{"id":21913,"date":"2025-01-25T08:46:20","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T08:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21913"},"modified":"2025-01-25T08:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T08:46:20","slug":"breaking-news-matt-eberflus-hired-as-dallas-cowboys-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21913","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Matt Eberflus hired as Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-lead-text\">\n<p>The Dallas Cowboys have hired Brian Schottenheimer. Now, his defensive coordinator has been named.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-lead-share\">\n<div class=\"social-share icons\">\n<p>The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0head coaching search has ended with\u00a0Brian Schottenheimer being hired\u00a0to take over for Mike McCarthy.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it is\u00a0time for his staff to come together. And\u00a0according to NFL insider Ed Werder, former Cowboys assistant Matt Eberflus has been hired as defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Breaking: The Cowboys have hired Matt Eberflus as their defensive coordinator on new HC Brian Schottenheimer\u2019s staff, per sources,&#8221; Werder said on X. &#8220;He was a defensive assistant under Rod Marinelli on Jason Garrett\u2019s staff for 2011-2017. He was most recently head coach of the Chicago Bears.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3436,h_1932,x_0,y_0\/c_fill,w_912,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/cowboys_country\/01jjdqby8xkd3xrm2nqr.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago Bears head coach head coach Matt Eberflus against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-license-id=\"ImagnImages\" data-licensor-name=\"ImagnImages\" data-portal-copyright=\"Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images\" \/><figcaption>Chicago Bears head coach head coach Matt Eberflus against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Eberflus, who most recently served as the head coach for the Chicago Bears, from 2022-24 is a seasoned veteran at the NFL level, spending the last 15 years in the League since being hired as the Cleveland Browns linebackers coach in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>After leaving the Browns in 2010, Eberflus was hired by the Cowboys as the team&#8217;s linebackers coach, where he stayed until 2017. During his time with Dallas, the Cowboys produced some of the best linebacker play in recent team history, with DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer both making Pro Bowls, including a 19.5 sack season from Ware.<\/p>\n<p>Eberflus was also integral in the development of Sean Lee, who finished his career as one of the best linebackers in team history. Rolando McClain also excelled under Eberflus, making 97 tackles in 2015. In 2016, Eberflus helped spearhead a Cowboys defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL against the run and No. 5 overall scoring defense, with Lean garnering a team-high 175 tackles that season.<\/p>\n<p>Jaylon Smith was another development win for Eberflus, earning 81 tackles in his first season on the field in 2016, alongside a strong season from Anthony Hitchens.<\/p>\n<p>Eberflus eventually left Dallas in 2018 when he was hired as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, eventually parlaying his success there into the head coaching job with the Bears.<\/p>\n<p>Now hired by the Cowboys, Schottenheimer will hope Eberflus will have similar success during his second stint in Arlington.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dallas Cowboys have hired Brian Schottenheimer. Now, his defensive coordinator has been named. The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0head coaching search has ended with\u00a0Brian Schottenheimer being hired\u00a0to take over for&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING NEWS: Matt Eberflus hired as Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21913\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS: Matt Eberflus hired as Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Dallas Cowboys have hired Brian Schottenheimer. 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