Green Bay Packers passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley watches from the sideline wearing a headset.

Derrick Ansley watches from the Green Bay Packers sideline during a game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on Oct. 19, 2025. Ansley is now the Dallas Cowboys secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator under first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who praised his work establishing a defensive identity during training camp in Oxnard, California. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Christian Parker Details What Derrick Ansley Brings To The Dallas Cowboys Secondary

Grant AfsethAugust 7, 2026

DSJ Quick Take: Christian Parker on Derrick Ansley and the Dallas Cowboys Secondary

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker said he studied Derrick Ansley‘s track record when Ansley coached defensive backs at Alabama. Ansley now runs the Dallas secondary as defensive pass game coordinator.

What is Ansley’s background? He coached defensive backs at Alabama under Nick Saban, won a national title in 2017, and later served as defensive coordinator with the Chargers.
How do he and Parker know each other? Parker said they spent years in the AFC West at the same time, Ansley with the Chargers and Parker in Denver.
Who else works the secondary? Ryan Smith is the secondary coach and Robert Muschamp, an Ansley colleague from Tennessee, is the assistant.
What’s next? Dallas closes camp Aug. 18 and opens the preseason at Seattle on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network.

OXNARD, Calif. — Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker said he was trying to work out how defensive pass game coordinator Derrick Ansley had climbed so fast back when Ansley was coaching defensive backs at Alabama, and Parker was starting out.

The Cowboys hired Parker on Jan. 22. At 34, he is the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history. Parker built out his own staff over the following weeks, and Dallas announced the completed group in February with Ansley running the defensive backs.

Derrick Ansley’s Path to the Dallas Cowboys

Ansley, 44, played safety at Troy and earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors as a defensive back. He moved into coaching at the college level and became the defensive backs coach at Alabama under Nick Saban. Alabama won a national championship in 2017 with a secondary that included former Cowboys All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs.

His NFL run has taken him through the Raiders and the Chargers, where he served as defensive coordinator. He joined Green Bay as pass game coordinator in 2024 and came to Dallas in February.

Parker said the two spent years in the same division without working together, Ansley with the Chargers and Parker in Denver, and that Ansley has planted a flag everywhere he has been.

“A guy I’ve had a lot of respect for,” Parker said. “When I was a young coach, when he was the DB coach at Alabama, I’m trying to figure out how he got there. What was his track record? Being around him and getting to know him the last couple years, we were in-division in the AFC West before when he was [the Chargers] and I was with Denver. He’s done a great job just establishing the brand of football and planting the flag in that manner. He’s done well.”

The Dallas Cowboys Secondary Around Derrick Ansley

Ryan Smith works with the safeties as secondary coach. Parker has known Smith since college and pointed to his stops at Penn State, Elon, James Madison, Arizona, Virginia Tech, and Northwestern as exposure to schemes close to the 3-4 structure Dallas runs.

Parker said assistant secondary coach Robert Muschamp has coached both the front and the secondary over his career, and that the range is what makes him useful in the defensive backs room.

“He had experience with [Ansley] from Tennessee, he’s been with the Chargers the past couple years,” Parker explained. “He worked in the front, he’s worked in the secondary, he adds a lot of value to that room as well.”

Dallas took Ohio State safety Caleb Downs at No. 11 overall in April, moving up one spot in a trade with Miami. Downs won the Lott Trophy and the Jim Thorpe Award in 2025 and was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

The Cowboys waived Diggs on Dec. 30. Green Bay claimed him the following day and released him on Jan. 20.

Dallas allowed 511 points last season, the most in the NFL, and finished 31st in yards per play.

Camp in Oxnard runs through Aug. 18. The Cowboys open the preseason at the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network.