The Dallas Cowboys are continuing to retool their coaching staff. After hiring Dan Quinn to be defensive coordinator on Monday, they’ve now brought in a member of his 2020 Falcons staff in Joe Whitt Jr. to coach the secondary and be the defensive passing game coordinator.
Whitt was already on the Cowboys’ radar thanks to a long history with Mike McCarthy in Green Bay. He also interviewed for Dallas’ defensive coordinator vacancy last weekend but the job ended up going to Quinn.
Before brief stops in Atlanta and Cleveland the last two years, Whitt was with the Packers from 2008-2018 in varying roles. He primarily served as the cornerbacks coach from 2009-2017 and was part of the Super Bowl Champion staff in 2010.
Joe Whitt Jr’s interview with the #Cowboys was lengthy and sounded like he really impressed Jerry Jones in particular. Now, he’s on board. https://t.co/3JzET5hLox
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2021
There are legitimate concerns about hiring anyone from the Falcons after they finished 2020 as the worst passing defense in the NFL and 29th overall. But at least Whitt was only there for one pandemic-altered season and with the franchise clearly in need of a rebuild.
While nothing is confirmed yet, Whitt’s arrival almost certainly means bad news for one of the Cowboys’ current secondary coaches. They added Maurice Linguist and Al Harris in 2020 as part of Mike Nolan’s defensive staff.
Harris was still playing for the Packers from 2008-2010 in the early days of Whitt’s coaching tenure there. That connection could make Harris a favorite to be kept on in some capacity.
