Cowboys First Reported Head Coach Interview is Total Surprise
By Jovan Alford
The Dallas Cowboys are starting behind the eight ball in their head coaching search as they waited until this week to decide on Mike McCarthy’s future. While the Cowboys were trying to figure out what to do with McCarthy, several teams across the league were putting in their head coaching interview requests.
Now the Cowboys are trying to play catch-up, as they try to find their next head coach. Earlier this week, we heard the reports about Dallas being interested in Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, which didn’t come as a surprise.
However, this newest report about the Cowboys’ coaching search is a total surprise. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Dallas is interested in and is expected to interview former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
Saleh has already interviewed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their head coaching vacancy and will interview with the Las Vegas Raiders for their head coach opening. The former Jets head coach has also received an interest from the San Francisco 49ers for their DC vacancy.
Saleh was fired in October after spending four seasons with the Jets. The 45-year-old Saleh didn’t stay away from the gridiron for long as he joined Matt LaFleur’s staff in Green Bay as a consultant.
Surprisingly, Cowboys fans on social media are not opposed to Saleh possibly being the next head coach despite his tenure with the Jets. The Jets weren’t great on offense under Saleh’s direction, but the defense was one of the better units in the league, which intrigues Dallas fans.
The last time the Cowboys had a defensive-minded head coach was Wade Phillips, who spent four seasons in Dallas and led the team to two playoff appearances. Since Phillips, Dallas has gone with offensive guys like Jason Garrett and McCarthy. It will be interesting to see who else the Cowboys bring in for interviews over the next few weeks.