What to make of Jerry Jones’ comments on Matt Eberflus while mentioning Venezuela
Yahoo Sports host Andrew Siciliano and senior NFL reporter Jori Epstein react to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' comments on former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Check out the full conversation on "Inside Coverage" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
Well, first of all, he paused between saying, "I'm running" and "Venezuela."
So at first, I thought it was like a Trump "I'm running for president" thing.
So there was, like, that element, and then there was the Venezuela element.
And, like, how many team owners and general managers are bringing up Venezuela in their End-of-NFL-season press conferences?
I would say not quite a lot.
And then there was the actual meat of this, which iswell, I mean, Joe Judge, Joe Judge brought up Aaron Hernandez a couple of days ago.
So there's that.
Obviously, he's no longer in the NFL.
True.
... Head coach.
Yeah, keep going.
No, not in the NFL anymore.
But it's definitely true.
And then there's the whole "what actually" happens with the defensive coordinator.
This is very similar to what happened when Mike McCarthy got the head coaching job with the Cowboys.
So he's the previous coach to Brian Schottenheimer, and similar to Brian.
Schottenheimer, in his first year, there was some degree of arranged marriage with a coordinator.
At that time, it was on the offensive side of the Believe in Kellen Moore.
Kellen was a great offensive coordinator, And they were one of the top offenses in the league.
But still, ultimately, Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore got to the point where, philosophically, They disagreed, and Kellen moved on.
So similarly, I get that from a results standpoint, this was very different.
Matt Eberflus did not work as defensive coordinator of the Cowboys in 2025.
His scheme did not fit his personnel.
He didn't make it fit the personnel as much.
Give him some degree of grace because, hey, he did lose Micah Parsons not four months before.
The season, but a week before the season, got another piece in the middle.
Trevon Diggs, among others, got hurt.
Not everything was easy.
That said, they didn't really maximize what they could have maximized and controlled.
Could have controlled.
What I think is also fair to say is that the The process for hiring Matt Eberflus, I don't disagree with.
The result was not good, but at the time, he was a former head coach.
Which meant that first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer could be the CEO and manager.
Of the offense but not, in theory, have to manage every element of the defense.
'Cause you'd have a former head coach who could be head of that side of the ball, the same way that Dan Quinn had done that well for the Cowboys previously.
And on top of that, Matt Eberflus was not a great head coach in Chicago.
But he was a great defensive play-caller there.
He did a really good job.
Chicago's defense was good while he was there, and they've looked a lot worse since he Left.
So I don't think it was crazy.
I just think that the execution of all of that.
When you get to what happens next, I mean, everyone who works for the Cowboys, and especially as head coach of the Cowboys, understands that Jerry Jones is going to have a meaningful say.
He's not going to ignore other opinions, but he will be swayed by others.
He was, however, asked today, "Does this need to be a former head coach?"
'Cause I think at least their last four defensive coordinators had been a head coach in the NFL prior, and Jerry said no.
And then he was asked, "Can it be a first-time defensive coordinator?"
And Jerry said, "Yes."
They would consider that.
The last thing I'll say on this is that as much As you want to talk about Jerry, whether he's willing to take accountability, Whether he's putting too much responsibility and too much input into the decision, I want to give credit to Brian Schottenheimer, because as everyone was talking about Matt Eberflus, Brian Schottenheimer literally raised his hand and said, "It's not just Matt Eberflus.
My name is on this record as well," "And I take" "Yeah."
...
Accountability in that I'm the head football coach."
And I just thought that it's moments That is why Brian Schottenheimer is such an effective head coach.
And he exceeded expectations as play-caller this year.
Too.
But he is telling this entire team, "I get that "That guy's not on his job anymore, and that was probably the right decision," Brian said.
Schottenheimer is not going to act like he didn't have a part in that.
