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Former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is a “prime candidate” to become the Dallas Cowboys’ next defensive coordinator after the team officially promoted ex-offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to head coach on Friday.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the news.
Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerESPN
Sources consider former <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bears?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Bears</a> head coach Matt Eberflus a prime candidate for the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cowboys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Cowboys</a> defensive coordinator job under new coach Brian Schottenheimer, per sources. Eberflus was a Cowboys assistant from 2011-17. <a href=”https://t.co/tIPvtLA6II”>pic.twitter.com/tIPvtLA6II</a>
Eberflus was Dallas’ linebackers coach from 2011-2017, adding passing game coordinator duties in 2016 and 2017. He then worked as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator for four seasons before the Bears hired him as their head coach in 2022. Eberflus went 14-32 in two-plus campaigns before Chicago parted ways with him on Nov. 29, 2024.
Indianapolis’ defenses fared well under Eberflus, finishing top 10 in scoring in three of his four years there. Obviously, things didn’t work out in Chicago, but Eberflus could easily land on his feet quickly amid links to the Cowboys.
It’s clear Cowboys owner Jerry Jones respects Eberflus from his time in Dallas before, and now he’ll the leading candidate to be in charge of a talented defense that vastly underperformed last year, allowing the second-most points in football (468).
Dallas was in search of a new coaching staff after parting ways with head coach Mike McCarthy after five seasons. The Cowboys brought Schottenheimer in as a consultant before hiring him as the offensive coordinator in 2023. Dallas finished first in scoring in 2023 but fell to 21st in 2024.
His hiring was ultimately a surprise considering that Schottenheimer has struggled at previous OC stops, coupled with the fact that he’s never been a head coach before.
However, Dallas is rolling with him, and now it appears Eberflus will lead a defense that sorely needs to improve after last year’s performance.