Cowboys

Cowboys Requested To Speak With Three Candidates For Defensive Coordinator Opening

January 8, 2026

The Dallas Cowboys have requested to speak with three candidates for their defensive coordinator position, per Todd Archer.

The full list of candidates includes:

Vikings defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones
Denver assistant HC/pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard
Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda

All three coaches were considered by various teams for defensive coordinator roles during the last coaching cycle.

Jones, 46, started as a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2001 before working at Nicholls State and Bowie State.

He later was a graduate assistant at UCLA in 2010 before transitioning to the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes as a DB coach in 2011. From there he held similar roles with Hawaii and Wisconsin before jumping to the NFL with the Dolphins as an assistant DB coach in 2016.

In 2018, Jones was the CB coach for the Bengals before being hired as the DB coach by the Vikings in 2020. He left for LSU in 2021 where he had his first stint as a defensive coordinator before returning to the Vikings in his old capacity the following season where he has remained since.

Leonhard, 43, placed 10 seasons in the NFL for the Bills, Ravens, Jets, Broncos, Saints, and Browns. He was hired as the defensive backs coach at Wisconsin for the 2016 season.

Wisconsin promoted Leonhard to defensive coordinator the following year and he remained in the role until the 2022 season when he took over as the interim head coach.

Leonhard finished with a record of 5-3 as the interim coach at Wisconsin in 2022. He joined the Illinois coaching staff for the 2023 season, then caught on with the Broncos in 2024 as the secondary coach.

Banda, 44, began his coaching career at Incarnate Word as an assistant for the 2011 season. He worked as an assistant a few schools before being hired as the safties coach at Miami in 2016.

Banda worked his way up to co-defensive coordinator before Utah State hired him as their defensive coordinator/safeties coach in 2021. From there, he joined the Browns as their safeties coach in 2023.