So, how did Parker impress the Cowboys’ decision makers to earn the job?
“Number one, everybody you talk to, nobody said anything negative about him,” Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay said of Parker. “When we got the chance to meet and talk to him, he’s wise beyond his years number one, but the way that the puts things together, the way he talks about the defense, his awareness of the front and the back end, excited to work with him and the staff that he’s going to put together because I think there’s some exciting things that we can do… He’s going to put us up front on the defensive side.”
For Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones, one of the biggest boxes that Parker checked was his ability as a teacher, as his explanations of complex ideas and concepts were understandable for everyone in the interview process.
“Very, very smart,” Jones said of Parker. “Great communicator, which at the end of the day, one of our top priorities is to be a great teacher. These defenses are very complicated… he was really good at explaining it not only to coach Schottenheimer and to Will, but to Jerry and myself that you want to make complicated things seem easy… he was just outstanding.”
It wasn’t just Parker’s plan for the secondary that made the Cowboys convinced he was the guy for the job. It had to do with his entire plan for the defense, including marrying his vision for what the front seven will look like to help compliment the back end of the unit.
The coordinator Parker has spent the most time with is Eagles DC Vic Fangio, someone the Cowboys organization holds in high regard and has interviewed for positions on their staff in the past. Another selling point that worked for Parker was his plan for incorporating some elements of the Fangio defense, while also putting his own spin on things.
“Christian walked through some things that if it were his to do, he’d do a little different. And we really liked some of those wrinkles he’ll bring as well,” Jones said. “Obviously Vic’s one of the great defensive minds in this league, nothing but respect, but [Parker’s] learned a lot from him, learned a lot from other coordinators that he’s worked under, and just feel like he’s going to do a great job for us.”
According to Jones, Parker’s vision for what he wanted Dallas’ defense to look like equaled what head coach Brian Schottenheimer was searching for to compliment the offense and the team as a whole.