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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. — It’s a little before 8 a.m. and the Dallas Cowboys‘ team meeting is over.
As a good portion of the 90-man roster heads into special teams meetings, linebacker Micah Parsons moves to the defensive meeting room for breakfast. Nearby is new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and run game coordinator Paul Guenther. For most of this week, cornerback Trevon Diggs has joined the group too.
For the next 20 minutes, Parsons becomes the student and Zimmer, the professor.
“I’m not just learning the defense. They got me understanding defense as a whole. Protection plans; understanding why the slide is going to be under here; where my opportunities are going to be; why they ID the [middle linebacker, “Mike”]; why [we] bring down the safety and why it changes to the Mike; and why they might slide to that side instead of our side; and why the blitz is going to come this way,” Parsons said. “I would just say they are increasing my football intelligence. It’s not just about the system. I believe one day they’re putting me in position to coach or something because every day is different.”
Parsons has been a force since the Cowboys selected him in the first round of the 2021 draft. In three seasons, he has been a first- or second-team All-Pro. He has been named to the Pro Bowl each season. He has finished in the top three in Defensive Player of the Year voting each season. Only Parsons and Reggie White have recorded at least 12 sacks in their first three NFL seasons.
But Zimmer is looking to give him more responsibility. As a rookie, Parsons truly split time between linebacker and pass rusher. In 2022 and ’23, he was predominantly lining up on the edge.
This year, Parsons figures to move around more.
“He’s brilliant, No. 1,” Zimmer said of Parsons. “He understands football, No. 2.”
Parsons said Zimmer has come up with “Lion” packages (an ode to Parson’s alma mater, the Penn State Nittany Lions) in the base, nickel and dime defenses.
The closest Zimmer has had to someone of Parsons’ skill set is Anthony Barr, who was Zimmer’s first first-round pick in 2014 when he was head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
“I don’t know if he couldn’t play every position,” Zimmer said. “He probably could play free safety if he wanted to. Now, I don’t want him back there covering pass very much.”
So far in training camp, Parsons has been ping-ponging between putting his hand on the ground and lining up as an off-the-ball linebacker. It’s looked more like his rookie season when he played more linebacker than defensive end.
At one practice, he went from trying to beat rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton off the edge on one snap to dropping in coverage on the next, with the offensive line caught off guard and allowing pressure from a blitzer.
“I’m going to do a little bit of both just like I have been in the past,” Parsons said. “I think the personnel and packages is good. And now that we have more of an understanding of each other, I think it’s going to be a great year.”
When Zimmer was hired, much was made of his old-school ways meshing with Parsons, as the sometimes cantankerous coach returns from a two-year absence from the NFL. In June, Parsons said they hadn’t had “20 words”, mostly because Parsons did not attend the voluntary portion of the offseason program. He did, however, speak frequently with run game coordinator Paul Guenther, who has become something of a Parsons whisperer. Guenther attended Parsons’ football camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Zimmer has found Parsons to be extremely coachable, like great players he has had in the past, such as Deion Sanders, Darren Woodson, Danielle Hunter and Eric Kendricks, among others.
“I talked to him [recently] … about something where I think he can be more effective if he did this, and he agreed,” Zimmer said. “But great players want to be coached. Players want to get better. My philosophy has always been: ‘If they know you can help them and you know what you’re doing, they’re going to listen.’ Their career is not very long, and so the more they can become better and better — obviously, the better for the team and the better for their careers.”
From the stories Parsons heard before he got to know Zimmer, he said the coach has completely changed, but he acknowledged he has not seen what Zimmer is like during games when “the attention and emotions are way higher.”
He said their conversations have been transparent.
“I would say Zim is definitely one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve been around,” Parsons said. “The same with Paul. Zim doesn’t say a lot, but he says why. He’s not a coach who is just going to tell you to do something. He’s going to tell you why he does it and why it has success. There is always a purpose behind what he says, so when he does speak, you really listen to it and gravitate to it.”
Parsons gravitated to his first NFL coordinator, Dan Quinn. The two bonded quickly, and Parsons said he still hears from Quinn, now the head coach of the Washington Commanders.
“He’s like my big uncle, someone I love very much dearly,” Parsons said. “But at the end of the day, I’ve got a job to do — and that’s to kick his ass twice a year. We can hug afterwards.”
Zimmer won’t be the big uncle, but Parsons knows the coach wants what is best for him, especially with the Lion packages.
“It’s an honor. It shows a lot that (1) he believes in me, (2) understands I have the capability to do it, and then (3) I think it comes down to me just wanting and [being] eager to learn, eager to be better, eager to just understand the concepts, understand that it’s going to take more from me, and then (4) it takes both of us,” Parsons said. “His drive to want to see me great. My drive to want to be great. And when you put, I think, two great minds [together], great things can happen.”