The Dallas Cowboys have been searching for a new defensive coordinator for over a week which means that it has been that long since they fired Matt Eberflus from the position in question. While the move became official on the second day of the offseason, the writing was on the wall for some time relative to Eberflus’ fate. The 2025 Cowboys defense was arguably the worst in franchise history and he had a heavy hand in that.
In case you are unaware, NFL Films and HBO have been chronicling the second
half of this season through the in-season version of Hard Knocks. Like the version that people know and love from the summer that covers a team in training camp, it serves as a fly-on-the-wall documentation of what is happening.
A new episode of the documentary series dropped on Tuesday night and in it Brian Schottenheimer was seen explaining Eberflus’ firing in a Cowboys staff meeting. Shout out to Nick Harris of the FWST for the transcription.
“I just met with Flus early this morning. Incredible human being. I love the man, but at the end of the day, the football wasn’t right. I’ve been in this position, I’ve been Flus. I’ve been the guys in this room. I understand the questions. I understand the concerns, and I will answer all of those. Right now the focus has to be, number-one, the man. Reach out, tell him you love him, because he’s a great man. Number-two, finishing this process. The exit interviews with the players are critical. We have to continue that process. We got players rolling in here in a little bit. If anyone has questions, come see me.”
Schotty was not the only person associated with Cowboys leadership to address this on the episode.
Jerry Jones offered his thoughts and mentioned that firing Eberflus was among the hardest decisions he has made in his time with the team.
“Our 2025 season was a roller-coaster. We were inconsistent on defense. The Eberflus decision of not going forward with him was one of the hardest that I’ve been involved in during my time with the Dallas Cowboys. But at the end of the day, I think it was the thing to do.”
You can file these statements under “that makes sense, what else are they supposed to say” type of responses. They were kind, Schotty was particularly intent on instructing his staff to show kindness to Eberflus, and professional. That is great to see.
It sure would be something if we were able to get access to this type of footage regarding the team’s search for a new defensive coordinator!
