Monday marked a big day in the NFL. There are 14 teams preparing for the playoffs while 18 others are looking in the mirror, probably not exactly the case for some, in an attempt to be a part of that former group in a year’s time.
The Dallas Cowboys have missed out on the proverbial tournament for two years in a row now (first time since 2019-2020) and posted losing records in them as well (first time since 2000-2002). To say that they have a lot of work ahead of them this offseason is stating the obvious.
It is unfortunate that some of the “work” involves the dismissal of people from their posts. I say this on a human level to be clear. We all know that people are fired all of the time in the NFL and that this is a business, but it is just never a comfortable thing to call for someone else to lose their job.
Waiting to move on from Matt Eberflus will only cost the Cowboys
The last few weeks have made Matt Eberflus’ departure from the Cowboys feel inevitable. He has served as the defensive coordinator for one of (literally speaking) the worst defenses in both franchise and NFL history. Beyond that Jerry Jones has dropped many a bread crumb in his appearances as of late that have suggested change is coming. Reports on Sunday morning were that coaching changes were expected with the focus to be on the defensive side of the ball. This isn’t coming out of nowhere.
Understanding all of this, waiting on and dragging this thing out will only serve to hurt the Cowboys. Unfortunately, it seems like they might be doing that. It was reported after Sunday’s season finale that they could even take “10-to-12 days” to work through this whole thing.
Again, with all due respect, this is a horrible idea. Waiting on Eberflus will only serve to hinder the team. Why is this, you ask? This is a busy time of year for the 18 teams who are not headed to the postseason. They are all looking to improve in their own ways, and some are obviously doing it in larger ways if they fired someone notable. The point is that there is heavy competition going on right now.
The longer the Cowboys wait to move on from Eberflus, assuming it is their eventual plan, the longer they are providing time for potential replacement candidates to find homes elsewhere. This is common sense.
There is another detail to consider beyond competition as well. The NFL has a rule for this specific week where coaches from playoff teams are not allowed to be a part of the interview process. This is obviously in place so that coaches are not distracted in the pursuit of other jobs while trying to win a playoff game.
In case you forgot (more on this in a moment) there is an exception. The playoff teams who hold the first-round byes (so the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks) can see their staff participate in virtual interviews this week. They must be virtual and can only take place this week as they will obviously have games to prep for next week.
The Cowboys missed out in this provision last year. Recall that Dallas spent Wild Card week (so this week) last year debating on the future of Mike McCarthy. There were reports about how they were taking their time, going back and forth, and it was ultimately on the Monday of the Wild Card round (the day of the final game) that they announced they were moving on.
By dragging that decision out the Cowboys not only missed out on head coach candidates who were interviewing with teams through that week, but they also cost themselves the opportunity to interview candidates from the top seeds at the time which were the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs. Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn both got head coaching jobs, Johnson has the Chicago Bears in the playoffs this year, and the Cowboys didn’t even speak to either of them.
The point in bringing this up is not that Johnson and/or Glenn were better candidates than what wound up being Brian Schottenheimer. The point here is the principle, and that Dallas waiting on Mike McCarthy served to only negatively impact the process of something very important which was finding a new head coach.
For all we know the Cowboys could wind up keeping Matt Eberflus at his post. That decision would be met with, um, disagreement, but you know what? If they decided that immediately wouldn’t that at least be some sign of progress?
The Cowboys so desperately need to commit to something that doing so, even if it was something we disagreed with, and foregoing dragging the process out, would be improvement. It would hardly be the desired goal or meeting of any sort of standard, but it would be a literal step forward from recent times.
Waiting helps nobody. It hardly helps Matt Eberflus either to have his name tossed around on the internet. Waiting only hurts. Stop waiting. Do something. Anything. Just do it.
