The Texans' Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews has decided to stay in Houston rather than join the Cowboys' coaching staff and signed a new contract with the Texans on Monday.
Matthews, who played his first 14 years in the NFL with the Oilers, interviewed last Monday for a position with the Cowboys under offensive line coach Hudson Houck. Houck and Matthews have a relationship that dates back to Matthews' collegiate days at USC.
The speculation is that Houck will be getting an assistant because he will be named offensive run game coordinator in addition to his offensive line position. Though not announced officially, it's expected John Garrett will become passing game coordinator, to complement Houck as running game coordinator.
The Cowboys' other candidate for the position, Dan Campbell, decided to stay in Miami, leaving the Cowboys on the lookout for other candidates, which they are more than likely to find at the coaching fair called the Senior Bowl.
However, Jerry Jones said there is no timetable for finalizing the staff, which still has a minimum of four open positions: assistant OL coach, DL coach, LB coach and WR coach.
"We’ve got plenty of time this offseason," Jones said. "There is no timetable, but it’s certainly not imminent. That will seek its own time. We’ve got a lot of coaches that are here that want to be talked to about jobs. As you know, this is kind of a coaching job fair."
--- In other roster news, the Cowboys signed wide receiver Titus Ryan to a two-year futures contract. Ryan already spent part of training camp 2010 with the Cowboys, but was released after breaking his thumb.
Titus Ryan was initially brought in primarily as a return guy to bring a dynamic presence in the kick return game, and his speed apparently impressed the Cowboys enough to keep him on their radar. Ryan once held the Alabama high school record for 100 meters with 10.44 seconds and ran a 4.28 40 during Alabama's pro day in 2007.
He played with Calgary and Winnipeg in the Canadian Football League in 2009 before joining the Cowboys for training camp, but elected not to play football in 2010 while he recovered from his broken thumb, despite an offer to return to the CFL.