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Cowboys to Poach Young DBs Coach From Rival Eagles as New Defensive Coordinator
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The Cowboys’ search for a defensive coordinator ended on Thursday. Per multiple reports, Dallas is finalizing a deal to hire Eagles defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator Christian Parker to replace Matt Eberflus as the team’s DC.
The Cowboys owned one of the NFL’s most porous defenses in 2025. They finished the year ranked 30th in yards allowed per game, 30th in total yards given up, and dead last in points per game as the only team in the league to allow over 30 points per game. The unit was a complete disaster most weeks, even with the midseason blockbuster trade that added Quinnen Williams to Dallas’s defensive front—the 511 points given up over the course of the year were the most in franchise history.
Eberflus wound up taking the fall. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made it clear the former head coach was on thin ice in the final weeks of the year after Dallas was eliminated from playoff contention despite a talented, productive offense. Days after the Cowboys wrapped up a 7-9-1 season, Eberflus was fired.
Parker will now succeed him. The 34-year-old spent last two seasons in Philadelphia working under Vic Fangio as the passing game coordinator and DB coach. Which, of course, means Parker had a hand in helping lead Philly to a Super Bowl last year thanks to a dominant defense across the board. Previously he bounced around the college landscape as a secondary coach and broke into the NFL with the Packers as a quality control coach in 2019; he also spent a few years in Denver as the Broncos’ defensive backs coach.
A fun addition to Brian Schottenheimer’s staff in Dallas and one that comes with the added benefit of stealing a talented coach from the Cowboys’ fiercest NFC East rival. It’s a big bet on a young coach who has never been a coordinator before and the Cowboys have plenty of work in front of them as far as adding talent to the defense. Parker will have a big job ahead of him with immediate expectations.
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Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.
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