opposite, and is excited about his choice to make him the head coach, according to Jordan Schultz.
“He’s someone around the league who is viewed as someone who acquiesces to Jerry Jones,” Schultz said on The Herd. “Now, Mike McCarthy, I believe, Jerry Jones really believed, wanted to stay, and he would be able to retain him. Jerry got very behind in the process, did not preemptively reach out to new coaches, Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, reaching out to the Lions, he did not do that. He became way behind and as a result, not only does he not get a top-tier head coach, but he has no plan of how to operate moving forward. The Cowboys have no plan, and this is what happens when you just wing it.”
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