FRISCO, Texas — Marist Liufau has spent this Dallas Cowboys camp learning outside linebacker. He played inside for his first two seasons, and Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker announced the move at the scouting combine in February.
Liufau said the coaching staff poured time into the transition, and that trying to keep up with the players around him was the hard part.
“It’s been a lot of fun, really. It’s definitely been a challenge learning something new and trying to keep up with the guys, but they’ve helped me so much,” Liufau said. “That room, I can’t thank them enough. Our coaches, just on the amount of time that they helped me in this process and have poured into me, so I’m so grateful for that.”
What The Move Outside Has Given Him
Liufau is on the edge every play now, against heavier bodies, and he said that is where the gain has come.
“For helping me to become a better inside linebacker is just block destruction. I’m on the edge all the time. I’m dealing with a lot heavier bodies every single play and getting hands on,” Liufau explained. “And so that’s helped me to work on my striking, block destruction and things like that. And then obviously coming from an inside linebacker background, I have that dropping experience that obviously a lot of edges who play in a different system might not do as much.”
Dallas drafted Liufau in the third round in 2024, 87th overall out of Notre Dame. He played 17 games with nine starts as a rookie and had 50 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. Across two seasons he has started 14 of 34 games and taken 720 defensive snaps, with 80 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 18 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Liufau took 200 defensive snaps in 2025 under Matt Eberflus. He played 361 on special teams, 74.59% of the team’s total. Liufau has taken reps at both spots since the spring.
The Third Defensive Coordinator In Three Years
Parker is the third defensive coordinator Liufau has played for in three seasons, after Mike Zimmer and Eberflus.
“I think it’s just accepting the fact that you can’t control a lot of things in life in general, especially in this profession,” Liufau said. “And so it’s just taking that mindset and all trials that I received and taking it as joy and going at it at that mindset and just using every day to get better, just being grateful to be here every single day, coming in, working hard, and really having a service mindset.”
Asked what the players on the roster bubble have to do Friday, Liufau pointed to something P.J. Locke told the group.
“Special teams is all heart and effort. And that can really get you secure if you lost a spot,” Liufau said. “Obviously, everyone wants to be the best offensive or defensive player in the league. But playing special teams, it takes putting your pride aside and just going out there with 100% effort.”
Liufau was a Butkus Award semifinalist at Notre Dame. He recorded 118 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and four sacks over his last three seasons there. He is listed at 6-foot-2 and 239 pounds with 34-inch arms, which is part of why the staff moved him to the edge.
Liufau is in the third year of the contract he signed as a rookie. Dallas has to move 37 players off the 90-man roster by Sunday. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has called this roster deeper than last year’s.
The Cowboys allowed 511 points in 2025, 30.1 per game, the most in the NFL. They have allowed 7 and 13 in two preseason games. Dallas spent the first three weeks of camp at River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California, and returned to The Star on Aug. 24.
Friday’s finale against New Orleans kicks off at 7 p.m. CT at AT&T Stadium on CBS locally. Rosters must be at 53 players by 5 p.m. CT Sunday, Aug. 30.
