The Dallas Cowboys continue to search for a new offensive coordinator after parting ways with Kellen Moore on Sunday night.
According to the team website, Dallas has interviewed Carolina Panthers running backs coach Jeff Nixon and Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown for the position.
Nixon has spent time in college and the NFL since 2016. He most notably served as the running backs coach at Temple University before stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Miami Dolphins, and the San Francisco 49ers.
He joined Matt Rhule’s Baylor program as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2017 and followed the head coach to the Panthers in 2020.
His Baylor offense was No.22 in the country in 2018, and his background includes work with players like Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, and Lamar Miller.
Brown is the fifth-leading all-time rusher at the University of Georgia and spent two seasons as a player in the NFL. His resume includes stops in Georgia, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Marshall, Wisconsin, Miami (FL), and South Carolina.
He joined the Rams staff in 2020 — coaching a top-10 rushing attack in his first season.
After Dallas announced the decision on Moore, the team said head coach Mike McCarthy would call plays, which owner Jerry Jones confirmed this week.
The move means that quarterback Dak Prescott will play under his third different play-caller and in a completely overhauled offense for the first time in his career in 2023.
Jones told the media at the Senior Bowl that he sees the move as a “building step” and the new offense “will be, in principle, the way he operated in Green Bay.”
McCarthy was the head coach of the Packers from 2006 to 2018, and his offenses were generally near the top of the league for his first ten seasons.
Dallas also added Mike Solari as its new offensive line coach this week, replacing Joe Philbin.
Solari was a member of the Cowboys staff in the late 1980s and has familiarity with McCarthy from their time together in Green Bay and Kansas City. Most recently, he coached for the Seahawks and has also coached with the Cardinals, Giants, and 49ers.
The Cowboys let eight coaches go after the playoff loss to San Francisco and have plenty of openings left to fill.
PRO BOWL
The Cowboys will be well represented at the Pro Bowl this weekend, with eight players participating in the festivities.
Center Tyler Biadasz was the latest addition, earning his first career Pro Bowl nod as a replacement for Eagles center Jason Kelce.
Biadasz missed only one game this season and joins CeeDee Lamb, Zack Martin, Tony Pollard, Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, Demarcus Lawrence, and Kavontae Turpin on the NFC roster.
The Pro Bowl is an all-star game originally played in Hawaii and later moved to Orlando and again to Las Vegas.
This year, the league changed the format to a multiple-day competition in Las Vegas that includes events like flag football, dodgeball, passing precision, the longest drive contest, and much more.
COLLEGE ALL-STAR GAMES
There are also two college all-star games being played this week: the Senior Bowl (Mobile, Alabama) and the East-West Shrine Game (Las Vegas).
The Senior Bowl is generally considered the superior of the two. Still, both games have produced legitimate NFL talent and allow franchises to spend time with prospects on a more personal level.
The Cowboys have drafted at least one player from the Senior Bowl every year since 2015 and have added 15 since 2020. Last year’s class included six players who participated in the Senior Bowl.
The East-West Shrine Game will be played on Thursday night, while the Senior Bowl will be played on Saturday afternoon.
GALLUP
Wide receiver Michael Gallup, who missed three games this season while recovering from a torn ACL, had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and right ankle this week.
Gallup is not expected to miss the beginning of the team’s offseason program in April.
He is entering the third year of a five-year contract, and his salary is fully guaranteed in 2023.
