Before Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer left the podium Thursday night after the embarrassing loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he said the team is being evaluated at all levels for potential change. After the mini-bye week, Dallas made a big change, or more specifically addition.
The team is hiring long-time NFL coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant. Pettine was one of Christian Parker’s mentors during his time with the Green Bay Packers, so the two know each other. When
Parker was hired in Dallas, Todd Archer spoke with Pettine about what he learned about Parker, who was 28 at the time, while they worked together.
“From the jump, when you spend time around him, you realize he’s much more mature than what his age is, especially from a football standpoint,” Pettine said. “He had a lot of good input but didn’t force it on the room. He and I spent a lot of time together because he would do the game-plan drawings. If we had an issue with a formation or a defense we put together, he had input and he’s not just doing the drawing. You’re recognizing pretty quickly there’s an ‘it,’ factor with him.”
“There were certain things I wanted from him that would be hard to see from the sideline, and he was always good with those things,” Pettine said. “He was good at ‘What can we do?’ and ‘What can’t we do?’ Again, he was a QC with us, but he definitely had my ear.”
With the Cowboys’ defense sitting last in many categories over a month into the season, they looked outside the building for a former mentor to bring a new voice to the room. Parker wanted to bring Pettine on as a consultant after he was hired, but the former defensive coordinator wanted to stay retired. There was an open invitation to jump on board.
Now that the invitation has been checked “yes,” the Cowboys have someone to help guide Parker through the rest of the season and help the young coordinator regain his footing that made him a qualified candidate in the first place. Ed Werder adds context, suggesting Pettine could end up with a bigger voice in the room than the team is presenting.
In the days since Thursday night’s loss, Jerry Jones and Schottenheimer have reaffirmed their belief in Parker as the guy to lead their defense. Outside of letting go of Parker, this was the right move for the Cowboys. It comes at a good time because, with the Green Bay Packers coming up this weekend, Pettine’s last two years in the NFL were spent with Matt LaFleur and the Packers.
The NFC East is up for the taking. The Philadelphia Eagles are on a three-game losing streak, the New York Giants might not sustain the Jameis Winston magic for long, and the Washington Commanders look on the verge of breaking.
If Pettine gets more of a voice in defensive meetings and takes some responsibility off Parker’s shoulders, applaud the Cowboys for making a move to improve their team and address a desperate need. Parker’s specialty is with the secondary, so maybe with Pettine in the building, Parker can spend more time with DaRon Bland and others to help improve the league’s worst defense in EPA per play.
