Dallas Cowboys: 3 out of the box defensive coordinator candidates

What type of defensive coordinator candidates can the Dallas Cowboys land?

This season is drawing closer and closer to the end and the worst kept secret around the league looks to be the Dallas Cowboys’ inevitable dismissal of defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. The entire defensive side of the team needs an overhaul starting at the top but before we can start to look at personnel, the person calling the defense needs to be addressed.

I am not breaking any news here, I am just connecting the dots how I see it. The front office has left the media bread crumbs and the way I interpret what is being dropped is major changes are on the Texas horizon.

Before we go any further, I want to make clear my intentions on who should be the next defensive signal-caller on defense. I am tired of the same person walking through those doors at the Star in Frisco.

I am talking about that older legendary coach who was hired in Dallas to try and conjure up that historical moment utilizing that Cowboy spotlight for one last hurrah. Does this man sound familiar? Monte Kiffin, Rod Marinelli, and Wade Phillips come on down.

The wealth of knowledge those men possess is otherworldly. I would be hard-pressed to find three men who have seen more football in their lifetime than those three great men. The only issue I have with those coaches is the predictability in what they do is not a direction I want to go with.

Take a look at the Los Angeles Rams for a minute. They took a chance on Sean McVay who was a young coach and gave him the offensive reigns to revolutionize the league. He has done that and more with his almost impossible to defend 11 personnel package.

The Rams teamed him up with a veteran defensive coach in Wade Phillips as a safety net. This past offseason, the Rams let go of Phillips and in turn hired the Sean McVay of defense in Brandon Staley. This young coach has not disappointed and could be roaming the sidelines as a Head Coach as soon as next season.

Staley has wonderfully mixed new old, new, and analytics together to help the Rams make the best defense in the league. Other than Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, some fans might be hard-pressed to name another defensive player.

I want a defensive coach who doesn’t have to have superstars at every position in order for his scheme to work. I want a hungry coach who can make non-household names into regular contributors.

The point I’m trying to make is the front office has to try and take this team back to the 1990s. I’m not talking about the lean years where there weren’t a lot of wins but rather the innovative team that had the rest of the league copying their tactics and the league was making rules to close loopholes they exploited.

I want the team to hire someone who has an idea of how to transform defense but also has enough sense to know when to pull back and play a base defense when the mood calls for it. How does the team accomplish this feat? They take a leap of faith with someone outside of the organization and leave nepotism at the door.