Following their devastating playoff defeat to the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys have zigged where many expected them to zag. Owner Jerry Jones has publicly backed head coach Mike McCarthy and has opted to keep him for the 2024 season, while a strong roster doesn’t look as if it is about to lose any major pieces next year as the Cowboys try again to end a 28-year Super Bowl drought.
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But changes are being made to McCarthy‘s staff, in part an unavoidable circumstance with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn electing to take the Washington Commanders‘ head coaching job. To replace him, Jones has called up old friend Mike Zimmer to run the Dallas defense from next season.
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Zimmer has long been one of the NFL’s most-respected defensive minds — a reputation he forged over 12 years in Dallas. Zimmer worked for the Cowboys between 1994 and 2006 and was previously their defensive coordinator from 2000 through 2006, when he left Dallas to run the Atlanta Falcons‘ defense.
Zimmer was the Minnesota Vikings‘ head coach from 2014 to 2021 and left his post as the third-winningest coach in franchise history with 72 victories. Minnesota had a top-five defense by yards allowed each year between 2016 and 2018, a spell that included an NFC Championship Game appearance in the 2017 season.
Will the Dallas defense improve?
The Cowboys’ defense under Quinn‘s coaching was never better than it was in 2023. Dallas finished fifth in yards allowed as well as points given up, but the Cowboys buckled at the worst possible time. Against the Packers in the playoffs, Dallas allowed over 400 total yards and failed to force a turnover.
A Zimmer-run defense is expected to compete better against so-called “Shanahan-style” offenses that have taken the NFL by storm thanks to the San Francisco 49ers‘ recent success. The Cowboys have to go through teams like the 49ers if they want to return to the Super Bowl after such a long time away, and Zimmer’s defense will prioritize disguised coverages as well as man-to-man coverage ability within them.
