ESPN’s Adam Schefter arguably breaks more big news than any reporter in U.S. sports, so when he reported Sunday that the Dallas Cowboys have hired Mike Zimmer as their new defensive coordinator, many fans certainly thought “Done deal.”
But seconds later, that report on the Sunday NFL Countdown Super Bowl pregame show was disputed by a surprising source — ESPN analyst Rex Ryan. The former NFL head coach has some special insight into this specific situation because he recently interviewed for the DC role in Dallas.
“First off, I’m not so sure Zimmer has that job right now,” Ryan said. “I’m not sure about that. I can honestly say I don’t believe that’s a fact right now.”
Cowboys have hired Mike Zimmer as their new defensive coordinator according to @AdamSchefter but…
Rex Ryan who interviewed for the Cowboys DC disputes Schefter’s report & says he doesn’t believe that’s true & that’s not a fact right now 👀…#DallasCowboys
(🎥: @espn) pic.twitter.com/kGfUmJh3rc
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) February 11, 2024
Ryan must know something, or he wouldn’t outright dispute news from ESPN’s star reporter, concerning a high-profile position with the Cowboys, no less.
Schefter did note that the Cowboys were really impressed with Ryan during his interview.
“I can tell you this, they loved Rex. They were highly impressed with Rex,” Schefter said. “Rex made quite a mark on the Jones family. I’m a little surprised they didn’t hire him … but we’re quite happy they didn’t, we’re happy to have him here.”
The Cowboys will soon resolve the situation by either announcing Zimmer’s hire, or that of another coach (wait a minute, could that possibly be … Ryan?). But Schefter was definitely right about Ryan being an asset to the ESPN show.
[Pro Football Talk; Photo Credit: ESPN]
