FRISCO, Texas — Over the past three seasons, the Dallas Cowboys ‘ defense has ranked seventh, tied for fifth and fifth in points allowed while totaling an NFL-best 93 takeaways.
With Dan Quinn having left to become the Washington Commanders ‘ head coach, the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer , is inheriting a decent situation.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” Zimmer said at his introductory news conference Wednesday. “I mean, they’ve been pretty good. I’ve been in some situations where things that haven’t happened, but that happens in coaching. It happens a lot.
“We’re going to look at the players, try to figure out the best way to use them, put the scheme together and, again, we want to take the good things that they’ve done and maybe add a few more other things we’ve done good in the past.”
Zimmer returns to the job he had 2000-06 and the franchise with which he broke into the NFL ranks in 1994. After his eight-year run as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ended in 2021, Zimmer has had a couple of coaching opportunities but could not pass on a chance to return to Dallas.