Dallas Cowboys hire Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator

The Dallas Cowboys have officially hired Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator. This comes after Eberflus spent the last three seasons as the Chicago Bears head coach.

Eberflus takes over for Mike Zimmer who was the Cowboys defensive coordinator for one season. The 54-year-old is no stranger to Dallas as he was the Cowboys linebackers coach from 2011 to 2017. Eberflus was also the Cowboys passing game coordinator during his last two seasons with the team.

In 2018, the Indianapolis Colts hired Eberflus as defensive coordinator. During his four seasons in Indianapolis, the Colts had three winning seasons and reached the playoffs twice.

Following the 2021 season, Eberflus was named the 17th head coach of the Bears. It was not a strong run for Eberflus as the Bears finished last in the NFC North in 2021 and 2022. Chicago fired Eberflus on Nov. 29 when the team was 4-8 on the season.

“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the players for all of their effort, dedication and resilience,” Eberflus said at the time, per ABC 7. “What I am most proud of was the way you carried yourself both on and off the field and represented the Bears organization with class in the community. To the fans, thank you for your support and passion. I will always have a deep appreciation for the Bears organization and the city of Chicago.”

Matt Eberflus is back with the Dallas Cowboys

Eberflus joins a Cowboys coaching staff led by head coach Brian Schottenheimer. The move to hire Schottenheimer, the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator for the last two seasons, has been talked about by experts since he’s never been a head coach in the NFL or college.

“I know that Shotty is no stranger to these guys (players),” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones explained during Schottenheimer’s introductory news conference Monday, per NFL.com. “I know he’s no stranger to this building. I get my proverbial ass kicked over needing people in my comfort zone. Without this thing being about me in any way, if you don’t think I can’t operate out of my comfort zone, you’re so wrong it’s unbelievable. This is as big a risk as you can take. As big a risk as you can take. No head-coaching experience.”

Jones added, “I have a good background in the makeup of what a coach is. “To think that you can make a decision in an interview and if you didn’t and had never communicated or had a visit, I wouldn’t dare have an interview unless I talked to many, many people that knew that person, and had those kind of life experiences. … Knew their story.”