Tag: Mike Zimmer

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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Another former Commanders’ defensive assistant heading to the Cowboys

More coaching movement between the Cowboys and Commanders.

When the Washington Commanders hired former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to be their new head coach, there were bound to be some assistants who followed Quinn.

One was former Dallas secondary coach/pass game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. Whitt, who followed Quinn from Atlanta to Dallas, joined him in Washington as his new defensive coordinator. It was a long overdue promotion for Whitt, who will call the Commanders’ defensive plays.

The Commanders attempted to hire others, but the Cowboys blocked the moves. Whitt received a promotion; therefore, Dallas couldn’t stop him from leaving. Also following Quinn and Whitt was assistant defensive line coach Sharrif Floyd, who will have the same role with Washington.

How did Dallas replace Quinn? Before the Cowboys hired Mike Zimmer, they interviewed recently fired Washington coach Ron Rivera. While Rivera didn’t get the job, Dallas did hire former Washington defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina.

Now, another former Commanders assistant is heading to the Cowboys.

On Friday, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reported that former Washington defensive assistant Cristian Garcia was joining Dallas as a defensive quality control assistant.

When Rivera fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer in November — after a blowout loss to the Cowboys — he took over as Washington’s defensive play-caller. He also gave Garcia a promotion as the interim defensive backs coach. Garcia would help Rivera in game planning over the Commanders’ final five games of 2023.

A University of Florida graduate, Garcia joined Washington in 2021 as a defensive coaching assistant. In 2022, he was moved to a defensive quality control coach before being promoted to assistant defensive backs coach/nickels in 2023.

 

Did Micah Parsons criticize Commanders’ Dan Quinn?

Parsons wants a fresh start? Was he being critical of Dan Quinn after repeatedly praising him recently?

Dan Quinn spent the last three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator, and now his best defensive player had something to say about it.

Micah Parsons appeared this week on the “Stephen A. Smith Show” and expressed his excitement to play for the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer.

“I just want to play winning football,” Parsons said. “I want everybody to be accountable. I want everybody locked in. What I hear is Zimmer’s one of them guys that’s gonna have everybody accountable… I just want a fresh start. I just want to change the culture, identity of the Dallas Cowboys and win a championship.”

Was Parsons implying Quinn did not keep everyone on the defense accountable? What did Parsons mean by “I just want a fresh start?” What was Quinn’s culture in Dallas that you “want to change the culture and identity of the Dallas Cowboys?” Here is the story in “The Landry Hat.”

This is all a surprise seeing that when Quinn was hired by the Commanders as their new head coach, Parsons praised Quinn, “They’re getting a real upstanding, outstanding guy, man,” Parsons said of Quinn. “I hope those players buy in and play extremely hard for him and understand that ain’t no one going to love them and care more about them than Dan Quinn.”

Parsons did not elaborate on what he meant by everyone being accountable and the culture change and identity change needed by the Cowboys. Whatever he did mean, the past is now behind Quinn as he has begun his second opportunity as an NFL head coach, this time in Washington.

Quinn replaces Ron Rivera, who did not have a winning record in his four seasons as Washington’s head coach. Commanders fans are starving and looking to Quinn to bring winning seasons. Washington has not accomplished a winning record since the 2015 and 2016 seasons when Jay Gruden was head coach and Kirk Cousins the quarterback.

Cowboys News: Familiar free agents, Most valuable franchise in sports

Familiar free agents that could sign in Dallas along with franchise tag options. | From @ArmyChiefW3

The Cowboys will get every chance to prove they are “all in” once the new league year begins and free agents can choose where they want to go. A new system requires different players, so tracking down a few familiar names would be a great place to start the defensive overhaul. A mainstay from that side of the ball may not be able to return from a serious injury sustained last season.

The swing tackle position was infamously highlighted a few years back and fortifying the position has become a yearly item to check off the the list. Has the team found a long-term replacement? The franchise tag has been used often in Dallas lately but this year could break a surprising streak. Cowboys tight end Jason Ferguson discusses how he prepared for the 2023 season with the national media. A Cowboys big board, Jimmy Johnson saving the boys, a new addition to the staff, and a collection of guesses at who Dallas takes with their first pick round out this edition of Cowboys news and notes.

Cowboys Free Agency Targets: 8 defenders who played for Zimmer, staff

When coaches find new digs, they often bring in former players to help lead in the new system. Here are some fun ideas for the Cowboys to consider as the league year approaches. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have a brand new defensive staff, and with that they will have the opportunity to try and shore up the one issue the unit had in 2023; variance. The Dallas Cowboys had a ton of great performances under Dan Quinn over the last three seasons. Twice the led the NFL in turnovers and two different defensive backs had all-time great NFL seasons under Quinn. Trevon Diggs had the most interceptions in a single season in over 40 years in 2011 and DaRon Bland set the all-time Pick-6 record in 2023. But there were enough performances where the defense didn’t show up, most notably the wild-card loss to the upstart Green Bay Packers, that showed the unit was not all it was cracked up to be.

Now, Mike Zimmer is in charge and while the front office may not rain down on him with draft picks to improve his unit in Year 1, there’s probably a sizable free agent haul awaiting him and his new staff. Often times, coaches like to bring in players who are familiar with their systems and who they know they can trust as bridges to the other veterans they are inheriting.

Zimmer worked for Cincinnati as their DC from 2008 through 2013 and was the head coach of Minnesota from 2014 through 2021. Between his former players and those who suited up for new DL coach Jeff Zgonina (Washington 2020-2023, San Francisco 2017-2018) or run-defense coordinator Paul Guenther (Cincinnati DC 2014-2017, Oakland LB coach 2018-2020) there are a handful of current free agents who might be interested in reunions.

Here are the six names, and where they rank on PFF’s list of top 200 free agents heading into 2024. In addition, there are two players who are currently under contract but could be released before the new league year kicks in who would be under consideration.

Cowboys’ best Zimmer-style LB may not be back in 2024

Leighton Vander Esch fits the Mike Zimmer mold as a LB but neck issues may prevent him from returning to the Cowboys and the NFL. | From @ReidDHanson

There’s good news and bad news: The good news is the Cowboys new defensive coordinator wants to fix an issue that plagued the defense in 2023. The bad news is the perfect solution on the roster may not be returning.

When asked about the Cowboys most obvious change under Zimmer in 2024, both Nick Eatman and Patrik Walker pointed to the linebacker position. It’s a sentiment echoed by many in the industry, refencing Zimmer’s time in Minnesota and previous stops in Cincinnati and Dallas many years prior.

Zimmer likes big LBs. He likes guys who can hit, fill gaps, and keep passing windows narrow. He likes smart guys who know their assignments and execute their assignments. No guess work. No hero ball.

Truth be told, long and rangy LBs have never truly fallen out of fashion in the NFL but as the potency of the passing game has increased, so too has the prioritization of speed and coverage. This prioritization has paved the way for undersized LBs and even tweeners to break through. Look no further than Markquese Bell and Jayron Kearse who served tweener roles in Dallas under Dan Quinn.

Yet, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, and in the NFL that means offenses have taken notice of all the undersized players in the box and adapted accordingly. While the passing game is still king in the NFL, the running the ball is back en vogue.

Shanahan offenses in particular have been masters of running the ball behind various personnel mismatches. And it’s no secret offenses stemming from the Shanahan coaching tree have had high degree of success against the Cowboys in both phases of the game.

Zimmer, on the other hand, has been successful against those Shanahan offenses and one of the reasons why is the linebackers he uses within his system aren’t easy mismatched in the running game or liabilities in the passing game.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the LB that best fits Zimmer’s brand of LB play is none other than Leighton Vander Esch. Vander Esch, 6-foot-4, 256-pounds, is Dallas biggest LB and also arguably the most disciplined. The veteran playmaker is the leader of the unit in both brains and brawn. After he fell to injury last season the falloff in play was significant. Not just from his vacated spot but in the play across the LB ranks.

It’s that very injury which may prevent the 28-year-old from returning to field. While everything is pure speculation at this point, Vander Esch has a history of serious back/neck injuries and suffers from cervical spinal stenosis. Jerry Jones indicated Vander Esch’s long-term future was in jeopardy when the Cowboys placed him on IR last season, and nothing said publicly since has indicated otherwise.

Fixing the LB issue in Dallas is going to take some work. It’s not just a one or two man overhaul but potentially an overhaul of the entire unit. That’s not to say there isn’t optimism around DeMarvion Overshown or Damone Clark, but even they come with risk and varying degrees on concern in regards to size, experience, and discipline.

One thing is clear – before any LB overhaul can find success the Cowboys have to fix their issues on the defensive line. A LB is only as good as the lineman in front of him so it’s important the Cowboys find something in free agency to shore up the middle. Luckily for them this is a strong DT free agent class.

The Cowboys have the perfect Zimmer LB on the roster. Unfortunately, there’s a better than zero chance he’ll never play the game again.

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Former draft pick Eric Scott could find new life under Cowboys’ Mike Zimmer

Eric Scott didn’t contribute for the Cowboys as a rookie, but with roster changes and Mike Zimmer on board, he could break through in 2024. | From @ReidDHanson

The 2023 NFL draft was full of surprises for Cowboys fans. From the selection of a defensive tackle in the first round, to the seemingly panic-driven over-drafting of a TE in the second, to the c ‘est la vie approach to the RB position, Dallas did much to spark heated discussions across the fanbase.

But for as unpredictable and controversial as many of their decisions were that fateful weekend, one selection stood out amongst the rest as particularly puzzling: sixth round pick Eric Scott Jr. from Southern Miss.

When the Cowboys picked Scott, draft analysts went scrambling. Franticly flipping through notes, sharing panicked looks, and filling the broadcast with enough empty words and sound fillers to make even the most hardened speech teacher cringe.

Dane Brugler, the benchmark in all things draft, had Scott listed as his 60th ranked CB in the class. He only profiled the top 46. Many were at a loss for words, especially because the Cowboys didn’t just sit back and settle for Scott, they aggressively pursued him.

Trading a 2024 fifth-round pick to Kansas City, the Cowboys jumped into the top of the sixth and selected a hardly-known CB just nine spots after selecting Asim Richards in the fifth. It’s possible a spirited discussion at the Richards pick led to an “ok then, let’s try to pick them both” type of situation.

Regardless, it was clear the Cowboys wanted Scott and saw something most draft experts did not. It made him a fun storyline to follow in minicamps and the preseason and will likely make him a fun one again in 2024, even if he is seen as the forgotten draft pick from the 2023 class.

Scott graded out as a big, strong, athletically gifted prospect in the draft process. But a reported quad injury tanked his 40-time, causing him to fall on many boards. The Cowboys saw him as one of the most explosive players in the draft. That explosiveness, a trait they value greatly, was seen from Scott early in his offseason work in Dallas.

The 6-foot-1, 204-pound CB, was a standout in OTAs. With Trevon Diggs and Nahshon Wright sitting out, Scott got first-team reps and showed many in attendance why the Cowboys moved up for him. Eventually the logjam at CB and his rawness as a prospect caught up for him and Scott’s rookie season essentially served as a redshirt year for the 25-year-old prospect.

In 2024 the scene has changed considerably. Stephon Gilmore and Jourdan Lewis are both free agents and Dan Quinn has been replaced by Mike Zimmer. Opportunities on the roster should be there for Scott and the scheme of Zimmer should work to Scott’s advantage as well.

Zimmer loves big physical CBs who can play man, play the ball, and make tackles in space. That’s Scott. A full year in the Cowboys program and a full offseason to absorb Zimmer’s schemes will allow Scott to start on a level playing field with the other supportive DBs on the roster.

It’s likely Scott won’t be challenging for a top-3 spot anytime soon, but a strong presence on special teams will go a long way in carving out a depth role in 2024. Scott played predominantly on the boundary in college, taking 499 snaps outside, compared to just 48 as a slot/box player in 2022. But if he can prove capable of inside/outside versatility it could be all he needs to jump to the top of the reserve pecking order.

He’s a fun player to think about in Zimmer’s defense and someone everyone should have an eye on over the summer.

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Former Cowboys head coach criticizes Dan Quinn

Dave Campo happens to be the worst coach in Cowboys’ history.

The Dallas Cowboys have had nine head coaches in the 64-year history of the franchise. Only one of those coaches finished his tenure in Dallas with a losing record: Dave Campo.

Campo was the Dallas head coach from 2000-02 and had a 15-33 record in three seasons. Campo replaced Chan Gailey and was replaced by the legendary Bill Parcells.

To say Campo bleeds Cowboys’ blue would be an understatement. He arrived in Dallas with Jimmy Johnson in 1989. After serving as an assistant under Johnson, Barry Switzer, and Gailey, Campo got his shot at leading the franchise in 2000.

After he was fired and had stints with the Browns and Jaguars, he returned to the Cowboys in 2008 as the defensive backs coach for four seasons under Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett.

Since leaving Dallas after 2011, Campo served as an assistant with the Kansas Jayhawks and, most recently, a two-year stint with the USC Trojans (2018-19) as an analyst.

Campo still follows the Cowboys closely and is friends with Dallas’ new defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer. Campo and Zimmer first worked together in 1981 at Weber State. They were reunited with the Cowboys in 1994 when Switzer hired Zimmer as a defensive assistant.

After six seasons as a defensive assistant, Campo promoted Zimmer to defensive coordinator in 2000 when he took over as head coach. When Campo was fired, Parcells kept Zimmer as his defensive coordinator.

Safe to say, Campo is happy to see his old friend back in charge of the Dallas defense.

But what about the Cowboys’ former defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn? Quinn departed after leading the Cowboys defense for three seasons to become the new head coach of the Washington Commanders.

Campo had some criticism for Quinn.

“From a culture standpoint…… I’ll just say one thing this way,” Campo said in an appearance on the San Antonio Sports Star, as transcribed by Blogging the Boys.

“I know Dan Quinn very well. I was not in the office, in the building, I’m here in Jacksonville, so I saw a bunch of the games. I saw that game. I’m going a little bit on some hearsay. But I think the one thing about Dan is he’s a fine gentleman, and he’s smart, and his scheme was okay, but he was a little bit too buddy-buddy, I think, with the players, and that’s part of it. You can’t have a lot of accountability if you don’t stand a little bit above it of the people that you’re trying to get to be accountable.”

Campo then criticized Quinn’s defense for being too small.

It’s fair to criticize Quinn’s unit for being too small and unable to stop the run, but his three-year run in charge of the Cowboys’ defense was the best three-year run that side of the ball has had in ages.

Quinn’s defense led the NFL in turnovers by a wide margin over the past three years and finished in the top five of FTN’s defensive DVOA in each of his three seasons. While many will remember the blowout loss to the Packers more than Quinn’s success, that isn’t a fair way to judge his tenure in Dallas.

His players will miss him. And fans, if the defense takes a step back under Zimmer, will miss him, too.

As they say, you never know what you have until it’s gone. Ask Eagles coach Nick Sirianni about that after losing both coordinators last offseason.

Campo sticking up for Zimmer is not a surprise. Once it was revealed that Zimmer would return to the Cowboys, Campo said the following on Twitter.

No one knows how Quinn’s tenure in Washington will turn out, but Campo’s comments are one-sided and well-timed. When you base your public comments on hearsay, that’s never a good look.

While Campo may be beloved by some segments of the Dallas fan base, he had a .313 winning percentage as head coach. As Parcells often said, “You are what your record says you are.”

Micah, Mike and the Mike: Zimmer’s scheme, personality will determine Cowboys success in 2024

A video dive into the fronts, coverages new DC Mike Zimmer will deploy in Dallas, along with the most important question of player buy-in. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The relationship between a defensive coordinator and his troops is not an insignificant one. Especially in Dallas, where that role is essentially head coach of the defense and the DC operates with relative autonomy over his side of the ball.

Going from a player’s coach to a no-nonsense disciplinarian is not always going to be a smooth transition. On the latest episode of Catch This Fade, PFF editor John Owning joined to discuss the Cowboys’ hiring of Mike Zimmer to replace Dan Quinn. Amidst the conversation about the types of fronts Zimmer will deploy to hopefully improve Dallas’ run defense, and the complex secondary coverages he will deploy and require his DBs to sync within, is conversation about how Micah Parsons will take to the dramatic shift in tone during practice.