Report: Mike Zimmer likely to retire, Cowboys plan to hire Matt Eberflus as new defensive coordinator

Mike Zimmer will not return as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator in 2025, he tells Ed Werder. He’s expected to retire from coaching and the NFL, per the report, and the Cowboys are ‘likely’ to hire former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus to replace him.

The move comes days after former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was promoted to head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Eberflus was reportedly a ‘prime candidate’ to join the team’s staff once Schottenheimer was elevated to headman. He was ousted by the Bears mid-season after posting a 14-32 record across three years at the position.

There is some familiarity, however. Eberflus was the Cowboys’ linebackers coach from 2011-15 while simultaneously serving as a passing game coordinator during his final two years with the team.

For Zimmer, he spent one season at the team’s DC. He’s been in the coaching industry since 1979 when he was hired as a defensive assistant for Missouri. Zimmer went on to be the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-2021. He was working with Deion Sanders at both Jackson State and Colorado before heading back to the NFL.

After the 2024 season, he reflected on the time he spent calling defensive plays for the Cowboys.

“I wish that when I came in that I would have done everything the way I wanted it done and not kind of tried to blend things. I think that was part of the struggles at the beginning,” Zimmer said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “What I’m most proud about is watching the guys, how they’ve improved. … There is still a lot more we could have done better. I think a lot of it was that, so we had to work through a whole bunch of different scenarios to get to where I feel like [we got to] the vision that I had.

“… I was just doing things I was uncomfortable with, so I had to do what I had to do. I’ve said it to some of the coaches, you come in and here was the situation: They were good last year, right? So, I come in and I don’t want to really rock the boat. I probably wasn’t as tough as I typically am. Probably wasn’t as hard-headed about how I want to do things, I guess is the best way to say it. I wasn’t. That’s what I regret the most.”