According to a variety of reports on social media, changes are happening on the coaching staff of the Dallas Cowboys. After Steve Loney announced his retirement yesterday, the following moves are all being reported.
#Cowboys special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia will be allowed out of his contract, sources say. That means he can join Jon Gruden's #Raiders staff, which is the plan.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 3, 2018
BREAKING: #Cowboys reportedly part ways with positional coaches Wade Wilson, Joe Baker »
— Patrik Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) January 3, 2018
READ ➡️ https://t.co/VXHZlFkt2v pic.twitter.com/uG0m4fvuRU
I just spoke to #Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson. As we've reported at @1053thefan he is indeed not being brought back to DAL staff.
— mike fisher ✭ (@fishsports) January 3, 2018
These three departures seem definite. Of the three, the biggest loss is unquestionably Bisaccia, whose special teams were one of the few consistently good parts of the Cowboys’ 2017 season. And he apparently had other value that many did not realize.
#Cowboys are losing a guy that Garrett relied on as a sounding board - Bisaccia - and losing a guy who they probably should've listened more to in Wilson. Stay tuned on Eberflus and Dooley ...
— mike fisher ✭ (@fishsports) January 3, 2018
As the tweet above indicates, there is still no definite word on Matt Eberflus or Derek Dooley. Dooley was reported as leaving earlier this week, but that story was walked back. According to Mac Engel of the Ft Worth Star-Telegram, Eberflus’ departure may just be a matter of waiting for other dominoes to fall.
Passing game coordinator and linebackers coach Matt Eberflus is also expected to leave for a promotion, possibly to be a coordinator if New England Patriots assistant Josh McDaniels is named a head coach.
Wilson may have been a victim of the problems Dak Prescott had in 2017, but he also played a huge role in Prescott’s original success. As with all the coaches that are leaving, who replaces them is important. In Wilson’s case, there may be someone very familiar in line (and that is not necessarily a good thing). Per 247 Sports’ Patrik Walker:
That may not be where his thoughts lie at the moment though, as Cowboys' insider Mike Fisher reports one of the changes within the Cowboys' coaching ranks could involve offensive coordinator Scott Linehan -- now snug as a bug in a rug job-wise -- attempting to woo [Kellen] Moore into the role of a coaching assistant. On its face, the plug-and-play application here would be a presumption Moore could slide into the role of quarterbacks coach if the team moves on from current assistant Wade Wilson, or if Wilson opts to move on himself given he's no longer under contract.
Social media reactions to this have been generally negative.
In Baker’s case, there is a feeling that his departure answers this question:
#FishTips #Cowboys Coaching Carousel 6) Secondary eval: Who taught the kids? Joe Baker (w/o a contract) or Greg Jackson (w a contract)?
— mike fisher ✭ (@fishsports) January 2, 2018
We’ll try to keep abreast of all the coaching news, so check back in.