A former first-round draft pick is coming back to the Cowboys after a long time away.
Greg Ellis, a fixture at defensive end in Dallas for 11 seasons though 2008, has been hired as the team’s next assistant defensive line coach, it was revealed on Friday. He’ll work under Jeff Zgonina, the D-line coach whose addition was announced the same day.
Ellis was the eighth overall pick in 1998, the North Carolina player infamously chosen by Dallas over wide receiver Randy Moss that year. Mike Zimmer was his defensive coordinator for Ellis’s last nine years as a Cowboy, including his 2007 Pro Bowl season, for which he was also named NFL Comeback Player of the Year following a 2006 Achilles tear.
He compiled 77 sacks as a Cowboy and added 502 tackles, 75 tackles for loss, 34 QB hits, 41 passes defended, 20 forced fumbles, four interceptions, and two touchdowns- one by fumble return and one pick-six.
The Cowboys are hiring former first-round pick Greg Ellis as an assistant defensive line coach, the team can confirm.
Ellis has served as the head coach for Texas College and SAGU and will now get his first NFL opportunity with the team that began his NFL career in 1998. pic.twitter.com/qR82R9i2sP
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) February 16, 2024
After his 2009 release by the Cowboys, Ellis played one season with the Raiders.
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Ellis returned to football in 2020 when he was named head coach at the NAIA’s Texas College, an HBCU located in Tyler. That season’s schedule was canceled due to COVID-19; Ellis led the Steers to an 0-11 record in 2021. The next year saw him move to Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, where he took the Lions to a 7-3 mark in 2022 and a 4-6 record last season.
His new role with the Cowboys will mark his first foray into coaching at the NFL level.
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