Cowboys look for defensive tweaks from Zimmer, not total rebuild: ‘Football is still football’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The new DC will be expected to implement an improved scheme in Dallas but show results quickly in what is shaping up to be a prove-it year.

Often, a first-year coordinator means a long, slow turn from the unit he’s taking over. Personnel moves, new assistants, changes in scheme, revamped verbiage and terminology, and plain old fit within the rest of the organization is what often marks a coordinator’s first year on the job… and frequently results in growing pains in the field.

Mike McCarthy and the 2024 Cowboys don’t have the luxury of waiting for things to gradually develop on the defensive side of the ball, with more and more indicators pointing to a total reset in 2025 if this season falls short of anything but a very strong showing in a conference championship.

So newly-hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who’s been on various NFL sidelines for most of the past three decades, is already off and running with his staff in Dallas.

“They’re in there early, the defensive staff, and they’re just grinding away. They’re spending a ton of time together,” McCarthy told reporters this week while in Orlando for the annual league meeting.

But while the Cowboys definitely need a refresh after a 2023 that saw the defense exposed several times- especially in the postseason- as the team’s weakness, Zimmer apparently won’t be trying to reinvent the wheel as he implements his philosophy.

“Football is still football,” explained McCarthy. “We’re still going to line up with 11 players on defense, Mike’s going to still run some of the common concepts that our players are engaged with, but it’s really the utilization of how we get to them. It’s got to flow. And that will play to our strength, because Mike’s called a lot of games in this league. He has a lot of experience with his system, and to get it in properly, we definitely have the time to get that done.”

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Right now, it’s coaches in meeting rooms. It’s reviewing game film. It’s drawing up Xs and Os on a whiteboard. It’s football gameplanning, but it’s all theoretical. Soon, it will be about flesh-and-blood players bringing those concepts to life on the practice field… maybe in just a slightly different way than the returning veterans will remember from last year.

“The biggest thing for the players will be communication; that will be the first thing that hits them,” admitted McCarthy. “But it always comes down to the nitty-gritty, and it’ll be techniques, alignment, stance, philosophy, utilization of the body types. So much has been made of our run defense. We need to take another step. Statistically, we have improved each year in that area, but it’s still not good enough. We’ve got to play the run first and be more situation-conscious with that. It can’t be all about sacks.”

The run defense has gotten better over the past three seasons, at least incrementally. In 2021, the Cowboys allowed opponents 4.5 yards per carry. In 2022, it was 4.4. Last year: 4.2.

But that’s still just middle of the pack among all NFL defenses. Zimmer has plenty of work to do. And since the team has lost several playmakers and done precious little in the way of adding experienced free agents (aside from linebacker Eric Kendricks, one of Zimmer’s former Vikings players), the new coordinator will have to hope for some fresh talent to work with via the draft.

With holes still to fill at every level of the defense, Zimmer, McCarthy, and the Cowboys definitely have a type they like.

“The most important thing about a system is to have the flexibility to accommodate all the players that you bring into your building,” the coach said. “I think you’ve got to watch on how stringent and structured you are, but I don’t think you can be big enough or have enough length, particularly in that defensive front. We’ll continue to work to that profile.”

So make changes, but not too many. And not too drastic. Except in the right areas. And do it mostly with what we already have in-house. And most important of all, do it in a hurry.

Got it, Zim?

It’s not a tear-down, it’s an express-lane tune-up. And hopefully it’s enough to get the Cowboys where they want to go in 2024.

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‘The defense is the thermostat’: Cowboys’ McCarthy wants more consistency from Zimmer’s unit

From @ToddBrock24f7: “When we win the championship, it’ll be because of our complementary football,” said McCarthy. He’s looking at you, Mike Zimmer.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has no doubt that his team is capable of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. And this week at the league meeting in Orlando, he laid out exactly what it will take to make that happen.

“When we win the championship,” McCarthy told a gathering of reporters, “it’ll be because of our complementary football. That’s what wins championships.”

Now entering his second season as the offensive play-caller in Dallas, McCarthy is clearly confident that his own unit is up to the task. After all, they led the league in points in 2023. The tacit implication, of course, is that Dan Quinn’s defense is what cost the Cowboys too many times in 2023… and certainly when it mattered most.

The way McCarthy sees it, it’ll be up to new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to raise the bar in 2024.

“The defense is the thermostat of your football team,” McCarthy explained. “And the offense and the defense need to complement one another, because the defense always should have the ability to keep you in the game. The offense needs to go win the game.”

Dak Prescott & Co. generally did last season, putting 30 or more points on the board 10 times out of 17 (though many of those points admittedly came from defensive scores). The Cowboys’ high-powered offense also led in first downs and finished top-three in offensive plays run and top-five in yards amassed.

But there were simply too many instances when the defense under Quinn dug too big a hole for the offense to climb their way out of.

In four of the team’s five regular-season losses, Dallas found themselves trailing by double digits at some point. And the team’s three lowest point outputs of the year (Buffalo, San Francisco, Arizona) came in contests where they were behind by 12 or more points in the second quarter.

When the defense was cold, the offense couldn’t get the pilot light fired.

“Yeah, you always want to score in the 30s,” McCarthy noted. “But when you get in those games, one has to pick up for the other. And if you look at our last game, that clearly wasn’t evident.”

The first-round playoff flop versus Green Bay was perhaps the most embarrassing example of the defense going into hibernation, with the Cowboys staring up at a 27-0 deficit before halftime.

With over two months of hindsight, though, McCarthy is at least able to reflect on the positive strides the team made in what ultimately proved to be a disappointing year.

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“A big focal point for us going into ’23 was we needed to take care of the football better, and we needed to win the time of possession and get the snaps down [in terms] of how long our defense is on the field. And we accomplished that at a high level,” the coach said.

“Those are the things that, to me, outside of winning the game, are most important because that breeds the consistency of putting yourself in position to win.”

But now actually capitalizing on that position- and doing so in the playoffs- will fall largely on how the defense responds to Zimmer, his new staff, and the new scheme he implements across the ball from McCarthy in Dallas.

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Shoulder surgeries continue disappointing career starts of Cowboys’ Smith, Schoonmaker

Dallas revealed their two top draft picks from 2023 are going to be out for the duration of the offseason calendar. | From @ArmyChiefW3

This past season was essentially a wash for the Cowboys’ 2023 draft class. None of the first three players selected for the club were able to make a significant impact last year, a rare occasion for a club with a reputation for knocking drafts out the park. Second-year impact is now the focus, but that hasn’t gotten off to a great start, either.

Talking at the NFL’s spring league meetings, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy revealed that 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith underwent shoulder surgery this offseason. The injury news didn’t stop there as he revealed second-round tight end Luke Schoonmaker also had shoulder surgery. The Michigan product injured himself during training and underwent the procedure last week.

Smith underwent the surgery shortly after the season concluded and is He’s expected to miss anywhere between four-to-six months, making him unavailable to participate in upcoming OTAs and mini camps.

Dallas used the 26th overall pick on the massive defensive tackle from Michigan in hopes of shoring up their run defense. His rookie season did not go as planned and his play was overshadowed by weight loss questions. Something McCarthy also addressed on the second day of the league gatherings.

Smith played in all 17 games his rookie season but only lined up for 28% of the overall snaps. With the Cowboys reluctant to bring in any outside free agents, expecting Smith to play a significant role in year two has social media in an uproar. This is especially true after veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins chose to sign with Seattle over Dallas.

Schoonmaker’s timeline is expected to be similar to that of Smith. The backup tight end caught eight passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie season.

Both players will miss the majority of team activities but should be ready for training camp tentatively scheduled for late July.

Dallas lost third-round pick DeMarvion Overshown for the season in the final preseason game last year with a torn left ACL. Before the injury, the linebacker turned heads during training camp which could have given this class a different feel.

Cowboys’ McCarthy, Zimmer skipping NFL scouting combine

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys head coach and new defensive coordinator will participate virtually so they can stay in Dallas and prep for the 2024 season.

The NFL world is preparing to descend upon Indianapolis for the 2024 Scouting Combine. But Mike McCarthy and Mike Zimmer will be staying at home in Frisco.

The Cowboys head coach revealed on Friday that he and his newly-hired defensive coordinator will not attend the combine, instead using the week to work on installing their new defensive scheme and finalizing the coaching staff.

“Zim and I will have a full week together here and cover a lot of ground with things we’re working on,” McCarthy told ESPN. “At the same time, we can still participate in the combine process and have direct contact through video calls and meetings, while having our coaches on the ground there as well.”

McCarthy did not attend last year’s combine, either, save for a brief in-person appearance that consisted of a single press conference with reporters. (It was at that presser that McCarthy made his infamous “I want to run the damn ball” remark.) After the Q&A session, the coach flew back to Dallas in preparation of his new role as the offensive play-caller, leaving the tasks of evaluating and meeting with college prospects to other staffers.

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Whether that strategy actually paid off may depend on perspective. The Cowboys offense put up monster numbers in 2023, with Dak Prescott enjoying an MVP-caliber season and CeeDee Lamb setting franchise records. On the other hand, though, the class of rookies the Cowboys eventually plucked from the 2023 combine was thoroughly underwhelming.

McCarthy appears content to once again leave the groundwork in Indy to Will McClay and others within the Cowboys organization.

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Mike Zimmer should be Yin to Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys Yang

Given McCarthy and Quinn were players’ coaches, a disciplinarian like Mike Zimmer is exactly what the Cowboys need to clean up mistakes. So says @ReidDHanson.

Balance is important in leadership, and hopefully for the Cowboys, Mike Zimmer’s addition as defensive coordinator can restore some to the Dallas’ dynamic. By all accounts, the Cowboys roster loves Mike McCarthy. The four-year head coach has endeared himself to the locker room as a leader and as a friend.

Too many tough guys and the troops may revolt. Too many softies and the troops may never take leadership seriously. This good cop/bad cop routine works in crimefighting, battle, parenthood and even coaching.

Dallas’ former defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, had a similar role on the team. Quinn was often seen as one of the guys. He had a knack for relating to players and communicating on a player level. There’s nothing wrong with this style of coaching. Being labeled a “players coach” is actually a compliment in most cases. It’s just when there’s too many players’ coaches and not enough disciplinarians, things have a tendency to get sloppy.

Sloppy and undisciplined are two adjectives that accurately describe the Cowboys’ defense from 2023. Players routinely abandoned their assignments. They missed their run fits and botched their coverage. They sporadically reverted to hero ball, playing run-and-chase rather than execute the actual assignment. It led to a lot of momentum-driven results where one week they would look like the best defense in the NFL, and the next week they resembled the worst defense in the history of mankind.

The addition of Zimmer should change that.

In many ways, Zimmer is the opposite of the man he replaces in Dallas. He’s not dapping players up in practice or even offering up a welcoming smile. Based on his history, he’s not trying to relate or be a friend either. Zimmer is an old school disciplinarian. He’s going to bark orders. He’s going to teach, correct, and hold players accountable.

McCarthy, who resides on the Quinn side of the spectrum, could use a tough authority figure in his locker room. With any luck, some of that toughness could trickle down to the other corners of the team.

There’s no instruction manual explaining the best way to effectively coach NFL players because every player is different, and every situation is different. But throughout his time in Dallas and later Minnesota, Zimmer has effectively coached all brands and personality types and found success with most of them. Much like with the great Bill Parcells, players didn’t always like Zimmer while they played for him, but they certainly appreciated him after the fact.

Zimmer is bringing a culture change to Dallas. It’s something this team has been missing for some time now and should be the perfect complement to McCarthy’s player friendly style.

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Mike Zimmer already has inside track to be Cowboys next head coach

Is the Cowboys defensive coordinator job a steppingstone for Mike Zimmer or a position of contentment? | From @ReidDHanson

He hasn’t even been on the job a week and already the hyperbole flows. But given the situation in Dallas these days, maybe head coach isn’t such a distant thought for the Cowboys’ newly minted defensive coordinator.

When the Cowboys announced Mike Zimmer to be their next defensive coordinator, they generally received positive reviews for the hire. Zimmer, the former head coach of the Vikings, has always been seen as a top NFL mind around the league. And his willingness to adapt and update his defense has allowed him stay on the right side of relevant for roughly 30 years.

Zimmer, who’s ties run deep with the Cowboys, returns to Dallas as a familiar face. Jerry and Stephen Jones are accustomed to working with him and more importantly, he’s accustomed to working with the Joneses. Given his familiarity and his vast defensive success, he represents a low risk hire for a team claiming to be “all in” in 2024.

After seeing a list of candidates, many agree he was the best of the bunch being considered, marking a big win for Dallas. But one has to wonder what made the Cowboys attractive to Zimmer?

Obviously, there are only 32 DC positions in the NFL and when one of those teams offers a job, that coach is going to have an awfully difficult time turning it down. And obviously Zimmer’s ties to Dallas make the transition an easy one from a comfort perspective.

There is also the specific situation that must be considered in Dallas. The Cowboys aren’t exactly the most stable climate in the NFL these days. McCarthy is playing out the final year of his contract as head coach and there’s no telling what things will look like 11 months from now.

Maybe that’s what makes the Cowboys attractive to Zimmer.

Twitter reacts to Mike Zimmer’s return to Cowboys as new DC

A collection of reactions, stats, former-player takes and more to the Cowboys replacing Dan Quinn with another former HC, Mike Zimmer. | From @KDDrumondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have concluded their search for a new defensive coordinator and are bringing back a familiar face. All-in was the phrase Jerry Jones used to describe their approach to the offseason, but it’s questionable whether he intended to be replacing his DC in a season when the head coach, Mike McCarthy, didn’t have much job security. With Dan Quinn departing to lead the way for the rival Washington Commander, Jones and company set out to replace him atop the defensive totem.

That decision landed Mike Zimmer a new job. Out of football for the last two seasons, Zimmer brings a wealth of experience to the table. This will be his third head coach he’s coordinated for in Dallas alone, on the heels of extensive time as the head coach in Minnesota, where he squared off against McCarthy for years.

Twitter, or X if you’re so inclined, had a lot to say about the pursuit and the hire. There’s a wide gamut of reactions to bringing Zimmer in. Some don’t think Dallas’ hiring pool was deep enough, and there are various thought processes as to why the search mostly focused on former head coaches who have been in the league for a long time.

Others believe Zimmer brings a tenacity to Dallas that had been mising and still others chimed in with statistical evidence as to what they expect as the Cowboys look to turn the page from Quinn’s defense that was strong overall, but still had obvious weaknesses when it mattered most.

Here’s a collection of tweets discussing the hiring of Zimmer.

Report: Commanders expected to hire Joe Whitt Jr. away from Cowboys as defensive coordinator

Has Dan Quinn already found his defensive coordinator?

New Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is already putting together his coaching staff.

After Quinn was announced as Washington’s head coach on Thursday, one name began to surface as his potential defensive coordinator for the Commanders: Cowboys passing game coordinator/secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr.

Multiple sources reported Whitt was expected to follow Quinn to Washington, including Aaron Wilson of KPRC TV in Houston.

For anyone who has followed Dallas over the past three seasons with Quinn as defensive coordinator, you’ve noticed all of those turnovers, specifically from cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland. It was Whitt who coached them.

A former walk-on receiver at Auburn, Whitt jumped immediately into coaching after his playing career ended. His first NFL opportunity came with the Falcons in 2007 as an assistant defensive backs coach. The Packers, under current Dallas coach Mike McCarthy, hired Whitt in 2008, and he spent the next 11 seasons in Green Bay.

He spent the 2020 season with Atlanta under Quinn. When Quinn was hired as the Dallas defensive coordinator, Whitt followed him and also reunited with McCarthy. During his time with the Packers, Whitt helped develop numerous cornerbacks, such as Tramon Williams, Davon House, Sam Shields and others.

Whitt has the option to remain in Dallas, potentially replacing Quinn, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.

However, with McCarthy’s job status in question following 2024, Whitt may follow Quinn to Washington. Landing Whitt would be a big hire for Quinn’s new staff.

Commanders hire Cowboys DC Dan Quinn as new head coach

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has agreed to terms with the Washington Commanders to become their new head coach.

After three years at the helm of a top-five defense, Dan Quinn is leaving the Dallas Cowboys. From 2021 through 2023, the Cowboys defense ranked 7th, 6th and 5th in points allowed. They ranked 4th, 4th, 5th in DVOA, a metric that takes into account both opponent quality and game situation. And now, the unit will be looking for a new leader.

There was one opening remaining in the NFL, and one opportunity left for Dan Quinn to return to the head coaching ranks. On Thursday, that came to fruition as the Cowboys defensive coordinator was announced as the new leader of the NFC East rival Washington Commanders.

READ: 3 Internal Candidates to replace Dan Quinn as Cowboys DC

Quinn is known as a fiery leader who players adore, and that seems to be what the new regime in Washington was looking for.

It remains to be seen which assistants Quinn will take with him to Washington, and whether or not Dallas looks outside the organization or promotes someone internally to serve as the coordinator for Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy is entering his fifth season as the head coach in Dallas, without a contract extension that guarantees him anything beyond 2024. And now that job will be with a new voice leading his defense.

 

2 major lessons Cowboys should learn from NFL’s Final Four

If the Cowboys were paying attention to the NFC and AFC battles, they likely learned a couple key lessons about what it takes to win, says @ReidDHanson.

The Cowboys postseason came to an end in what seems like an eternity ago. The 48-32 beatdown by Green Bay was a shocking and painful conclusion to a season that showed true promise. The lessons to be learned from that fateful afternoon were entirely indigestible. At no point did Dallas appear to be in the game, making any kind of analysis a fool’s errand.

But while the postseason may be over for the Cowboys this year, there were still plenty of lessons to be gleaned from the conference finals that took place over the weekend.

Baltimore and Kansas City was a matchup of what many believed to be the best team in the AFC Ravens against the best QB on the planet. The game did not disappoint, with the 11-6 Chiefs winning the upset over the 13-4 Ravens, 17-10.

In the NFC, the top-seeded 49ers hosted the Cinderella Detroit Lions. Despite Detroit getting off to a hot start, the better team eventually prevailed with San Francisco punching their ticket to Super Bowl after their 34-31 win.

Both contests finished as one-possession games and both contests also taught, or better yet, reaffirmed, these lessons for the Cowboys to learn from over the brutally long offseason ahead of them.