FRISCO — It's a time of major change at The Star with the offseason's new additions starting to settle in. That pertains only to the coaching staff thus far with free agency and the NFL Draft yet to get underway.
The Dallas Cowboys will employ an almost entirely new coaching staff with Mike McCarthy now gone and former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer taking over.
This will be his first gig as a head coach in the league and his first time calling plays with the Cowboys.
Since Schottenheimer is pretty green in several areas of leading a football team, the Cowboys have put together quite the staff around him to help the new coach get a handle of his new role.
When the Cowboys reportedly focused in on Schottenheimer as their head coach, Matt Eberflus became the immediate target to return to the team as their defensive coordinator. Both men of course took on those eventual positions.
Eberflus spent six years with the Cowboys as their linebackers coach from 2011 to 2017. He returns now to a much different situation but with a player unlike any he has coached.
Assuming the Cowboys and Micah Parsons come to terms on a contract extension this offseason, Parsons will be the leader of Eberflus' defense heading into the 2025 season.
Tuesday, Eberflus spoke to media for the first time on his plans for utilizing Dallas' defensive wrecking ball.
"Micah is a premier pass rusher. We're going to use him that way, certainly, and he's one heck of an athlete that can do a lot of different things for us on defense. And when you have a guy like that, you want to be able to utilize his skill set.
"As we're around him more, we'll see what that skill set is, and really take advantage of that. … He knows that we'll just make him in the best light that he can be in terms of position, in terms of pass rush, and really utilizing what he does best, and that's rushing the passer."
A very matter-of-fact Eberflus understands the versatility that Parsons brings. But in his shortened 2024 campaign, he left no doubt of his pass rushing ability while playing in what was a new system.
Parsons finished the season with 12 sacks in 13 games, a number that led the team once again. The pressure he generates himself and the gravity drawn from opposing lines will almost certainly aid Eberflus in constructing his own philosophies in Dallas.
Eberflus comes back to Dallas perhaps hoping to reestablish himself after a rough ending with the Chicago Bears. The Cowboys will need to fill in the cracks around their star to defensive guru more assets to work with.
But Eberflus has quite the starting point as he takes this new post in Frisco.
