Cowboys hire Mike Zimmer as DC: Dallas adds former NFL head coach to run defense after considering Rex Ryan

The Dallas Cowboys have found their next defensive coordinator. The team announced their hire of veteran coach Mike Zimmer to lead the defense going forward on Tuesday.

Zimmer joins the Cowboys to replace Dan Quinn, who earlier this offseason accepted the head-coaching job for the Washington Commanders.

The team will hold an introductory press conference with Zimmer and Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy on Wednesday afternoon.

I’m excited and honored to be back with a great organization,” Zimmer said, via ESPN.

“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.”

Zimmer’s hire comes shortly after Rex Ryan, the former head coach of the New York Jets (2009-2014) and Buffalo Bills (2015-2016), pushed back on Zimmer’s reported Dallas hiring during an appearance on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” pregame show ahead of Super Bowl LVII.

Ryan was a candidate who also interviewed for the Dallas defensive coordinator vacancy, and mere seconds after ESPN’s Adam Schefter went through a detailed, on-air report about the Cowboys choosing Zimmer, Ryan disputed Schefter’s reporting.

The Cowboys loved Rex. Jerry Jones was ‘ready to run through a wall’ after listening to Rex,” Schefter said Monday afternoon on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN.

“They did reach out to Rex 15 minutes before that segment just to say ‘hey.