FRISCO, Texas -- Matt Eberflus was 40 when he joined the Dallas Cowboys as a linebackers coach in 2011. He had two years of experience as an NFL assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns and stayed with Dallas until 2018.
Now 54, Eberflus returns as the Cowboys' defensive coordinator with more experience -- four years as the Indianapolis Colts' DC and three as the Chicago Bears' head coach.
Meeting with reporters Tuesday, Eberflus did not speak about his dismissal from Chicago after posting a 14-32 record or the Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders or the curious clock management in losses to the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. The Bears had a 5-19 record in one-score games under Eberflus.
In the 60 days between being let go in Chicago and hired in Dallas, Eberflus said he did an after-action review on his time with the Bears.
"You always do that. I do that every single year, reflecting on what you could do better on everything," Eberflus said. "It's important that you do that. You look at what we did well and what you could improve. Not only from last year but even from the beginning, how you hired your initial staff. From A to Z on that. Really. Always growing and improving every single year."
He was not specific on what he learned and what he could do over, preferring to think of what's ahead.
"Looking at what really can happen in the future and what this team can be now that I'm with the Dallas Cowboys, and the vision we have, and what they can be, that's what excites me most," Eberflus said.
Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Mike McCarthy as head coach, wanted a defensive coordinator with head coaching experience. Since Schottenheimer will be calling offensive plays, he wanted a coach he could trust to oversee the defense.
"The first couple of meetings I had with him, I said, 'I'm here for you,'" Eberflus said, adding it was his job to make Schottenheimer's "job easier."
He can make Schottenheimer's job easier if he turns around a Cowboys defense that improved as last season went on but still finished 31st in points and 28th in yards allowed. Previous coordinator Mike Zimmer had to deal with prolonged absences from Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons (four games), defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (13 games), and cornerbacks DaRon Bland (10 games) and Trevon Diggs (six games).
At one point, the Cowboys were down their top four defensive ends from the start of training camp.
"There's some really good pieces that are here to work with," Eberflus said.
Eberflus came to the Cowboys in 2011 working in a 3-4 defense under Rob Ryan. He left following the 2017 season after working in a 4-3 scheme under Monte Kiffin and Rod Marinelli. In his last two seasons, he served as the passing game coordinator and worked alongside Marinelli in many ways.
"Yeah, pretty simple: We take the ball away," he said when asked what the hallmark of his defense is. "That's what we do. We stop the run. And we want to make exciting plays for our football team. That's really what we do."
In his first year as the Colts' coordinator in 2018, Indianapolis went from No. 30 in points and yards allowed to No. 10 and 11, respectively. The run defense went from 26th to eighth, and the Colts did not allow a 100-yard rusher.
Only once in the past seven years has an Eberflus-led defense or team finished outside the top 10 in takeaways. And in 2023, the Bears tied for the NFL lead with 22 interceptions.
It helps Eberflus that he will have Parsons. Since 1982, Parsons and Hall of Famer Reggie White are the only players to record at least 12 sacks in each of his first four NFL seasons. League rules prevent them from talking much about football at this time of year. One of Eberflus' first talks with Parsons came when the pass rusher was enjoying Disney World with his kids while in Orlando, Florida, for the Pro Bowl.
"Micah's a premier pass rusher. We're going to use him that way certainly," Eberflus said. "And he's a heckuva athlete and can do a lot of different things for us on defense. When you have a guy like that you want to be able to utilize his skill set, and as we're around him more, we'll be able to see what that skill set is and really take advantage of that."
It also helps Eberflus that he has defensive assistants from his time in Chicago, such as pass game coordinator Andre Curtis, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, cornerbacks coach David Overstreet and assistant defensive line coach Bryan Bing.
They have a head start in teaching the scheme to the new assistants.
"Flus is a good football coach and even better person," Curtis said. "He treated me well and gave me an opportunity, coming from Seattle to Chicago. And when this opportunity presented itself, because of the type of man he is, the character he has, it was important for me [to join him]."
Since Eberflus was under contract with the Bears through 2026, he did not need to coach in 2025. He could have taken time off, saw the game from a different angle, much the way Dan Quinn did after his time as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons before joining the Cowboys in 2021.
He joked that his wife, Kelly, wanted him to coach again to get him out of the house.
Borgonzi -- who was a Cowboys assistant in 2012-13 under Jason Garrett before he and Eberfuls were reunited with the Colts in 2018 -- knew he could not stay away.
"Because he loves football," Borgonzi said. "I don't want to speak for him, but I know he likes to play golf, but I don't think he wants to golf every day. I think he loves football, and he loves competition. So, for him not to compete every day, I just couldn't see it. I had a feeling he wanted to get right back in just because he's got so much competitive juice.
"I'm excited he got back in because he's really good at what he does."