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Christian Parker, Cowboys relieve 2 defensive coaches of duties
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Christian Parker, Cowboys relieve 2 defensive coaches of duties

Originally posted on Inside The Star  |  By Shane Taylor  |  Last updated Jan 27, 2026 12:41 PM ET

I can’t get enough of the way that this has started for Christian Parker. He has not even been hired for a week yet and things are looking good.

The first order of business for Parker was to get the coaches that he and Brian Schottenheimer wanted in the building.

That started by relieving defensive passing game coordinator Andre Curtis, secondary coach David Overstreet and linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi of their duties, per sources.

Not only did they get rid of the coaches that struggled, they did lose a guy coach on the defensive side of the ball that was a bright spot last year.

Former defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton took a new position with the Titans as their run game coordinator and defensive line coach. He did interview for not only the Cowboys DC job, but others as well.

The Dallas defensive line under him was top five in quarterback hits, which might sound surprising, but he was a good one that Dallas lost.

In response to that, the Cowboys requested and have now interviewed Steelers OLBs coach Denzel Martin for the same role on their staff, per Jordan Schultz.

Love To See It

Let me start by saying I love all the stuff that has already happened. Jerry Jones is allowing his head coach and now the defensive coordinator to do their job and take care of these coaches!

Stay back and let these guys get the coaches that they want for their staff in the building.

What were the two worst spots on the Dallas Cowboys defense a year ago?

The secondary and the linebackers, and now both coaches have been let go, finally they are doing the right thing.

How many times have we seen this front office just make all the calls and either keep these guys until they get another job or they walk away?

They fired Matt Eberflus early, and less than a week with Parker, the DC let go of the two coaches where the defense performed the worst.

Coaching matters, but so does personnel. Dallas clearly still has an issue with some of the talent on the defensive side of the ball, but I think adding Parker will draw free agents to Dallas. I really do.

Here are names to keep an eye on. These are free agents. Tariq Woolen, Jamel Dean, Eric Stokes, Greg Newsome, Roger McCreary, Alontae Taylor and Cam Taylor-Britt.

One other guy that I would keep a very close eye on is Nakobe Dean. He is a free agent and would be a huge upgrade for Dallas at the second-worst spot on their defense.

They need another starting linebacker outside Overshown. Murray has been a disaster signing and trading for Wilson from the Bengals was not a good idea either.

Dallas has two first round picks in April and there is no reason why they should not use both of them on the defensive side of football.

If you can get either a solid pass rusher or a linebacker with the 12th pick, I would use the 20th pick for the best secondary player available.

Look for guys like Mansoor Delane, the best corner in the draft, or Colton Hood, a corner from Tennessee, and an edge rusher, Keldric Faulk from Aubrun.

This is a very good start to the offseason. Now let’s get the right coaches in the building on the defense, and get the players who will match them and the next thing that should be done is make sure you bring back George Pickens and Javonte Williams.

Trust me, they can make both work.

This article first appeared on Inside The Star and was syndicated with permission.

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