Dallas Cowboys: 4 Defensive Coordinators who could replace Mike Nolan

Dallas Cowboys Option 2: George Edwards

While Jim is a huge risk if elevated to DC, this internal candidate is probably the safest route. Probably the best internal candidate would be George Edwards. Edwards worked under Mike Zimmer in Minnesota and while he did not call defensive plays, he had a lot of input to the defense itself. He is traditionally a 4-3 defensive front coach but uses a lot of different schemes within the 4-3. He would not need a change in players right away to get his defense up and running.

His defense in Minnesota was one of the better ones in the NFL, but there are questions to how much was Edwards and how much was Zimmer. In Buffalo, his defenses were not good and it took his move to Minnesota to really have good defenses under his watch.

It would not be a huge leap to think of all the things he learned under Zimmer and how he would be able to apply it here in Dallas.

For internal candidates, Edwards is easily the best option and he could be one of the best options. Sure, he has had a hand in this current defense, but he might be able to take some of Nolan’s teachings out and get back to a more traditional 4-3 set.