Getty Cowboys DC Mike Nolan
Many (including yours truly) thought Mike Nolan’s firing would be fait accompli after the Dallas Cowboys mercifully concluded their 6-10 campaign.
But, as of Tuesday evening, the Cowboys defensive coordinator is still employed. Which begs the question: Could Nolan return in 2021?
Asked Tuesday, team owner/general manager Jerry Jones declined to comment on Nolan’s future, except to remove the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse for Dallas’ bottom-ranked defense.
“People got the job done with COVID,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, adding that he will take a “hard look” at the situation.
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Season in Review
A longtime pal of head coach Mike McCarthy, the well-traveled Nolan was hired this offseason as a would-be upgrade on predecessors Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard. Unbelievably, the defense took multiple steps backward under Nolan, whose complex playbook was a bone of contention for players.
The Cowboys, albeit injury-marred, surrendered the most points (473) in franchise history — 29.6 points per game — blowing past the previous record (436) set in 2010. The unit also ceded the second-most yards (6,183), finishing 31st against the run (158.8 yards per game) and 23rd in total YPG (384.4).
Nolan’s bunch hit rock bottom on numerous occasions, allowing a 307-yard rushing effort in Week 4 and a 294-yard performance in Week 13. To be fair, they pulled together over the final quarter of the regular season, helping the 6-10 Cowboys win three straight prior to their Week 17 playoff-eliminating loss at New York.
“I respect Mike as a man because he looked himself in the mirror and he changed some things to make us play faster and helped us play better. I mean, it was later in the season, but we started to see improvements, and I think it really shined a light on the type of players we are,” Lawrence said Monday, via DallasCowboys.com.
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Firing Remains Likely
The late-year surge might have been too little, too late to save Nolan from the chopping block. Especially when Jones looks at the cumulative result: No defender logged more than 6.5 sacks (DeMarcus Lawrence) or three interceptions (Trevon Diggs), let alone qualified for the 2021 Pro Bowl. This was largely a Charmin-soft squad that couldn’t stop a nose bleed.
Remember when Cowboys safety Xavier Woods — ironically among the bigger culprits — copped to a “lack” of effort and rationalized it’s “not possible” to go “full speed” every snap, every game? How about when Lawrence not-so-humbly opined that Dallas’ defense has grown “soft,” void of grit and toughness. Or when former Cowboys great Darren Woodson, upon reviewing the tape, chewed them up and spit them out.
“The way they play, it makes the competitor in you cringe,” Woodson told CowboysSI.com last month.
In all likelihood, Jones eventually settles on a scapegoat for what was a bitterly disappointing season. And since it won’t be McCarthy or offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who signed a contract extension, logic points to Nolan as the fall guy.
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL