Matt Eberflus moving to the coaching booth might not have been his idea as Cowboys try to save the defense
Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus will call plays from the coaching booth for the first time in his NFL career.
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus announced earlier this week that he is moving from the sideline to the coaching booth to call plays in Week 16 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The move is an attempt to improve the Cowboys’ struggling defense days after owner and general manager Jerry Jones publicly admitted Eberflus would be under evaluation in the last three games of the season. And while Eberflus sure hopes the decision works, it’s starting to sound like it wasn’t his idea in the first place.
Eberflus’ move to the booth might not have been his idea
I’ll start off with a disclaimer: I’m certainly speculating here. After all, we don’t quite know how the decision came about. But based on a radio appearance from Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer, it sounds like the suggestion came from him rather than Eberflus himself.
On a Friday interview on 105.3 The Fan, Schottenheimer admitted it’s what he thought was best.
“Just looking at everything from a holistic approach, just the inconsistency of the way we played on defense, it was something that I felt was the best thing for us,” Schottenheimer said.
Now, beyond Schottenheimer’s comments, the reality is since Eberflus became defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts in 2018, he has never called plays from the box. It wasn’t until now—with his job seemingly on the line—that he’s making the change. And considering Schottenheimer inserted himself into the defensive meetings early in the season due to the unit’s struggles, it isn’t crazy to suggest this was a suggestion from him.
Schottenheimer breaks down the advantage
Now, why would the Cowboys head coach think the defense will benefit by the move? According to him, it’s all about seeing better.
“I’ve called plays for a long time in this league, and there’s no question—only one year was up in the box—there’s no question you can see things better up in the box,” Schottenheimer said. “You can make quicker adjustments up in the box, and I think when Matt and I kind of talked through this stuff, it became very clear that that’s where we want to put them so that we can make some adjustments faster and. I think it’s going to be a great thing for us.”
For it to work, however, Schottenheimer pointed out assistant coaches on the sidelines have to do a great job relaying Eberflus’ messages and adjustments to players.
Reality check for Cowboys defense
Listen, there are obvious advantages to having a bird’s eye view over the entire field. And while Schottenheimer mentioned how it can be difficult to see everything from the sidelines, the reality is Eberflus has been seeing his defense on film for 16 weeks now. Moving to the booth is highly unlikely to make a major difference.
And if my theory is right and he didn’t even suggest it? It could get ugly.
We’ll see what happens when the Cowboys take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET for the final game at AT&T Stadium of the season.
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