The Dallas Cowboys are thinking outside the box to fill their coaching staff.
Following their heartbreaking NFC Wild Card Game loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys have gone through a difficult time. Dallas, who had spent the majority of the season as one of the NFL’s most dominant teams, once again failed miserably in the postseason, losing badly to Jordan Love and the Packers. There was going to be a lot of change in Dallas with a loss like that and an infamously voracious audience.
Paul Guenther, a former defensive coordinator for Cincinnati, was hired by Dallas on Monday morning to oversee the run game. Guenther is a very competent coach, despite the fact that it is very unusual for a defensive specialist like him to move from the defensive to the attacking side of the ball.
Guenther has been a career disciple of Dallas’ recently hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer as he rose through the ranks during his time in Cincinnati. Guenther was a defensive assistant with Cincinnati starting in 2005 but was promoted to linebackers coach under Zimmer from 2012-2013 until he succeeded him as defensive coordinator in 2014. Guenther then left the Queen City in 2017 to become the defensive coordinator with the Oakland Raiders until he was fired in 2020 after a particularly painful stretch of form.
Guenther was then given an opportunity as a defensive assistant under Zimmer in 2021 with the Minnesota Vikings until he was fired along with Zimmer at the end of the year. Guenther has been absent from the NFL since that time but will be making a triumphant return with Zimmer to Dallas this upcoming season.
Guenther, a defensive coach by trade, will give a running game that has gradually deteriorated over the last several seasons a linebacker-based specialization. Given that linebackers are the focus of this specialization, the offensive line in Dallas will be heavily relied upon in the following seasons to develop combo blocks, in which two players cover a defensive lineman while also elevating their play and clearing a linebacker. When the offense tackles the faster players on the defensive end, perfecting the combination block technique will result in big plays.
