Dallas Cowboys to hire former Commanders assistant Jeff Zgonina as defensive line coach

The Dallas Cowboys are hiring former Washington Commanders assistant Jeff Zgonina as their defensive line coach, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reported Friday.

Zgonina spent the last four seasons on Washington’s staff, the last two as defensive line coach. His coaching career began in 2013 as assistant defensive line coach for the Houston Texans. Since then, he has had tenures with the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Commanders. He replaces Aden Durde as the Cowboys’ defensive line coach, whom the Seattle Seahawks hired as their defensive coordinator.

Zgonina, 53, played 17 years in the NFL for seven teams: The Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins and Texans. He tallied 458 tackles (302 solo), 26.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and 13 fumble recoveries. Zgonina won a Super Bowl with the Rams in 1999.

Cowboys retooling coaching staff after departure of Dan Quinn

He is the latest hire from head coach Mike McCarthy, who is retooling his staff following the departure of defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who took the head coaching job with the Seattle Seahawks. McCarthy replaced Quinn with veteran coach Mike Zimmer, who spent 12 years as an assistant for the Cowboys (1994-2006), the last six as defensive coordinator.

From there, he spent one season as the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, before serving as the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2008-13. The job he did in Cincinnati eventually landed him the Minnesota Vikings’ head coaching job. Zimmer went 72-56 in eight seasons in Minnesota, making three playoff appearances. The Vikings fired him after the 2021 season. He spent the 2022 season as an analyst/consultant for Jackson State and held the same title in 2023 at Colorado.

18 years later, Zimmer is “excited and honored” to be coming back to Dallas, where he made his name as a coach in the NFL.

“I’m excited and honored to be back with a great organization,” Zimmer told Ed Werder of ESPN Monday. “I’m thrilled to work with Mike McCarthy, for whom I have had a ton of respect in our NFC North days, and to do anything I can do to help the Joneses and the Cowboys.”