How Mike Zimmer and Micah Parsons will fit together

The Cowboys’ former defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, is now head coach for the enemy in Washington. That was a tough loss. Quinn has done a lot to bolster this Dallas defense. However, the blow was made softer when the Cowboys brought on new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, a markedly different kind of coach, but perhaps just the kind Dallas needs. Zimmer was previously the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals for 14 seasons before becoming head coach of the Minnesota Vikings for eight years and spending the last two seasons out of the game.

Another intriguing part of Zimmer’s new defensive schemes is how they’ll work with some of the players, including one of the league’s best defenders, Micah Parsons. Parsons is an extremely versatile player. In his rookie season in 2021, he switched almost evenly between pass rushing and dropping in coverage. For the rest of his time under Quinn, however, he was almost always a pass rusher, dropping in coverage less than 100 times in the last two seasons.

The dynamic of Micah Parsons under Mike Zimmer

That’s where things will be different under Zimmer. As primarily a pass rusher, Parsons has steadily increased his sack total, from 13 to 13.5 to 14 in the last three seasons. With Zimmer at the helm, however, Parsons will be playing off the ball as a linebacker much more.

“I think it’s going to be a very interesting year,” Parsons said.

Already, Parsons and Zimmer have started to have daily morning meetings along with run game coordinator Paul Guenther to develop a game plan. One of Zimmer’s core beliefs is that all his players should understand the bigger picture rather than having “tunnel vision” and only focusing on their one position.

“We go through defense stuff, but we go through the X’s and O’s of why this happened, why we don’t call this, why we roll the coverage, who we want to take out of the coverage,” Parsons said. “So I’m not just learning the D-line stuff for the front. I’m learning the back end, the corners, the safeties. Why we want to show this way, why we want to send the pressure over this way because the safety’s over there. You know, it’s interesting, and it’s a perspective I never had before.”

One of the major differences between Zimmer and Quinn is their coaching style. Quinn was much more passive and was even considered friends with the players, whereas Zimmer is much more aggressive and has even had to shut down rumors that he’s “a jerk”.

Parsons led the league in quarterback pressures (103), quarterback pressure rate (21.8%), and pass rush win rate (35.3%) last season and is one of just five players to have at least 40 sacks in his first three NFL seasons. Not only is he a great athlete, but he is willing to learn and grow, and understands that he still has room to improve and that his potential can be maximized in other places on the field.

“Great players want to be coached. Players want to get better,” said Zimmer. “And my philosophy has always been if they think you can help them, and you know what you’re doing, they’re gonna listen ‘cause their career is not very long. And so the more they can become better and better, obviously the better for the team and better for their careers.”

“Obviously I’ve had some really good players - Deion Sanders, Danielle Hunter, guys we’ve been able to do a lot of different things with,” Zimmer said. “But with him, I don’t know that he couldn’t play every position. He could probably play free safety if he wanted to...wouldn’t want him back there covering the pass very much,” he laughed.

Parsons has been taking the initiative to learn from Zimmer and Guenther and has goals of becoming the best defender in the game. He also plans to stay in Dallas for the long haul and is committed to winning.

“This game is more than just a check to me,” Parsons said. “That’s why you play hurt. You play tired. You go through all of those emotions because you love this game, and you only get 17 days out of 365 to show why you’re the best. I only got 17 chances, guaranteed, not including the playoffs, to show we’re the best and why we belong here and why I hope Jerry [Jones] keeps me here.”

“It’s like art. Imagine you’re an artist and someone shows up to your gallery and says, ‘Your art sucks.’ You’re like, ‘Damn, I put so much time into this. I really thought about this.’ That’s how I feel about football. This is my art. Pass rushing is an art. It’s so much mental that goes into it. … It’s not just a game.”