Texas’s Frisco Not just Ezekiel Elliott and Mike Zimmer will be rejoining the Dallas Cowboys in 2024. Remember Greg Ellis? He was a defensive lineman who was selected eighth overall but went on to become a Pro Bowler. Interestingly, Ellis’ career arc ends with both the team that drafted him and the coordinator who trained him.
Ellis is the only member of the Dallas coaching staff who understands the emotions of the incoming 2024 rookie class, especially the top selection picks.
Players like defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who Ellis will be directly in charge of developing, will benefit greatly from that kind of understanding.
“Oh yeah, I can definitely relate to that [pressure they’re feeling],” Ellis replied. But having the other end is advantageous. It’s great to have played here, and I consider my role as coach to be a wonderful dream come true.”
Ellis’s road to this point hasn’t been simple. Actually, the opposite is true, but before he made any progress toward it, he made the decision to prioritize his family, which required accounting for the time he missed during his 12 years in the league as a player—his final year was spent in Oakland with the Raiders.
“My first opportunity to coach, I couldn’t take advantage of it,” he said. “I wanted my children to grow up a little bit. Since they are now older, it is beneficial for my family and myself to be active in coaching. Zim and even Bill Parcells had always encouraged me that when I initially retired, I had to become a coach.
“I loved it and wanted to do it, but I’m a workaholic, to be honest with you, and I know that football welcomes that but it wouldn’t have been good for my family — being so young.”
When he accepted the position of head coach at Texas College in Tyler, Texas—more than two hours away from his home in Southlake, Texas—he would finally embark on the next phase of his professional career. He stayed in that position until he accepted the same position at Southwestern Assemblies of God (SAGU) in Waxahachie, Texas, which was just an hour away from his home.
Ellis has fulfilled his responsibilities, including cleaning team clothing while serving as head coach.
It’s easy to appreciate the importance he contributes as a leader and instructor on defense when you consider that he is a man who, in 2007, came back from a ruptured Achilles to earn both his aforementioned Pro Bowl selection and the title of NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
“When people say, ‘He’s only here because he played for the Cowboys,’ I’m like nah, nah, I had to go through some stuff to get here; and I’m glad I did,” Ellis said. “I came in[to coaching] at ground level, driving two hours everyday to get to football practice from Southlake to Tyler — doing the [team’s] laundry, all that kinda stuff I went through. “I did all those things. Getting here required a great deal of work.”
And now that he’s back here in Dallas, Ellis hopes to build on his previous success with Zimmer by approaching things quite differently this time.
“The biggest change with him is me being a coach, and me not playing for him,” Zimmer told him. Since I used to play for him, I have a great deal of respect for him because he is an excellent instructor of the game. I learned a lot about the game from him. It’s strange for me to be on the other side of it with him.”
Additionally, it’s different because Zimmer isn’t berating him rep by rep.
“You stated it, I did not, but I concur with you,” semi-jokingly remarked Ellis. “He demands accountability from coaches. I’ve known him long enough to know that he will stick to anything you tell him you’re going to do. He will never forget that. And that’s what makes him a good coach and the positive aspect about him.
“I really can’t think of a better coach for me to be under — than him.”
It’s also true that the present stable of players will need to be acclimated to what the new standard will be in 2024 by those who are accustomed to Zimmer’s abrupt, direct, and understandably demanding coaching style (such as Ellis and Eric Kendricks). The first-year defensive players will particularly need to pay attention to this, although Ellis has already cautioned them to concentrate on the instructions’ main points.
Additionally, there may not be as much on the plate that it is served on.
“It’s professional football, as I’ve already told the rookies,” the Cowboys’ assistant defensive line coach stated. “This is the best place you can be, so don’t worry about how the message is conveyed. Recognize that we are all aiming for the same objective. It’s a fact of life in the NFL for first- and second-round picks to feel pressure like that.
“I believe we have a few decent youngsters. Kneeland is a solid player, Marshawn. In the brief time I’ve spent with him on the field, he looks great and moves incredibly well.
Ellis becomes the second defensive line coach to be hired after Jeff Zgonina was lured away from the Washington Commanders this offseason. Zgonina has taken on the responsibility of leading Sam Williams into a season that he believes will “determine the rest of my career” and resetting former first-round pick Mazi Smith. Ellis also joins Zgonina in overseeing Kneeland’s future.
Thus, Ellis and his countrymen are under as much pressure as the players are to finish the job over the next few months.
But if Ellis’ past is any indication, it’s that pressure is just another opportunity for him to demonstrate that he’s the best candidate for the position, whatever it may be. Ellis would presumably have no trouble taking on the laundry responsibilities in Dallas as well, if the Cowboys didn’t already have someone else doing it.
Fortunately, though, he will only be required to assist in cleaning off the stains on Dallas’ most recent postseason record.
Anyhow, those are the most obstinate ones.
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