The Dallas Cowboys added Mike Pettine to their coaching staff on Monday, hiring the veteran coach as senior defensive assistant. He is back on an NFL sideline after opting to retire this past season, and Brian Schottenheimer said Pettine should be in first thing tomorrow.
The move gives the Cowboys another experienced voice around Christian Parker, who is leading the defense. Pettine has coached long enough to have seen almost every version of the job, from assistant defensive line coach and outside linebackers coach to coordinator and even head coach of the Cleveland Browns. That history is part of why Dallas wanted him now: Schottenheimer said Pettine will be there to support everything Parker is leading and guiding.
It also helps that Pettine already knows the shape of what Dallas wants to do. Schottenheimer pointed to his understanding of the 3-4 family, his previous work with the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers, and his most recent stint with the Minnesota Vikings alongside Brian Flores, where he helped build one of the league's more formidable defenses. Pettine and Parker also worked together in Green Bay, and Schottenheimer said Pettine's awareness of Kenny Clark and Rashawn Gary makes him a good fit for the staff.
The timing matters because the hire came after the Cowboys' loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, a game that sharpened the need for help around the defensive staff. Schottenheimer said the club initially considered two names, but chose not to force a fit just to fill the spot. Instead, Dallas turned to a coach it sees as a veteran sounding board, one who can help Parker and the rest of the staff sort through the daily demands that come with running a defense.
Pettine had stepped away from football this past season, but his return suggests the Cowboys value experience as much as fresh voices. If he arrives as expected, the real question is not whether he knows the defense, but how quickly he can help Parker translate that knowledge into cleaner answers for a unit that needs them now.
