The Dallas Cowboys have new defensive coordinator Christian Parker on hand, and at 34 years old and with no coordinator experience, the team is taking a leap of faith with the former Eagles defensive backs coach. Still, it would not hurt to have a bit of experience on the staff behind Parker.
To that end, reports emerged this week that the Cowboys are interviewing former Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr for a spot on their staff. And there was good news in Dallas on that front: Orr was a candidate to be the coordinator for the Chargers’ defense, but the team chose to hire Chris O’Leary from within their own staff.
Orr has ties to the Dallas area, having played high school football locally and having gone to college at North Texas. He also has ties to head coach Brian Schottenheimer, and was a candidate for the defensive coordinator’s job that Parker got.
He was a linebackers coach for the Jaguars and Ravens before being promoted to DC to replace Mike Macdonald, now the Seahawks coach.
Zach Orr has Ties to Dallas
The Cowboys are also interviewing Cardinals defensive backs coach Ryan Smith, but Orr is the headliner.
Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram broke the news and wrote: “Orr, who also interviewed for the defensive coordinator job in Dallas before the team hired Parker, has experience coaching alongside head coach Brian Schottenheimer in 2021 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is also a native of DeSoto and a graduate of North Texas. He has since interviewed for the Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator job, as he continues to search for his new home after being relieved of his duties in Baltimore after two seasons.”
After striking out in multiple other locations, a return home to Dallas might be welcome for Orr. Certainly, the Cowboys would welcome him as a linebackers coach–the team had arguably the worst linebacking unit in the NFL in 2025. But he could stick with John Harbaugh and join his staff with the New York Giants, though there would be a demotion since Harbaugh brought in Dennard Wilson to be the DC.
Cowboys Proceeding Now With Christian Parker
Adding Orr would be a nice score for the Cowboys, who appear to have some momentum, at least when it comes to the coaching staff. Ultimately, the team will need a personnel overhaul that should come in the draft and in free agency–at least one new top edge rusher, at least two linebackers, and as many as five or six new corners and safeties should be on the shopping list.
But there is confidence in Parker to lead that charge.
“Number one, everybody you talk to, nobody said anything negative about him,” team personnel chief Will McClay said of Parker. “When we got the chance to meet and talk to him, he’s wise beyond his years number one, but the way that the puts things together, the way he talks about the defense, his awareness of the front and the back end, excited to work with him and the staff that he’s going to put together because I think there’s some exciting things that we can do… He’s going to put us up front on the defensive side.”
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