{"id":514,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/514","headline":"Cowboys bring in Mike Pettine to help fix the defense","dek":"The 60-year-old joins first-year coordinator Christian Parker, whom he once hired as an assistant in Green Bay back in 2019.","body":"The Cowboys are calling in reinforcements. Dallas announced Monday that longtime NFL coach Mike Pettine is joining the staff as a senior defensive assistant, brought in to support defensive coordinator Christian Parker after a rough start to the season.\n\nThe hire is less a shakeup than a reunion. Pettine, 60, hired Parker for his first NFL job back in 2019 when the two were on staff together with the Green Bay Packers. Head coach Mike Schottenheimer said the connection made the move an easy call, noting he had worked with Pettine previously as well, including time together with the Jets.\n\nSchottenheimer framed Pettine's role as purely supportive, there to back Parker rather than take over any duties. He called Pettine a trusted friend and said the two had already discussed the idea before it came together.\n\nParker is in his first season as Dallas' defensive coordinator, and the unit's early struggles have put him under scrutiny. The Cowboys are betting that an experienced voice with a prior relationship to Parker can speed up the fixes without disrupting the chain of command.","published_at":"2026-10-12T23:04:35.401115+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Cowboys add veteran coach Mike Pettine as they search for answers on defense","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7684850/2026/10/12/cowboys-defense-mike-pettine-christian-parker/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Cowboys add longtime coach Mike Pettine as senior defensive assistant after early struggles","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/cowboys-add-longtime-coach-mike-pettine-as-senior-defensive-assistant-after-early-struggles-221025654.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Cowboys bring in veteran coach Pettine to assist 1st-year DC Parker","url":"https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50168837/cowboys-bring-mike-pettine-assist-first-year-dc-christian-parker"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"Cowboys hire Mike Pettine as a defensive assistant","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/cowboys-hire-mike-pettine-as-a-defensive-assistant"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Dallas Cowboys add veteran DC Mike Pettine to staff, hold players only meeting, promise roster changes","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dallas-cowboys-add-veteran-dc-214024783.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Cowboys hire Christian Parker's first NFL boss to help struggling D","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cowboys-hire-christian-parkers-first-225146608.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"As Cowboys seek defensive improvement, can their latest actions be seen as desperation moves?","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cowboys-seek-defensive-improvement-latest-232052595.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Cowboys Hire Ex-Head Coach to Help Struggling Christian Parker","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cowboys-hire-ex-head-coach-233516085.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mike Pettine Hire Gives Cowboys Help and Raises the Stakes","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mike-pettine-hire-gives-cowboys-012445037.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2026/10/12164323/2025-01-09T070815Z_1575018244_MT1USATODAY25147636_RTRMADP_3_NFL-MINNESOTA-VIKINGS-AT-DETROIT-LIONS-scaled.jpg","credit":"The Athletic","width":2560},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}