Cowboys news: Is a Dan Quinn and Richard Sherman reunion in the cards?

The Cowboys Should Reunite Dan Quinn and Cornerback Richard Sherman - John Williams, Inside the Star

Dan Quinn built his reputation on his two years as the Seahawks defensive coordinator, and Richard Sherman was a huge part of those record-breaking defenses. With Quinn now in Dallas and Sherman about to enter free agency, the potential reunion is becoming a popular suggestion among many.

The connection to Dan Quinn is the obvious reason as to why this makes sense; however, Sherman is still one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, even in the latter stages of his career.

In 2020, Sherman led the NFL in snaps per reception and snaps per target among cornerbacks that played at least 133 coverage snaps. He was second in the NFL in yards per snap only to Jimmy Smith of the Baltimore Ravens. Richard Sherman’s passer rating allowed of 69.6 was 11th in the NFL.

Sure, it was an injury riddled season. Sherman played just five games. Looking back to 2019, when he played 15 games, Sherman led the NFL in snaps per reception, yards per snap, was fourth in passer rating allowed, and tied for fifth with Byron Jones in snaps per target. Sherman only allowed one touchdown in 2015, and that was a big reason the San Francisco 49ers made it to the Super Bowl.

Richard Sherman could immediately upgrade your cornerback spot opposite Diggs in a scheme he’s very familiar with in Dan Quinn. During Quinn’s time in Seattle, Sherman helped the Seahawks become the best defense in the NFL on their way to a Super Bowl Championship.

Eagles reportedly interviewing rival offensive coordinator today - Dave Zangaro, NBC Sports

The Cowboys narrowly avoided losing Kellen Moore to his alma mater last month, and now their divisional rival is next in line to poach Dallas’ young offensive coordinator, as Moore interviewed with the Eagles for their vacant head coach job on Tuesday.

The timing of the interview with Moore is somewhat fascinating. After he interviewed with his alma mater, Boise State, earlier this month, the Cowboys gave him an extension to remain in Dallas.

“I am very excited to remain with the Dallas Cowboys as the offensive coordinator,” Moore said in a statement earlier this month. “I will no longer be pursuing the head coaching job at Boise State. I love Boise State. I will always root for them, and I hope one day to be a part of the program again. We are building something special here in Dallas. I’m thankful to the Jones family and Mike McCarthy for providing me with the opportunity to coach these special players. I am excited for us to put it all together and finish the job.”

After that extension, it was fair to wonder if Moore would even accept the Eagles’ invitation for an interview. The fact that he did at least shows some mutual interest. The Eagles requested this interview last week.

Report: Eagles interested in interviewing John Fassel - Myles Simmons, NBC Sports

The Eagles must apparently think really highly of the Cowboys, because they didn’t just stop at Kellen Moore. It was reported on Tuesday that Philadelphia is interested in interviewing special teams coordinator John Fassel as well. Maybe they’ll go after Mike Nolan next?

The Eagles have cast a wide net in their coaching search and it may be getting wider.

Philadelphia is interested in interviewing Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel, according to a report from Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Fassel spent eight seasons as the Rams’ special teams coordinator under Jeff Fisher and Sean McVay before moving on to Dallas under Mike McCarthy in 2020. He served as Los Angeles’ interim head coach for the final three games of 2016, with the Rams going 0-3. He’s long been considered one of the league’s best special teams coordinators, coming up with creative fakes, returns, and blocks.

Sources: Michigan hiring Dallas Cowboys’ Maurice Linguist to be co-DC as part of defensive overhaul - Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

Speaking of Mike Nolan, the embattled defensive coordinator has been replaced by Dan Quinn, who quickly turned around and hired Joe Whitt Jr. as his defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator. That likely meant Maurice Linguist would be leaving, and on Tuesday it became official as the coach took the co-defensive coordinator job at Michigan.

As part of a staff overhaul on defense, Michigan is hiring Dallas Cowboys defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist to be the Wolverines’ co-defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN, confirming an AL.com report.

Linguist, a longtime college assistant before joining the Cowboys for the 2020 season, will assist new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, hired from the Baltimore Ravens to replace veteran play-caller Don Brown.

Linguist, 36, who played defensive back at Baylor, has coached defensive backs at Texas A&M, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Iowa State and other spots.

Cowboys’ George Edwards drawing attention from Bears as defensive coordinator candidate - Patrik Walker, CBS Sports

George Edwards spent six seasons as the Vikings defensive coordinator before joining the Cowboys this past year as the senior defensive assistant. While the Cowboys seemingly want to retain him in that role alongside Dan Quinn, he’s getting at least one interview for a defensive coordinator position.

In the end, while Edwards was formally interviewed as the potential successor to Mike Nolan, the job went to former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, but the Cowboys are hoping to have their cake and eat it, too. This is to say they’ve had several conversations with Edwards about remaining on staff in either his incumbent role or a more expanded one, a separate source noted weeks ago, in the event they were able to land Quinn — their No. 1 candidate outside of the building.

The Bears are considering an attempt to derail that plan, assuming Edwards is interested in returning to the NFC North, where he spent several seasons as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings before joining the Cowboys’ defensive staff in 2020. And because it would be a promotion and not a lateral move, the Cowboys would not be able to block the interview if he opts to accept an invitation.

Should he opt to leave North Texas, the Cowboys would not receive compensation under the terms of the league’s new minority coaches resolution — adopted in 2020 — that awards the incumbent employer a third-round pick in two consecutive drafts if they lose a minority coach or executive to a head coach or general manager job with another team, or three consecutive third-round picks if the minority coach and an executive lands the role of head coach and general manager for a different club. Neither would apply to Edwards in this case, considering he’s wouldn’t be awarded either of those two roles in Chicago, and there’s also the caveat that the Cowboys would’ve had to employ Edwards for two consecutive seasons before losing him to those roles before the move qualified for draft compensation.

Jaylon Smith challenged us to “watch the film.” Here’s what we learned - Bob Sturm, The Athletic

After the Cowboys’ season finale, Jaylon Smith was asked if he expected to return next season. His answer: “watch the film.” Bob Sturm of The Athletic did just that, as well as four different anonymous football coaches, and their reactions are interesting to say the least.

Coach 1: Once 54-Smith has hunted his gap, he is committed, continue on, flow to ball, get in the picture; the pause to check the boot (which is long-gone if 3-Wilson has the ball), shows an incomplete understanding of how to be reasonably effective in the defense. “If I do my job, I cannot do that job.” The real problem here is of course 98-Crawford, who gets inexplicably hooked after two steps; poor read of departure angle of covered OL, poor technique vs. full zone to allow his gap to run away from him; 25 too light, too high, not enough pressure on the LOS with his chest, his only hope is to undercut the crack and run through the underside of the block; 39 not quick enough on the crack-replace, especially with full zone flow at him, outside technique (even in man coverage) allows for this read to be made quickly.

Coach 2: Against the outside zone, Jaylon should not jump into that A Gap. It puts him way behind the play. But the crack on Woods cuts off his lateral flow. Jaylon has no good option here. As for turning back to Russ? That is on Jaylon. Do your job and run to the ball. The biggest takeaway here is the lack of trust Jaylon and LVE showed in the structure around them all year. I put 90 percent of this on Brandon Carr (No. 39). He gets a crack block by his key (No. 14). The play is strung out to him, and he can’t make an outside-in tackle. Carr should not hesitate, force the run back inside. He has support coming, and Armstrong is playing this perfectly. Armstrong deserves a mention here. They have a chance because of him, and this shows why he got more reps as the season went along.

Coach 3: Great read, great downhill move, no false steps… BUT HE STOPS AND LOOKS AT… WHAT EXACTLY??? He may not end up making the play, but in the middle of sprinting towards the ball carrier, he stops and sees a ghost. This was the weirdest play of the game. He is not trusting his eyes. Maybe he doesn’t trust his teammates, and he is trying to do too much, but this was just bizarre.

‘Hold my crutches’, progressing Prescott tells Elliott in response to ESPN’s Cowboys joke - Todd Brock, Yahoo Sports

Dak Prescott is, by all accounts, making a very speedy recovery from his devastating ankle injury. But there’s no doubt that his competitive spirit ever left, and that was evident on Tuesday from an Instagram comment from the quarterback.

The Worldwide Leader added to their postgame coverage of the weekend’s NFC Divisional round with an Instagram post originally put out by the NFL_Memes Twitter account. The post points out the disparity between the number of NFC Championship Games the Cowboys have been to since 1997 and the number that Tom Brady has been to.

Okay, sure, kick the Cowboys while they’re down. But Prescott saw the post, too. And he took the opportunity to make sure Dallas fans know that he’s working hard to be ready to contend for the very next conference crown come 2021.

Jumping into the comments, Prescott tagged Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and replied, “Hold my crutches,” as first noticed by Mauricio Rodriguez.

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