Frisco, Texas — Expect new but familiar faces [back] He will join the Dallas Cowboys in 2024. Mike Zimmer, a longtime assistant and position coach in Dallas at the end of the century, has agreed to terms on a new contract to take over the role of defensive coordinator, multiple reports say, including Dan Quinn's departure to the Washington Commanders. This includes NFL.com, which became vacant as a result.
At Thursday's NFL Honors, owner/GM Jerry Jones said on the red carpet that he has been talking to “future” defensive coaches and plans to close a deal with Zimmer soon by the end of the night.
A day after the Cowboys held an internal interview with defensive line coach Aden Durde, Zimmer was among the top names interviewed for the position, along with former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera.
A meeting scheduled for Monday with Joe Whitt Jr. was canceled Sunday when he accepted Quinn's offer to join him in Washington as the team's defensive coordinator.
And with that comes a major overhaul of the Cowboys' defensive coaching staff.
For Zimmer, it's a reunion with the Dallas front office and an immediate partnership with Mike McCarthy, who manages the team as head coach while also handling offensive play-calling duties, and has been working on the defensive end since McCarthy took over. This will be the second change in coordinator. Hired as head coach in 2020 — quickly replaced by Mike Nolan after just one season.
Considering McCarthy has a proving year in 2024, it makes sense that he would have little interest in an upstart coordinator and would once again use a proven NFL product in the role. And make no mistake about it, Zimmer definitely is. .
As previously mentioned, he spent the majority of 13 seasons as a defensive assistant under coach Barry Switzer in 1994, then defensive backs coach under coach Dave Campo, and eventually defensive coordinator. He ended up being coached by Bill Parcells in Dallas for the final six seasons.
During that time, Zimmer has coached some of the most notable players in franchise history, including Darren Woodson, Dexter Coakley, Dat Nguyen, safety Roy Williams, Greg Ellis, LaRoi Glover, Terrence Newman, and Hall of Famers. Instructed. DeMarcus Ware, Deion Sanders, etc.
He also earned a Super Bowl ring as the Cowboys' defensive backs coach in 1995, part of a defense that ranked third in the NFL in points allowed that season (18.2 per game) .
The 67-year-old has been chasing another Super Bowl appearance and win ever since, much like the Cowboys he left behind. That path led to the Atlanta Falcons as defensive coordinator (2007), the Cincinnati Bengals in the same role (2008-2013), and finally the Minnesota Vikings (2014-2021). He served as head coach and defensive play caller.
He fell just short of returning to The Big Game in the 2017 NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but ranked No. 1 in both points allowed (15.8 per game) and yards allowed that season. He was proud of his defense.
This would be his only chance to land Lombardi in Minnesota, but he and the team divorced after the 2021 season before Zimmer signed on as a consultant for Jackson State.
Having been out of the league for two seasons now, he not only came back for the team, but helped turn him into one of the league's best defensive minds and, importantly, won his final Lombardi Trophy. also contributed.
He inherits a defense that boasts cornerbacks such as Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and two record-setting cornerbacks in Trevon Diggs and Daron Brand, along with Osa Odighizuwa and others on the inside of the defense. There are also a number of other impactful starters and talented rotation players. line.
How things will change under Zimmer will be determined soon and fairly quickly given the fact that the Cowboys have to quickly switch gears to focus on the NFL Combine and the 2024 NFL Draft. It will be done. Zimmer has already missed scouting appearances at the East-West Shrine Bowl and Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile.
He's going to have to commit to a big commitment.
Typically a purveyor of 3-4 defenses under Parcells (although he was a 4-3 coordinator before that) time will tell whether he intends to move the Cowboys away from their current 4-3. I get it, but in today's NFL that's trivial considering the nickel defense is the basic defense that Dallas (and most defenses) actually work with today.
The run defense needs to be strengthened, and how Zimmer handles his personnel overall will be key, such as whether he re-signs Jonathan Hankins? Look for another true linebacker (like Bobby Wagner) in free agency considering how prevalent LB is for what Zimmer wants to do schematically??
Zimmer isn't a big fan of flexes, instead preferring players to excel in the positions they've spent most of their football careers.
Hint: As an example, flexbacker Markkes Bell could be headed back to the safety room.
The bigger question is whether the Cowboys' defense can be as adept at stealing the ball under Zimmer as it was for three seasons under Quinn.
In the aforementioned Vikings season, where Zimmer led the team and defense to the NFC Championship, a clear opportunity for improvement was in the takeaway category, where the Vikings ranked just 23rd that season.
In contrast, the Cowboys' defense under Quinn ranked 3rd, 1st, and 4th in the past three seasons, respectively.
What the current stable of players learned from Quinn in that regard is what Zimmer brings to the table in teaching each player how their play directly connects to the other 10 players on the field. If they can move on, the Cowboys could potentially win the championship. The next and final step in defense.
As hard-nosed as they are, Zimmer has seen it all in this league and his resume speaks for itself. Sure, he's not one of the young up-and-comers, but that's not exactly what the Cowboys need, with all the chips said to push them into the middle of the standings in 2024.
They're betting that Zimmer, like Quinn before him, won't need a year or two of build-up to get the defense to the level it needs to be.
They expect it to happen soon and are shooting.
