Days after hiring Brian Schottenheimer as their new head coach, the Dallas Cowboys are already eying their new defensive coordinator. The Cowboys are set to hire former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus as the team’s DC, per multiple reports.
Longtime Dallas DC Mike Zimmer told ESPN’s Ed Werder on Sunday that he was not planning on returning to the team as part of Schottenheimer’s staff, and will likely retire. Zimmer, who has run the Cowboys’ defense for the past seven years, will leave an opening that Eberflus is reportedly expected to fill.
Eberflus is set to do one more in-person interview in Dallas on Monday. If all goes well, Eberflus will return to the Cowboys, where he was a linebackers coach from 2011-2017, as Schottenheimer’s first major hire.
The past few months have not been great for Eberflus: In late November, the 54-year-old coach was fired after a horrendous last-season loss to the Detroit Lions, becoming the final straw in a series of miscues throughout the season. Eberflus became the first Bears head coach to be fired midseason, achieving the strange milestone after three seasons at the helm in Chicago.
Now, Eberflus will return to his roots in Dallas. The coach spent seven seasons with the Cowboys as linebackers coach, gaining additional responsibilities in 2016 and 2017 as a passing game coordinator.
He then joined the Indianapolis Colts as defensive coordinator from 2018-2021, visibly improving the Colts’ passing and rushing defense and helping the team to two playoff appearances in those four years. Eberflus’ work in Indianapolis caught the eye of the Bears, who named him as their head coach in 2022.
