As gratifying as it was to watch the Eagles and Packers collapse on Wild Card Weekend, it’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to get back down to business in their search for a new defensive coordinator.
It’s widely assumed that they will interview more candidates this week. As of this writing, the Cowboys have interviewed Broncos defensive passing game coordinator and assistant head coach Jim Leonhard, Vikings passing game coordinator Daronte Jones, and Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda.
While it’s still early in the process, Cowboys insider Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan believes that Leonhard is the early favorite. Here is what Belt texted co-host Shan Sharrif (h/t to Brandon Loree of Blogging The Boys):
“I texted Bobby last night, and I said is there any update, any movement? And he said, ‘Nope. They wrapped those three interviews. Will probably submit more today or tomorrow. Would not be surprised if they request Jonathan Cooley from the Panthers, but I think [Jim] Leonhard will be their guy. So they have to wait for Denver to get bounced before they can hire him.’”
It seems Jim Leonhard is the favorite for the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator job
If that doesn’t get you excited, what will?
Per Belt, it sounds like the Cowboys will request an interview with Jonathan Cooley, who’s in his second season as the Panthers’ defensive pass game coordinator. Carolina quietly allowed the seventh-fewest passing touchdowns (20) and ranked ninth in average depth of target (7.77), and fifth in interception rate (2.65 percent), per Sumer Sports.
Cooley is one to watch, but the story here is Belt’s nugget on Leonhard, who completed his virtual interview with Dallas on Saturday. The Broncos will host the Bills this Saturday, so the Cowboys will have to wait at least one more week to bring Leonhard in for a second interview.
In the meantime, Dallas can kick the tires on other candidates. Given how much the Joneses gravitate toward experience, it feels inevitable that newly fired head coaches Raheem Morris and Jonathan Gannon will enter the mix.
The important thing to remember is that Schottenheimer is clearly leading the search. That belief is based both on Jim Leonhard’s reported popularity inside the building and the team’s initial round of interviews.
Just two years ago, Dallas interviewed Mike Zimmer, Rex Ryan, and Ron Rivera after Dan Quinn left. If Schottenheimer weren’t driving the bus, the Joneses would be looking at a similar uninspiring list of candidates.
Schottenheimer and Leonhard overlapped with the Jets when the former was New York’s offensive coordinator, and Leonhard was a safety in Rex Ryan’s secondary.
Schottenheimer recently spoke glowingly of Leonhard’s teaching ability, and Leonhard’s philosophy is everything that the Cowboys’ head coach said that he wanted in a defensive coordinator in last week’s end-of-season presser.
There’s a long way to go, but it sounds like Dallas wants Leonhard.
