Dallas Cowboys: 5 Coaches to replace Mike McCarthy in 2021

5. Matt Eberflus, Indianapolis Colts Defensive Coordinator

One thing the Dallas Cowboys have done often is let good assistants leave in favor of washed-up options. Take, for example, when they had a staff that consisted of Sean Payton as the offensive coordinator and Mike Zimmer as the defensive coordinator.

Dallas let each of them leave, with Payton’s departure being the most infuriating. Payton was a hot assistant who interviewed with a couple of teams in 2005 but decided to return to Dallas for one more season. Then in 2006, he was again interviewing and while he was being wooed by the New Orleans Saints, Bill Parcells was contemplating retirement. In the end, Jerry Jones convinced Parcells to coach for one more year and that’s all he got. Meanwhile, Payton is still coaching in New Orleans and has a Super Bowl ring.

Zimmer has also had plenty of success, but he hasn’t won a Super Bowl. Still, he’s been a long-tenured coach for Minnesota. Had Dallas seen what they had in him or Payton, maybe one of them could still be coaching the team.

Jones didn’t learn as he let Matt Eberflus leave for Indianapolis and kept a struggling Rod Marinelli. Eberflus, a former linebacker coach in Dallas, was considered the best defensive coach in Big D and since he left, that unit has fallen apart. Meanwhile, Indianapolis has a solid defense under his tutelage.

Eberflus has done so well that he’s become a name to watch in coaching circles and the Cowboys could at least right some of their wrongs by bringing him back. It would also be wise to get a defensive-minded coach considering how awful that side of the ball has been over the past two years for Dallas.