Five Dallas Cowboys assistants were informed Thursday the Cowboys are no longer interested in their services, one of which used to coach for the Redskins.
The contracts of all five assistant coaches were expiring, so basically, the Cowboys were informing them they would not renew their contracts for the upcoming 2023 NFL season.
The five Dallas coaches now out of a job are defensive line coach Leon Lett, offensive line coach Joe Philbin, assistant head coach Rob Davis, running backs coach Skip Peete and linebackers coach George Edwards.
Washington fans may remember Edwards. When Dan Snyder fired Marty Schottenheimer after winning 8 of their final 11 games to finish 8-8 in 2001, Snyder hired Steve Spurrier from Florida, making him the NFL’s highest-paid head coach.
Marvin Lewis became the defensive coordinator, and Edwards became the linebackers coach/assistant defensive coordinator. It was a first for Edwards, who had previously coached linebackers and defensive linemen in other coaching locations.
Washington went 7-9 that 2002 season, Lewis departed to Cincinnati, becoming the Bengals head coach, and Edwards was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2003 season. However, Washington went 5-11 (“not very good”), Spurrier resigned, and Edwards went to Cleveland to coach the linebackers.
Former Vikings DC George Edwards jaws with Dalvin Cook, and Cook gets called for the penalty pic.twitter.com/vYxdjdd89Y
— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) November 20, 2022
Life for NFL coaches’ families can be extremely difficult. A coach must travel multiple times out of state during the season, while there are long hours with no days off during the regular season for coaching staffs.
The most difficult aspect may actually be the emotional instability of knowing you are most likely not going to be in any one location for a long time. For Edwards (age 56), the Cowboys were his 12th employer since he began coaching as an assistant at the University of Florida in 1991 on the Steve Spurrier staff.
Following the Florida Gators, Edwards has also coached for Appalachian State, Duke, Georgia, the Cowboys, Redskins, Browns, Dolphins, Bills, Dolphins, Vikings, Cowboys.
