Cowboys hire longtime NFL coach out of retirement to address team's brutal defensive start

The Dallas Cowboys have yet to resolve their defensive struggles, which stretch back to the 2025 campaign, and an upset home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on "Thursday Night Football" has prompted a new addition to the coaching staff.

Long-time NFL coach Mike Pettine has been hired by the Cowboys to serve as a senior defensive assistant who will be working alongside defensive coordinator Christian Parker, the 34-year-old who has seen struggles from his unit so far in his first year at his post.

"It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time.

I think as we looked at everything, we had a chance to convince Pett that it made sense for him," head coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters about the hiring of Pettine.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE "I think he's excited about coming in and adding experience and value.

The most important thing for us was making sure we got the right guy, and I feel very, very confident that we did." It feels as though this was a long time coming for the Cowboys, as Parker himself approached Pettine about joining his defensive staff when he was hired for the job in January.

Parker marked the youngest defensive coordinator hire in Cowboys history, and wanted someone he was familiar with on his staff.

Parker’s first NFL job was a quality control coach in 2019 with the Green Bay Packers .

Pettine was the team's defensive coordinator at the time.

Schottenheimer also knows Pettine well, as the two previously worked together on Rex Ryan's New York Jets staff.

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DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW! Pettine, though, had retired before the 2026 season when Parker was putting his staff together.

But after the Cowboys' loss to undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels and the Bucs this past Thursday, which gave Tampa Bay its first win of the season, Dallas went back to Pettine, who came out of retirement to join the staff.

From 2022 up until last season, Pettine served as an assistant head coach for Kevin O’Connell on the Minnesota Vikings .