Football starts in the trenches. That fundamental truth has been repeated so often it’s become a Hall of Fame coachspeak example. And yet, it remains a constant in football.
Brian Schottenheimer seemed to understand that when he built out his offensive staff a year ago. Klayton Adams took the reins as offensive coordinator after spending years coaching the offensive line. He then paired Adams with Conor Riley, who had overseen several talented linemen jump from Kansas State to the league, including Cowboys center Cooper Beebe.
Now, Christian Parker seems to be taking a similar approach to his defensive staff.
A day after the Cowboys added Marcus Dixon to coach the defensive linethey landed Chidera Uzo-Diribe to coach the outside linebackersa position the franchise has never had on their staff. In landing these two coaches, Parker has now found two individuals with strong backgrounds who can help fortify this Dallas defense in the trenches.
Dixon is an exciting hire for two main reasons. He has direct ties to Parker, as the two served together on the Broncos staff for two seasons, which means Dixon is familiar with the Vic Fangio scheme that Parker has cut his teeth in. But Dixon also spent the past two years in Minnesota, working under defensive coordinator Brian Flores to create one of the best defenses in the league over that span.
While with the Vikings, Dixon worked alongside an outside linebackers coach as well, former Browns head coach Mike Pettine. For the most part, Pettine operated as a pass rush specialist and an idea guy for Flores in drawing up exotic blitz packages, something Pettine was experienced with after serving as Rex Ryan’s top assistant with the Jets.
Dixon, meanwhile, focused more on specific techniques for the defensive line, especially in stopping the run. That was similar to his tenure in Denver, where there was also an outside linebackers coach. And when Dixon came to Minnesota, his skills were in serious demand.