“You build it around the players,” Parker said. “Obviously you want to have your core principles and fundamentals. But as you go through the process, what do your guys do well? How can you put players in highlight positions, create one-on-ones for certain guys? How can you protect certain guys? If we can work on quarterbacking, we’re going to get a good man to play, if we’re going to play a good man. we’re better than zone vision, we’re going to play more zone.
“You want to create a package that has diversity in the system and you want to tailor it to the players you have. Of course, you have diagrams, but I think the really good players are the ones that you can’t plug them into a certain formation and that’s the only way they can play football. You want to have guys that in whatever system they are in, they can be important strengths around the ones you want.”
Coaches who insist on playing one way and do not hire the players to do so do not last long. Parker’s approach, after spending the last two years under Vic Fangio in Philadelphia, is the right one. The question is what kind of players will he expect in 2026.
The Cowboys defense has needs all over the field, from edge rusher to cornerback to coverage linebacker to safety to defensive tackle. There is literally no place where Dallas is set on defense. After free agency and the draft, we can reassess Parker’s plans for this multi-faceted defensive system to see if he has the horses to properly run it.
“I don’t think we want to put any expectations on it in that regard,” Parker said when asked if he thinks things can turn around quickly in Dallas. “I think we just kind of want to take it day by day and do it the right way. So we’re just going to take that approach. We’ll get our heads out of the sand at some point, but right now we got tunnel vision to do things the right way.”