Cowboys news: Dallas starts adding to Christian Parker’s coaching staff

HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 19: Arizona Cardinals cornerbacks coach Ryan Smith listens to a play on his headset in the second quarter during the NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans on November 19, 2023 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesDallas Cowboys coaching staff could have a little bit of Tomlin, Harbaugh, and Cignetti in 2026 - Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports

The Cowboys defensive staff is coming together nicely.

Expect a lot ofDallas Cowboysnews over the next few days, as co-owner Stephen Jones hopes the team finalizes its defensive coaching hires by the weekend.

New Cowboys defensive coordinatorChristian Parker is hard at work building what will be his first-ever staff as a coordinator, and he and head coach Brian Schottenheimer are turning heads with the names popping up in his search. And the latest updates only add to the excitement, as his staff could have the DNA of two of the best coaches we've seen in the NFL in the last 20 years, and the new face of college football when it comes to coaching.

Cowboys defensive DNA could be wild

Based on the Cowboys' interviews for defensive coaches and at least one hire so far, Parker's staff could have ties to formerPittsburgh Steelerscoach Mike Tomlin,New York Giantshead coach John Harbaugh, and Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, who recently led the Hoosiers to a historic 16-0 record and a National Championship win.

Let's start with the latter: The Cowboys are hiring Ryan Smith as cornerbacks coach,according to multiple reports. Smith worked under Cignetti for three seasons at the collegiate level, coaching the secondary at Elon University and later safeties at James Madison before jumping to Virginia Tech, where he quickly rose to pass game coordinator. At the NFL level, Smith worked under Jonathan Gannon the last three years.

Additionally, theCowboys are interviewing Denzel Martin, outside linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Martin spent ten years on Mike Tomlin's staff and helped develop the likes of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig, all standout pass rushers.

6 Dallas Cowboys Dream Targets in 2026 NFL Free Agency - Randy Gurzi, SI.com

Free agency is a time to dream.

Reed Blankenship, S

As Parker installs his system this offseason, it would be nice to have a player who can help the team catch on quickly. That's why a strong communicator with two years experience under Parker, such as Reed Blankenship, makes perfect sense.

Dallas needs better play in the secondary and Blankenship would be an upgrade.

Nakobe Dean, LB

Another free agent target withties to Parker is NakobeDean. The Eagles' linebacker has been impressive when on the field but injuries have held him back. The Cowboys should still roll the dice given his upside.

3 Lone Star standouts at Senior Bowl who fit Cowboys plans - Reid Hanson, Cowboys Wire

The Cowboys would be wise to consider these Senior Bowl standouts come April.

SAF Bud Clark, TCU

Bud Clark has been turning heads here at the midpoint. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound safety from TCU was an intriguing prospect from the start. Over the past two seasons, he's scored the third best film grade in the country. Despite a diminutive stature, Clark has been showing up as a run defender in the box, putting to bed some size concerns about his jump to the NFL.

Clark has been making plays on the ball in coverage and filling gaps against the run, proving to be a do-it-all defensive back. In 2023 he played 393 snaps in the slot, but over the last two seasons he's mixed it up evenly between slot, box and deep.

Clark is the ideal candidate to replace free agent Donovan Wilson for the Cowboys because he can be moved everywhere including a nickel role. Clark is rocketing up draft boards and should move into the top 100 (currently a consensus rank of 185)

Cowboys losing valued OL coach to Mike McCarthy poaching for Steelers - Ben Grimaldi, Cowboys Wire

Mike McCarthy stole a coach.

While the focus in building the coaching staff for theDallas Cowboyshas centered around the defense this offseason, the offensive side of the ball looks like they are losing a few key pieces. And the culprit in this thievery is the Cowboys' old coach, Mike McCarthy, who is now the head man for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

McCarthy hasrequested to interview current Cowboys tight end coach Lunda Wellsfor their offensive coordinator job, which is a promotion the team can't block. However, unlike with Wells, who hasn't been hired yet, theSteelersand McCarthy did manage to steal away another Dallas offensive coach, Ramon Chinyoung, to their staff as an offensive assistant.

Chinyoung was the assistant offensive line coach last season under Brian Schottenheimer, but was first hired by the Cowboys under McCarthy in 2023 as an offensive line/quality control coach for two years. He also spent time with theDenver Broncosin 2022 in the same role.

The Cowboys will miss Chinyoung, who helped develop a bevy of young offensive linemen in the last three seasons. Tackle Tyler Guyton, guards Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker and T.J. Bass, as well as centers Cooper Beebe and Brock Hoffman all grew under Chinyoung. That group culminated in helping guide three different running backs all reach the 1,000-yard mark in each of Chinyoung's seasons with the Cowboys.

More than the defense is relying on Christian Parker to succeed - RJ Ochoa, Blogging the Boys

In Parker we trust.

The Dallas Cowboys are doing something different with Christian Parker. Parker is young. He is an outsider (in terms of not having a history with the Cowboys front office). It sounds silly, but Parker comes from a team that has been highly successful and the Cowboys have not exactly tried to pick fruit from those trees before. Simply put, just about everything that has led the Cowboys to him from a process standpoint has been foreign to the team for a long time.

These are the reasons that so many people are excited about Parker. His difference represents a deviation from the norm. No one is saying that any of these specific qualities are better than other versions of them (older coaches are also very successful, being young doesn't automatically translate to success just to list an example). The celebration around the Cowboys doing something different is that the Cowboys did something different. If it doesn't work we are experienced at coming to terms with that, but at least it will have not worked because it didn't work and not because it was the same old song and dance.

Unfortunately, this means there is a lot of pressure riding on the experiment.

So much is relying on Christian Parker working out

It feels unfair to call the Cowboys hiring Christian Parker an experiment. He is a more than worthy candidate to be the team's defensive coordinator. Hiring a coach and someone to run your defense is a very serious thing. There is nothing experimental about it in a literal sense.

But those differences that he carries? The deviations from the norm that he represents? What if it doesn't work out with him?

Is it not possible that the Cowboys could, as anyone would to be honest, look at how they tried things in a different way and saw them fail only to learn the lesson that different was bad? This is an exaggerated way of looking at this idea to be clear, but it is why more than just the defense improving is relying on Christian Parker thriving as the team's defensive coordinator.