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We’ll have more stuff on the hiring of new Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon throughout the week, as there are a lot of angles to examine for what should be the biggest move that the Packers make in the 2026 offseason, but I want to get this one up quickly, because it’s a one-off I believe is interesting. After the Dallas Cowboys hired their own new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who currently works on the Cowboys’ beat and used to work for DallasCowboys.com, spoke to why Dallas didn’t end up hiring Gannon on a podcast.
There are a couple of reasons I think a Cowboys perspective on Gannon would be worth entertaining. First of all, of the Packers’ three known outside interviews for their defensive coordinator search, Dallas brought in three of them (Gannon, Parker and Minnesota Vikings pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Daronte Jones). The only outside candidate that Green Bay reportedly interviewed who wasn’t a Dallas prospect was Chicago Bears pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Al Harris, who was with the Cowboys from 2020 to 2024 as their defensive backs coach.
Secondly, Dallas got a jump on the Packers in their defensive coordinator search, as Matt Eberflus was fired by the team on January 6th. Green Bay’s vacancy didn’t open until January 19th, when Jeff Hafley took the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching opportunity. Because of that, the Cowboys made their hire of Parker on January 22nd, a day before Gannon even had his interview with the Packers. They were able to get a better scope of the market faster, which is completely independent of whether they made the right decision or not (only time will tell).
Third, and possibly most important, is that Dallas and Green Bay are on opposite sides of the secrecy spectrum. Things are mostly tight-lipped with the Packers. Meanwhile, Jerry Jones runs his mouth and tells people whatever he thinks at any given moment. He has no problem complaining about Micah Parsons’ run defense after trading him away, even if he mistakenly calls him Michael double-digit times in a press conference. Jones has leaked the Cowboys’ draft board FOUR different times. There would be heart attacks at 1265 if that ever happened in Green Bay. To say the least, Dallas is a little more loose and media-friendly to the press that hangs around the team, based on conversations I’ve had with members of both beats.
Here’s how the Cowboys viewed Gannon, according to Harris:
Jonathan Gannon on Tuesday [I] was told, hey, this guy is very smart. He understands defenses. He gets it, but can he connect with the players? And I don’t think they got that question answered in their interview process. That was the big thing for Jonathan Gannon. He was a top-two contender from this search from the very jump. Jonathan Gannon has a lot of supporters in Dallas, whether it be Brian Schottenheimer, Clayton Adams or anyone else who has...
