Cowboys’ coach offers strong take on Kris Richard’s future

Rod Marinelli doesn’t need to see anymore. He’s convinced.

The Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator knows it’s not ‘if’ but ‘when’ defensive backs coach and passing-game coordinator Kris Richard will be hired away as a head coach.

Richard, 39, who is in his first season with the Cowboys after becoming a fast-rising coaching star with the Seahawks the past half decade, is likely to be poached away as soon as the Cowboys’ season is over.

The Cowboys play the Los Angeles Rams at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in the divisional playoff round at LA Memorial Coliseum.

Richard has already interviewed this week with at least three teams looking for a head coach.

“To me, he’s a head coach, he just hasn’t been hired yet,” said Marinelli, who has coached in the NFL since 1996 and was the Detroit Lions’ head coach from 2006-08. “But he is a head coach. That’s what he is. He’s a head coach. We’re just waiting for him to get the right job.”

A year ago, Matt Eberfluss was hired as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator after serving under Marinelli as the Cowboys’ passing-game coordinator and linebackers coach. Marinelli, 69, said he considers preparing assistants for bigger roles a big part of his job.

“I’ve always looked at my responsibility being No. 1, how do we make our defense the best? Not what’s best for me, what’s best for the defense,” he said. “One of my other jobs, that I really believe in, is to help develop men to go out and lead organizations. That’s important to me. Then they’ll be able to contribute faster to what we’re at when they’ve got that ownership. You see it. Both of these guys. Flu and him. You can see it. And that’s what I want.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2019 at 7:30 AM.