There has been some speculation that long-time Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli could step aside and take an advisory role for the Cowboys and allow fiery linebackers coach Kris Richard to take over as defensive play-caller.
Following a 30-22 Divisional Round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday night, Marinelli quickly put that speculation to bed:
“Why do people keep asking me the same question?” said the 69-year-old Marinelli when asked about it, according to Kate Hairopoulos of The Dallas Morning News. “I can't figure it out. Can somebody tell me why everybody asks me that? I would tell you. My age? You gotta be kidding me. Do you ever see me come out and not be energized and not be ready to play? So why ask me that? I'm tired of answering that.”
Marinelli then said that he is not even sure where the original rumor came from.
“I've never heard of that,” he said. “If you believe [the report] and not ask me? …I answer everything every week. …I never skirt an issue. For some guy to say, or doesn't know me, doesn't know the situation, haven't come and ask me. Isn't that embarrassing? To me it is. I've never ever shied away from a question.”
He then took it a step further, calling anyone who asks him if he is going to step away “soft”:
“And even though you ask me 8,000 times are you going to retire? I feel a little old? I'm still going to respect it. But I'm disappointed in it. And I don't respect people who ask that. Cause I think they're soft. They're really soft. What kind of question is that, after a game?”
Marinelli has been the Cowboys' defensive coordinator since 2014 and has been a member of the coaching staff since 2013.
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