FRISCO, Texas – The ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵÏÂÔØÈë¿Ú during this head coach search have boxed themselves somewhat into a corner.
Sure, they are looking for a head coach.
But at the same time, they are looking for an offensive coordinator, too.
See, when they decided against extending Mike McCarthy's expiring five-year contract, they not only lost their head coach, but also their offensive coordinator and play-caller, and that complicates this search having begun Friday and progressing through the next several days with at least Zoom interviews taking place for starters.
Because here is the deal: offense matters. The Cowboys have prioritized their salary cap dollars on offense, and one of the main reasons why McCarthy was chosen as Jason Garrett's replacement. He was the head coach for nine seasons and basically the offensive mind influenced on stints with Bill Callahan as the OC, then Scott Linehan (though some internal disagreements existed) and then the young Kellen Moore.
McCarthy became a two-fer, although for the first three years leaned on Moore to continue coordinating the Dak Prescott-led offense for continuity sake before taking over the reins these past two seasons.
Let's take 2024 to scrutinize the Cowboys' salary cap investments. Eight of the top-10 salary cap hits, including those prorated into dead money for the departed Ezekiel Elliott, Tyron Smith and Michael Gallup, belonged to offensive players: Dak Prescott, Zack Martin, CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks and Terence Steele.
And for the upcoming 2025 season, of the top-12 salary cap hits, seven belong to offensive players. That includes three of the top five belonging, at this point before restructure bonuses are paid to lower the cap hits, to Prescott ($89.8 million), Lamb ($35.4 million) and Steele ($18.1million).
Man, you invest that kind of money on the offensive side of the ball, hiring the right guy to run the offense is paramount. That must be front of mind, and for sure someone who sees eye to eye with Dak.
Now, we have been told the Cowboys will conduct an interview with Robert Saleh, who parlayed the job he did as defensive coordinator in San Francisco into the New York Jets' head coach position before being fired this season. Defensive guy.
They also are lined up to interview Seattle assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, the former Minnesota Vikings head coach for three seasons, but earned that job on the basis of being their defensive assistant and defensive coordinator over his first five years there. Defensive guy, five years a defensive back and a Super Bowl champion with the Bears, and a defensive coach or coordinator over the previous 10 years before his first head coach job.
Same thing with this notion that because Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Colorado head coach and Cowboys former cornerback Deion Sanders have spoken that the Pro Football Hall of Famer is a lock to become the franchise's 10th head coach. Defensive guy, and more specifically secondary.
So if I'm conducting the interviews with those guys, my first question would be about the potential staff they could put together, most specifically, who do you want to hire as the offensive coordinator? Can't have someone experimenting with my quarterback averaging $60 million over the next four seasons when the defensive-minded head coach can't fix a potential problem.
This in no way is suggesting that the Zoom interview Friday with Moore – the current Eagles offensive coordinator and former Cowboys backup quarterback, QB coach and offensive coordinator for four seasons – makes him a lock to be hired. But he would solve half the head coach equation, especially since Dak has been a proponent of the job Kellen did here those four years as the OC.
My understanding is there will be others under head coach consideration, too. Maybe they widen the search to the college ranks, maybe looking at an offensive coordinator with head coach experience on his résumé that hasn't been mentioned yet.
Uh, maybe a high school guy, and certainly Cowboys Ring of Honor tight end in waiting Jason Witten's name has been brought up. And that might be a stretch knowing his coaching experience is limited to high school at the private and parochial school level, though certainly not to diminish his potential skills and knowledge of the game, which to me is extensive enough to land a spot at least on the coaching staff.
Maybe a Dan Campbell in waiting, but again, if making this leap, Witten sure needs to know who he'd try to hire on his staff. And if considering the jump Campbell made in Detroit, his offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive e coordinator Aaron Glenn have been hits, both being interviewed during this round of head coach hires.
And to emphasize just how important the offensive coordinator part of this equations is, just analyze Cowboys history. Jimmy Johnson, who came to the Cowboys with 10 years of college head coach experience at Oklahoma State and Miami, was a defensive guy. For two years his offense was at the mercy of David Shula, who came to the Cowboys in 1989 with eight years of NFL coaching experience at wide receiver and quarterback.
The Cowboys offense, and the team too, with aging and lack of talent, struggled those first two seasons, especially offensively, winning just eight of 32 games. It was this time of year in 1991 that Johnson went off on an offensive coordinator search. Remember having to chase him around Super Bowl XXV Week in Tampa, Fla., dogging him the majority of the week over who he might hire as the OC.
That until around Thursday, after waiting for him to emerge from his hotel elevator, he told us DFW beat writers to relax and enjoy the Super Bowl since he's not about to hire his next OC that week.
Well, after failed attempts to hire like three known candidates, Jimmy, a week or so after the Super Bowl, introduces some Rams receivers coach named Norval Turner as his next offensive coordinator. And on the Cowboys went, after finishing 27th and 28th offensively in the then 28-team NFL, to produce records of 11-5, 13-3 and 12-4 with offenses ranked ninth, fourth and fourth while also winning those back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1992-93 seasons.
And the great job Norv did coordinating an offense loaded with likes of future Pro Football Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith, along with a slew of Pro Bowlers such as Jay Novacek, Nate Newton, Alvin Harper, Mark Tuinei, Erik Williams, Mark Stepnoski and Daryl Johnston aboard, turned into the Washington then-Redskins head coaching position. On comes Ernie Zampese to the Cowboys, the guy who raised Norv offensively in Los Angeles, to take over coordinating the offense for Barry Switzer during the next three winning seasons and that Super Bowl XXX title.
Stay with me now.
Then after Jerry moved on from Switzer and the majority of that coaching staff, he tried hiring Aikman's former UCLA head coach Terry Donahue but also wanted him to coordinate the offense. But Donahue turned down the job, wanting to just be the head coach. So it was on to naming up and coming offensive coordinator Chan Gailey head coach and OC, the former Steelers offensive coordinator, Samford head coach and Broncos offensive coordinator.
Jerry was prioritizing offense then, too, and then moved on after seasons of 10-6 and 8-8, both first-round playoff losses when the offense and Aikman didn't seem to co-exist well.
Then, when Dave Campo took over in 2000 as head coach, a defensive guy, he was at the mercy of his offensive coordinators during a time of franchise quarterback turmoil. That job landed in the hands of Jack Reilly for two years and former Bengals head coach Bruce Coslet the third during those three consecutive 5-11 seasons, the offenses finishing ranked 25th, 29th and 30th.
That led to Bill Parcells taking over in 2003 as head coach, and while he named passing game and running game coordinators, he took over running the offense and calling plays, though allowing the young Sean Payton in 2005 to have some control of the offense after the first two seasons.
Plus, remember this: When Parcells decided after the 2006 playoff loss to Seattle that he'd had enough of this coaching business, the loss having really wore on him, before Jerry settled on Wade Phillips as head coach in 2007, he hired his former backup quarterback Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator, the Dolphins giving him just a one-week permission to talk with Jason or else. That is how much he prioritized the OC job. But even at that, Jason had coached in the NFL for just two seasons as the Miami quarterbacks coach under Nick Saban, a valuable head coach internship at that.
But the Joneses had intimate knowledge of Garrett's coaching potential during his eight seasons as the Cowboys' backup quarterback, and also knowing the NFL respected his knowledge. NFL teams, within two seasons, were interviewing Garrett for head coach positions, the likes of Baltimore, Atlanta, Detroit and the Rams before he took over for Phillips as interim head coach after the 1-7 start to the 2010 season, certainly earning the head coach title by going 5-3 in the second half of the season.
Now, this is not to suggest the Cowboys will hire a current offensive coordinator to be their head coach. Nor maybe a former NFL head coach with OC experience, or former college head coach with OC experience at whatever level, though don't discount the possibility.
But whoever is hired, they had better have offensive coaching experience, no matter what level, NFL or college, or hey, high school. And if not you, that person better have a really impressive answer to the No. 1 pressing question if they want the job:
Who is coordinating your offense?
