FRISCO – Dubbed “The Vengeance of Wink.”
With Dan Quinn taking the helm as head coach of the Washington Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys have stepped up their hunt for a new defensive coordinator.
Thanks to an NFL owner acting as an anonymous source, we learned earlier in the weekend that Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys, wants to “hit a home run” with this hire.
“Watch him,” the NFL owner stated to CowboysSI.com on Saturday. Jerry is hoping for a hit hire. Here, he’s really swinging for the fences.
One could argue that a “home-run hire” is a relative term. But we also know that the Cowboys have scheduled early-week meetings with two veteran NFL coordinators with head coaching experience, Ron Rivera and Mike Zimmer. This is significant to both the Jones family and Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy, in addition to the in-house candidates like Joe Whitt (who does figure to join Quinn in leaving), Aden Durde, and Al Harris.
Martindale, sixty, is not a head coach. However, the rest of his résumé is remarkable. Furthermore, a story claiming Martindale is “in the mix” has surfaced (via Bryan Broaddus of 105.3 The Fan).
Martindale used to be Baltimore’s defensive coordinator, in charge of consistently excellent squads. Martindale was fired from the New York Giants after a contentious season between him and head coach Brian Daboll.
Twice a year, Wink might prefer to take it out on Daboll. Would McCarthy and Martindale get along? Recall that when Quinn was appointed here, this head coach didn’t really know him, yet everything worked out perfectly.
A portion of this would be the NFC East’s version of Musical Chairs. Kellen Moore has started working for the Eagles under Nick Sirianni. Quinn is travelling to Washington with Cowboys aides. And Rivera, the ex-Washingtonian, may wind up working in Dallas. (And, of course, Rivera would love to vent his frustrations on the Commanders twice a year.)
The Cowboys want to get through a round of interviews as soon as possible before leaving for Super Bowl Week in Las Vegas, but there’s still time to interview other eligible candidates (Brant Staley, Mike Vrabel, etc.)… especially if it’s about hitting the home run in a big way.
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