Decision on Matt Eberflus won’t come until thorough review is made, Cowboys say
The 2025 season has finally come to an end for the non-playoff-bound Dallas Cowboys, and now the process begins on how to correct the many mistakes they suffered on their way to a 7-9-1 record, specfically as it pertains to the defensive side with coordinator Matt Eberflus.
After a season that saw the Cowboys finish 32nd in the NFL in pass defense (4,521 yards allowed) and sixth in yards per carry allowed (4.7), the future of Eberflus is very much in flux moving into a crucial week of post-season evaluations for the team.
That process will begin Monday morning, according to owner Jerry Jones, as his front office constituents will meet with head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his staff to identify key issues that led the defense down the path it traveled.
“It starts immediately,” Schottenheimer said. “We’ll have the exit interviews and have the process. I love that process, and I think it’s important. You talk to the players, you talk to the coaches, you evaluate everything. Like I said, there will be some very clear things that we need to address.
“These [players] have great insight and great input for us. There’s so much incredible value in listening to your people. I’ve got thoughts. Jerry has thoughts. We all have thoughts, but you have a chance to slow down, take a deep breath and ask probing questions to get to the bottom of what the real answers are.”
The exit interviews will include individual discussions between each player and Schottenheimer through Monday and Tuesday. Then, the first-year head coach will do the same with each member of his coaching staff. As a result, he’s not on a specific timeline to make big decisions — like the one pending on Eberflus’ future.
“No, just go through the process,” he said. “And once you go through the process, you know what you want to do. I don’t think we’ll rush any of these decisions. You got to go through the process and do the work. It’s not easy, it’s tedious. We’re going to be working just as hard this week and over the next 10 to 12 days to get through all of that stuff so we feel good about everything.
“We’re going to go through the process. We’re going to go through some things. That’s a big part of what we’re going to do over the next 12 days.”
The only clear timeline Schottenheimer or Jones provided on Sunday was that 10-to-12 day range. With season evaluations expected this week, the decision could come down next week. However, according to Jones, there will be a lot to look at defensively that doesn’t include fault by way of Ebreflus in his eyes.
“I can make the case that we haven’t had a satisfactory defense for five or six years,” Jones said. “[It’s] everything. I think you can look back relative to decisions we made three years ago, five years ago and look at why we made some of the decisions we made on coaches. What did we expect from them relative to what we’re doing with our personnel?”
“That’s why it’s inaccurate to put this on the evaluation of Eberflus. It really is. I don’t want it to sound like it’s as simple as evaluating Eberflus. It’s much broader than that.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 5:30 PM.
