Everyone remembers the one that got away. From the girl next door to the job offer with the bad timing, hindsight can be cruel as much as it can be educational. For the Dallas Cowboys, Sean Peyton is often seen as the head coach that got away.

Dallas will need to find a new defensive coordinator for 2025, too. Mike Zimmer told Ed Werder that he would not return to the Cowboys and would likely retire.

"The truth,'' Mike Zimmer tells us with a laugh, "is that I've wanted to be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for 25 years.''

Mike Zimmer, who helped turn around the Dallas defense over the course of a difficult 7-10 season, reportedly won't come back to the Cowboys with Brian Schottenheimer in charge.

The Dallas Cowboys have been busy assembling their coaching staff this January after the departure of former head coach, Mike McCarthy. His replacement, Brian Schottenheimer, appointed former Bears head coach,

In addition to Eberflus, the Cowboys hired former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen as special teams coordinator, replacing John Fassel, who joined the Tennessee Titans after his contract expired. Sorensen previously worked with Schottenheimer in Seattle and Jacksonville.

Schottenheimer and the Cowboys have named Dave Borgonzi, Aaron Whitecotton and Andre Curtis to the staff, the team announced Wednesday. All three are defensive hires. And all three new additions were greatly influenced by new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus . Schottenheimer, though, had final say on the hires as head coach.

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer will not have Mike Zimmer running the defense for him in 2025. Zimmer told Ed Werder of ESPN that he will not be returning to Dallas for a second season. Zimmer said that he will likely retire from coaching.

As underwhelmed as Dallas Cowboys fans may be in having Brian Schottenheimer as their new head coach, there's still a lot of work to be done in overhauling the staff. Schottenheimer was announced as the head coach on Monday in a press conference that many have labeled bizarre.

Now, a new defensive coordinator will enter the mix for the third season in a row, with the Cowboys hiring Matt Eberflus on Monday. And the Cowboys are confident that Parsons will continue to be a dominant force under his new playcaller.

The Dallas Cowboys have hired Matt Eberflus as their new defensive coordinator and are expected to finalize a deal with Nick Sorensen as the special teams coordinator,