The dust hadn't even settled on the Dallas Cowboys' 2025 campaign before Jerry Jones and Brian Schottenheimer decided that Matt Eberflus should be one-and-done as the defensive coordinator. And it only took a few weeks after that to settle on Christian Parker as his replacement.
Suddenly, optimism about the Cowboys' defense is sky-high, thanks to the new 34-year-old play-caller, who is wise beyond his years and has a résumé that looks better the deeper one looks. Parker has drawn praise from every corner of the NFL in the months since his hiring, and for good reason.
Although he hasn't been around the NFL all that long, his reputation still somehow precedes him. New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak crossed paths with him years ago, and he gave Parker a compliment about his work ethic, which is what every Cowboys fan wants to hear.
Dallas Cowboys DC Christian Parker lands high praise from Raiders HC Klint Kubiak
Kubiak, as every coach did, spoke at the NFL Annual League Meeting on Tuesday. When asked about Parker, his fellow coach on the Denver Broncos' staff back in 2022, the Raiders' new head man raved about Parker's insatiable approach to coaching football.
"I think what stands out is that the light in his office was always on," Kubiak explained. "He was there early, staying late. Whenever you walk off the practice deal, he was the last coach there working out his defensive backs, getting them ready. Just a coach that really, I think was really talented, but a coach that probably outworked the competition."
It should be noted that Kubiak was the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, so he probably didn't overlap with the Broncos' defensive backs coach all that often. So, for Parker to stand out so much to Kubiak means he made a special impact in Denver.
And the proof is in the pudding, as fans would be hard-pressed to find anyone, former player or colleague, who had a bad thing to say about the young defensive play-caller. Obviously, what he does on the field will matter most, but it doesn't feel like the Cowboys just have fool's gold here.
Parker is, by all accounts, a star in the making, pun fully intended. Kubiak's praise is just the latest, and ideally, it won't be the last. In reality, Dallas' defense can't be much worse than it was in 2025, but the goal is for the unit to be leaps and bounds better.
While it didn't take very long for Cowboys fans to be out on the Eberflus experiment, fans do need to have a bit of patience with a young, first-time play-caller in Parker. But if you believe his peers, maybe that learning curve isn't all that steep.
He'll grind and figure it out, as Parker always has.