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By Jon Machota
Oct. 12, 2026
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys’ defense has been so poor to start the season that a notable coaching staff addition was announced Monday.
Former Cleveland Browns head coach and longtime NFL defensive assistant Mike Pettine is joining Dallas’ defensive staff as a senior defensive assistant.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “I think as we looked at everything, we had a chance to convince Pet that it made sense for him. I think he’s excited about coming in and adding experience and value. The most important thing for us was making sure we got the right guy. And I feel very, very confident that we did.”
Pettine and Schottenheimer were on the same coaching staff with the New York Jets from 2009 through 2011. Pettine was the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers when Cowboys first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker was a defensive quality control coach in 2019 and 2020.
Schottenheimer said Pettine, who is expected to be at the team headquarters on Tuesday, spent some time around the team in the spring because he’s a “trusted friend” to Schottenheimer and Parker.
“I think what I’m so excited about is the fit,” Schottenheimer said. “I think the fit makes a lot of sense because he’s coming into the situation where he’s going to be very, very comfortable and therefore can help us very quickly.”
The defense has been arguably the NFL’s worst to start the season. Very little, if any, progress has been made since last season when Dallas had arguably its worst defense in franchise history.
Matt Eberflus was fired in January. Parker replaced him after the Cowboys interviewed nine candidates for the job. The franchise then significantly changed the defensive roster by adding key players in free agency, via trade and early in the draft.
The results through five games are still awful. The Cowboys are worst in the league at rushing yards allowed per game (168) and opponents passer rating (120.5). They are the only team that has not recorded an interception and they have only recorded five sacks. If not for the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys would also be worst in the league at points allowed per game (27) and total yards allowed per game (395).
Although Schottenheimer said it did not, last Thursday night’s 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely led to this move. That performance against undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels was a sign that defensively there was no improvement and that things might be getting worse.
Dallas' defense hit another low against an undrafted rookie quarterback in Thursday night's 24-16 loss to the previously winless Buccaneers.
After leaving the postgame locker room, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he thought the defense was “right where we started.”
Schottenheimer disagreed, saying there were improvements but he did not get into specifics.
“When we first decided that Christian was the leading candidate for what we wanted to do, you of course talk about staffing,” Schottenheimer said Monday. “One of the things that he and I both agreed upon was, ‘Man, it’d be nice to have someone in here like that.’ But the person matters.
“(Pettine) was excited about retirement and he’s been doing this a long time. As we’ve been talking about this over the past couple weeks, it began to make more sense for him. He’s a huge, huge, huge Christian Parker fan. He’s a huge fan of mine. We’ve bled together. We’ve been in battles together and the guy’s an excellent, excellent football mind that will add value to really all three phases.
“It worked out beautifully for us.”
Pettine is now a full-time employee. It’s still to be determined if he will be on the sideline or in the coaching booth on game days. It would seem more likely that he would be in the coaching booth since Parker calls the defense from the sideline.
The Cowboys defensive players recently held a team meeting.
“Look at ourselves in a mirror,” linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said. “We put what we wanted our standard to be on the board. We went bullet point by bullet point: Are we holding up to this? Are we being this? As a unit, how can we get closer? What is it?
“Just hearing from all of us. It really wasn’t like a fire drill conversation. It was more so what can I do to help you? What do I expect from you on Sundays or even Monday walk-throughs? We got to talk to each other like that because the ship is only going to go as far as the weakest person on the boat. So as long as we all in this together, I think we’re going to be great. I know we’re gonna be great.”
Schottenheimer said there are also personnel changes coming, but he declined to share any because of “competitive advantage.”
“There’ll be some roster adjustments that you guys will see,” he said. “Some will be more noticeable than others. Some will be subtle as you look at it. But it was a very beneficial weekend, I’ll say. A lot of long hours spent, a lot of long conversations, a lot of deep dives where we’re looking at everything from all three units. We came away with a lot of what we would say really good solutions and ideas that now it’s about implementing and that began today.”
Oct. 12, 2026
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys’ defense has been so poor to start the season that a notable coaching staff addition was announced Monday.
Former Cleveland Browns head coach and longtime NFL defensive assistant Mike Pettine is joining Dallas’ defensive staff as a senior defensive assistant.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “I think as we looked at everything, we had a chance to convince Pet that it made sense for him. I think he’s excited about coming in and adding experience and value. The most important thing for us was making sure we got the right guy. And I feel very, very confident that we did.”
Pettine and Schottenheimer were on the same coaching staff with the New York Jets from 2009 through 2011. Pettine was the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers when Cowboys first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker was a defensive quality control coach in 2019 and 2020.
Schottenheimer said Pettine, who is expected to be at the team headquarters on Tuesday, spent some time around the team in the spring because he’s a “trusted friend” to Schottenheimer and Parker.
“I think what I’m so excited about is the fit,” Schottenheimer said. “I think the fit makes a lot of sense because he’s coming into the situation where he’s going to be very, very comfortable and therefore can help us very quickly.”
The defense has been arguably the NFL’s worst to start the season. Very little, if any, progress has been made since last season when Dallas had arguably its worst defense in franchise history.
Matt Eberflus was fired in January. Parker replaced him after the Cowboys interviewed nine candidates for the job. The franchise then significantly changed the defensive roster by adding key players in free agency, via trade and early in the draft.
The results through five games are still awful. The Cowboys are worst in the league at rushing yards allowed per game (168) and opponents passer rating (120.5). They are the only team that has not recorded an interception and they have only recorded five sacks. If not for the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys would also be worst in the league at points allowed per game (27) and total yards allowed per game (395).
Although Schottenheimer said it did not, last Thursday night’s 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely led to this move. That performance against undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels was a sign that defensively there was no improvement and that things might be getting worse.
Dallas' defense hit another low against an undrafted rookie quarterback in Thursday night's 24-16 loss to the previously winless Buccaneers.
After leaving the postgame locker room, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he thought the defense was “right where we started.”
Schottenheimer disagreed, saying there were improvements but he did not get into specifics.
“When we first decided that Christian was the leading candidate for what we wanted to do, you of course talk about staffing,” Schottenheimer said Monday. “One of the things that he and I both agreed upon was, ‘Man, it’d be nice to have someone in here like that.’ But the person matters.
“(Pettine) was excited about retirement and he’s been doing this a long time. As we’ve been talking about this over the past couple weeks, it began to make more sense for him. He’s a huge, huge, huge Christian Parker fan. He’s a huge fan of mine. We’ve bled together. We’ve been in battles together and the guy’s an excellent, excellent football mind that will add value to really all three phases.
“It worked out beautifully for us.”
Pettine is now a full-time employee. It’s still to be determined if he will be on the sideline or in the coaching booth on game days. It would seem more likely that he would be in the coaching booth since Parker calls the defense from the sideline.
The Cowboys defensive players recently held a team meeting.
“Look at ourselves in a mirror,” linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said. “We put what we wanted our standard to be on the board. We went bullet point by bullet point: Are we holding up to this? Are we being this? As a unit, how can we get closer? What is it?
“Just hearing from all of us. It really wasn’t like a fire drill conversation. It was more so what can I do to help you? What do I expect from you on Sundays or even Monday walk-throughs? We got to talk to each other like that because the ship is only going to go as far as the weakest person on the boat. So as long as we all in this together, I think we’re going to be great. I know we’re gonna be great.”
Schottenheimer said there are also personnel changes coming, but he declined to share any because of “competitive advantage.”
“There’ll be some roster adjustments that you guys will see,” he said. “Some will be more noticeable than others. Some will be subtle as you look at it. But it was a very beneficial weekend, I’ll say. A lot of long hours spent, a lot of long conversations, a lot of deep dives where we’re looking at everything from all three units. We came away with a lot of what we would say really good solutions and ideas that now it’s about implementing and that began today.”
