Cowboys' 6 Biggest Priorities After 2024 Minicamp

4. Allow Zimmer to do his thing

When Dan Quinn took the head coaching job with the Washington Commanders, the Cowboys had an opportunity to make a huge change. As much as Quinn did to improve this defense — and make no mistake, he did a lot — there was one issue. Quinn simply couldn't stop the Shanahan coaching tree.

Whether it was Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, Sean McVay in Los Angeles, or Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, the Cowboys couldn't pull off the win in the big game. And oftentimes, Quinn's defense struggled mightily.

Dallas could have looked for someone from the same coaching tree with more knowledge of these offenses. Or even someone who had a history of slowing them down.

Of course, that's not how Jerry Jones operates.

Instead, Jones did what he did with the Mike McCarthy hiring. He cast the shortest possible net and eliminated nearly every candidate by sticking to some ridiculous requirements. The primary expectation was for the new DC to have former head-coaching experience, which is an awful requirement considering the coaches who have been succeeding lately are younger prospects and not old re-treads.

But Jones stayed true to his ways (stubbornness doesn't wash off easily) and hired Mike Zimmer. In typical Cowboys fashion, there was also a lot of confusion surrounding the hire with conflicting reports as to whether or not the decision was made surfacing for more than a week. In the end, the 68-year-old was brought back for a second run with the team.

As odd as the process was, Zimmer has had a lot of success. That's why Mike McCarthy needs to sit back and let the former Minnesota Vikings head coach do his thing and get the defense on the right track.