The Dallas Cowboys made a decision on Thursday afternoon and went with Christian Parker to be their new defensive coordinator. Let’s stipulate at the very beginning that this move may fail. It is possible, the laws of probability suggest it is even probable, that someday in the future we are lamenting that the Cowboys chose Parker through the benefit of hindsight.
Many Cowboys fans were excited about the Matt Eberflus hire a year ago. Given his previous stint with the team, the thought was that it would
translate (although no one anticipated a trade that would dramatically change the fabric of his defense). Hindsight is indeed a valuable tool.
As possible/probable as it is that Parker flames out with the Cowboys though, I am declaring right now that I will not feel that way. I can’t for one reason.
This decision is fantastic from the Cowboys for a non-traditional reason
Read the first two words in the sub-headline just above. The key here: The Dallas Cowboys made a decision.
One of the criticisms of this team, and namely this front office, ever since The Playoff Loss that Will Not Be Referenced happened two years ago, has been that they have operated without any kind of North Star. The Cowboys are never going to do exactly what we want them to do, but if all of their energy and resources are moving in one direction based on one overall plan, at least that is a path born of and carrying logic. You can square that in your mind. Anyone can.
We do not need to re-litigate the events of the last two years, but in choosing to delay extensions, getting them done in the eleventh hour, keeping a coach in a lame duck year, trading for a player in a contract year, trading away arguably the best player on the team (to name a few things), the Cowboys were not clearly doing anything. They weren’t clearly going all-in. They weren’t clearly organically tanking. They weren’t clearly overtly tanking. They were just existing. They were just treading water. They were just going with the flow and not making any decisions.
Earlier this week I was asked about getting antsy with Dallas not having made a move at defensive coordinator and but I was totally fine with the process because they were casting a wide net and interviewing a lot of young candidates which was not normal for them. It still would have been fine if they had not decided to go with Parker, but beyond the fact that he is younger and not someone with a prior connection to the team, I love that they took a step with conviction. They took a step towards their (seemingly) newly-established North Star.
These are all great things on their own and they are all true of this one move:
- Christian Parker is extremely young relative to the previous defensive coordinators Dallas has had
- Christian Parker is not someone with any serious prior tie to anyone in the building
- The Cowboys boldly stepped forward while their peers are still waiting for further action
The point here wasn’t just to re-list things, but to really lay out how different and unique this process is relative to the most recent days of this franchise. To be clear these days have been hard and frustrating, mostly due to decisions that the team itself is responsible for, but it’s possible the darkest part of the night is over.
As noted this hire may fail. Parker may wind up turning in a defense that somehow is worse than what we just saw. In a world of infinite possibilities that is certainly one of them. But if that happens it won’t be because of poor or lazy decision-making. It will simply be because the cards fell that way. That is out of the front office’s control and we all understand that this is the case with many things.
As far as what is and was within their control, though? They deserve their kudos for getting this done.
