A decision that should be one of the easiest Jerry Jones has made since he bought the Dallas Cowboys looks like it's going to be dragged out. The Cowboys may take "10 to 12 days" to decide on Eberflus' future. With player exit meetings happening on Monday, they will wait until Tuesday to start those conversations.
It is painfully obvious that Dallas can't afford to sit on its hands. The carnage from Black Monday has already dropped a handful of intriguing defensive coordinator candidates into Jones' lap. That list includes former Falcons head coach Raheem Mooris and current Browns DC Jim Schwartz, who may become collateral damage after Cleveland fired Kevin Stefanski.
Well, you can throw another name into the mix. The Cardinals have fired head coach Jonathan Gannon after a 3-14 finish to the season. Gannon is not long removed from being one of the top DCs in the league, and he has ties to Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams from their time in Arizona.
Cowboys should look to Jonathan Gannon as their Matt Eberflus replacement
Gannon and Adams were both on the Indianapolis Colts’ staff in 2019 and 2020. Gannon served as Indy’s cornerbacks coach under then–defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, while Adams was the assistant offensive line coach. When Gannon was hired as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2023, he brought Adams with him to serve as the offensive line coach.
Before becoming Arizona's head coach, Glenn served as the Eagles' defensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022, so there should already be familiarity in that respect. The Eagles had a top-five defense in Gannon's second season when they made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
If the Cowboys wanted, they could even call up old friend Mike Zimmer for his opinion on Gannon, who coached under Zimmer with the Minnesota Vikings for four years as the assistant defensive backs coach. There is plenty of connective tissue linking Gannon to Dallas.
READ MORE: Cowboys' dream Matt Eberflus replacement just fell right into Jerry Jones' lap
If nothing else, this should put a little pep in the Joneses’ step. This wouldn’t be the first time they lost out on prime coaching candidates because they dragged their feet during the end-of-season evaluation process. Just last year, they failed to interview Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson, and Liam Coen because Mike McCarthy was left in limbo for eight days after the season ended.
While a decision on McCarthy should have been made sooner, moving on at least wasn't painfully obvious. What exactly is there to evaluate with Eberflus? He just coached the worst defense in franchise history, and not a single player got better under his tutelage.
The Cowboys deserve whatever comes their way if they miss out on a defensive coordinator like Gannon because they took forever to evaluate Eberflus.