FRISCO, Texas — With the decision to part ways with Matt Eberflus comes another major coaching search for the Dallas Cowboys, this time to identify their fourth defensive coordinator in as many seasons, and that's an unfortunate streak they'd like to avoid continuing when doing their annual review in the offseason to follow the 2026 campaign.
Little to nothing has worked in their favor defensively following the departure of Dan Quinn, a fact owner and general manager Jerry Jones himself admitted, and the inaugural season of the Brian Schottenheimer era was bludgeoned by a franchise-worst level of defensive production that torpedoed the efforts of a prolific offense — one that produced a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard running back and two 1,000-yard wide receivers.
The writing was on the wall for Eberflus, and potentially some position coaches as well, but as the Cowboys sort through the latter to determine who'll stay and who'll go, the task of interviewing the next defensive coordinator, who will also have a say in the matter, has officially gotten underway; and only three days after Eberflus exited the building.
Having no time to waste, and choosing to waste no time, the Cowboys are either scheduled to interview or have conducted interviews with the candidates on this tracker.
Expect more names to be involved as the days roll along, so be sure to bookmark this.
[Note: This will be updated frequently.]
Interview Denied by Current Team: Jeff Ulbrich (Atlanta Falcons)
Candidate: Christian Parker
Current Position: Eagles pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach
Status: Interview Requested, per multiple reports (can not be blocked by Eagles)
Sometimes you have to go behind enemy lines to find the solution to a problem, and the Schottenheimer is clearly unafraid of that reality. In seeking an interview with Parker, they're doing a couple of things simultaneously: potentially weakening their most bitter division rival (if hired) and plucking from the Vic Fangio coaching tree, Fangio having often given Dak Prescott fits in their matchups. Parker is both a former wide receiver and cornerback who began his coaching career for Virginia State in 2013, as their defensive backs coach before taking on the same role at Norfolk State two years later.
He'd go on to stints with Notre Dame and Texas A&M, then to the NFL by way of the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos — where'd he spend a year with Fangio before ultimately joining him in Philadelphia. With the help of Parker, Fangio's defense allowed the sixth-fewest passing yards and the fewest passing touchdowns in the league in 2025, helping to develop young players like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in to First-team All-Pro talents; and, of course, he carries a wealth of insider information regarding the weaknesses of the Eagles' offense.
Candidate: Zach Orr
Current Position: Ravens defensive coordinator
Status: Interviewed
Anyone who has enjoyed watching the Baltimore Ravens' defense over the past several seasons has unknowingly also took pleasure in some of Orr's work. Once a linebacker for the North Texas Mean Green, a native of DeSoto, the Texas native found his way to the NFL as a player for those very same Ravens in 2014, playing under his rookie contract before ultimately being medically retired and subsequently beginning his coaching career in 2017.
He started out in Baltimore, post-retirement, as a defensive analyst who later accepted a role for the Jaguars in 2021 under Urban Meyer, but everyone knows how that story went — though it did involve a full season on the same team with Schottenheimer. Orr would then return to the Ravens, but with more experience and a new title of inside linebackers' coach (he coached outside LBs in Jacksonville). A couple of seasons of thriving in that role and developing players like Patrick Queen helped earn him the nod as Baltimore's defensive coordinator in 2024 (the Ravens were 9th in the league in total defense that year), giving him two seasons of full defensive ownership under his belt as he looks to potentially depart following the move to fire John Harbaugh.
Candidate: Aaron Whitecotton
Current Position: Cowboys defensive line coach
Status: Interviewed
This is one Cowboys' fans already know quite well. Whitecotton joined the team one year ago as their defensive line coach, replacing Jeff Zgonina in the process. And while it's his coaching prowess for the New York Jets that led to Whitecotton being a definitively good hire for Dallas in the previous hiring cycle, his ability to change the thought process of the front office as it relates to defensive line signings made him an objectively great hire — partly responsible for several defensive additions, including Solomon Thomas, and in acquiring Quinnen Williams, arguably the best at the defensive tackle position, via blockbuster trade in 2025.
Whitecotton's ability to make players buy in is evident, as is his hard-nosed style of coaching that blends with an ability to teach and connect with today's players. It's a skillset honed over the past decade or more, beginning with his role as defensive staff assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars, then climbing the NFL ranks through the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets before being plucked by the Cowboys as one of the most heralded D-line coaches in the league; and one looking to level up, if possible.
Candidate: Jonathan Gannon
Current Position: Free agent
Status: Interviewed
Whitecotton isn't the only one on this list the Cowboys are well-acquainted with, though for a different reason entirely. They know of Gannon from his time spent lining up against them as defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and 2022, leading a defensive unit that was one of the best in the league and helped to carry that team to the Super Bowl in the latter season, ranked eighth in the NFL that year in total defense; and, by now, most know of his controversial exit from Philly that was essentially Gannon not needing to leave Phoenix after the Big Game.
His stint as head coach of the Cardinals was less than pleasing, becoming the latest keen defensive mind to struggle when asked to run his own show — examples such as Robert Saleh come to mind, contextually speaking, of course (making it that much more impressive to see what DeMeco Ryans has been able to do, but I digress). Gannon also excels at getting player buy-in, hence Cardinals' players lamenting his departure on social media. The added plus to Gannon is the fact no one on this list knows the inner workings of the Eagles better than he does, and let's not pretend that doesn't have immense value.
Candidate: Jim Leonhard
Current Position: Broncos' defensive pass game coordinator
Status: Interviewed
Despite being only 43 years old, Leonhard has already emerged as one of the most promising young defensive minds in the NFL, and it likely stretches back to his time playing defensive back in the league from 2005 through 2014, for six different teams and in a myriad of schemes. He began his post-retirement career as a defensive backs coach in the collegiate ranks for Wisconsin before ascending to interim head coach in 2022, landing with the Denver Broncos in 2024 as both their defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, also being named assistant head coach to Sean Payton in 2025.
Schottenheimer, and every one of the Broncos' opponents this season, know all too well exactly how rigid and unforgiving a Leonhard-led defense can be. It's a unit that was essentially a brick wall at all three levels this season, the stifling of Dallas' prolific offense in Week 8 serving as Leonhard's first de facto interview with the Cowboys, so to speak, and he's a former mentee of Rex Ryan.
Candidate: Daronte Jones
Current Position: Vikings defensive pass game coordinator
Status: Interviewed
Only a bit older than Leonhard is Jones, but the latter has a lot more coaching experience in his carry-on luggage. A former cornerback for Morgan State, Jones began his coaching career at the turn of the century and has an expansive collegiate resume that includes cornerbacks coach for UCLA, defensive backs coach at Wisconsin (he and Leonhard have that in common), and defensive coordinator at LSU.
Jones even had a stint in the CFL as defensive backs coach for the Montreal Alouettes before beginning his NFL stretch with the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals — joining the Minnesota Vikings in the 2020, his 2025 season having allowed him to learn from and pick the brain of none other than Brian Flores, and that can only be seen as a good thing.
Candidate: Ephraim Banda
Current Position: Browns safeties coach
Status: Interviewed
Landing directly in-between the ages of Leonhard and Jones is Banda, having just recently turned 44 in November (you should be sensing a theme by now, folks). Also keeping with the others on this list is the fact Banda is a former cornerback who later began his coaching career at the collegiate level — a graduate assistant at Incarnate Word and then Texas in the early 2010s — then elevating to the role of defensive quality control coach at Mississippi State, followed by a much more notable stint as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Miami (Florida) heading into the pandemic year.
Banda parlayed that, and the role as defensive coordinator for Utah State, into a shot with Jim Schwartz and the Cleveland Browns in 2023, where he's remained since. That is a defense that has been one of the most feared in the league, the presence of Myles Garrett not exactly hurting their cause, of course, but while Schwartz finds himself a hot commodity in this coaching cycle, as does Banda; a branch of the Schwartz coaching tree with a lot of potential.
