The Dallas Cowboys' coaching staff rebuild on the defensive side continued on Friday when news broke about the latest addition to the squad defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is assembling ahead of the 2024 NFL season.
Per Dallas Morning News' Michael Gehlken, the Cowboys hired Cristian Garcia as defensive quality control coach.
Garcia was the assistant defensive backs/nickels coach for the Washington Commanders for most of the 2023 season before being promoted to DBs coach in November after the Cowboys destroyed Washington 45-10 on Thanksgiving Day.
Garcia has been a grinder on his way to this opportunity with the Cowboys and it's clear just how bad he wants it. Consider this anecdote from a Commanders' article written by Zach Selby last November:
The Division I route wasn't open to (Garcia), so he had to settle for playing at Malone University -- a Division II school in Ohio -- before transferring to Florida Tech. When that didn't lead to the results he wanted, he decided to sell all his furniture to get to Santa Fe College and work with the video crew at the University of Florida, hoping he would get a chance to be a walk on.
He finally got that opportunity in 2015 when Will Muschamp was fired. Garcia was one of two people -- him and a punter -- who earned a spot on the roster. a
If that's not somebody you want on your team, I don't know who is.
His coaching career began in 2018 and has had several stops en route to landing with the Cowboys. Garcia will boost a defensive backs room that is already strongly coached by standout Al Harris, who is considered by many a rising defensive coordinator candidate himself.
With Trevon Diggs coming back from injury and DaRon Bland continuing to get better, cornerback should remain one of the strongest positions on the Cowboys in 2024.
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