Multiple players from the 2025 Dallas Cowboys defense complained about the way former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus emphasized his scheme over fitting his personnel in places that best suited their abilities.
Following Eberflus’ ouster from the Cowboys, he found work under new 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, becoming the “assistant head coach of defense” for 2026.
The 49ers traded with the Cowboys for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa this offseason, and he recently made some bold comments about how he was used in Dallas.
During an appearance on “The Richard Sherman Podcast” on Tuesday, Odighizuwa said he felt like the “handcuffs” were being taken off by Morris in the 49ers’ new defensive scheme.
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“I feel like getting some handcuffs taken off in me a little bit to be able to kind of have one of the better years that I’ve had against the run–if not the best year that I’ve had,” Odighizuwa said. “I’m looking forward to just being able to make plays within this scheme.”
He believes the Cowboys were too predictable, pointing out the defense under Eberflus wasn’t flexible.
“I believe there’s a good amount of variability in terms of not having to do the same thing all the time,” Odighizuwa said. “I feel like when you have to do the same thing all the time, you’re predictable, and when you’re predictable in football, you’re very beatable, you know what I mean?
“Obviously there’s guys like, ‘Oh, I know what he’s doing, you can’t beat it.’ But at the same time you can, because you can scheme around certain things.”
Those were bold comments from Odighizuwa, who will still be coached under Eberflus, even if Morris has the final say.
It’ll be interesting to see how Eberflus and Morris mesh together in San Francisco. Eberflus was stubborn about the way he ran his defenses with the Chicago Bears and the Cowboys. Maybe he’s coming around to learning a new philosophy under Morris after seeing the fallout from the Cowboys’ disaster on defense last season.
Or maybe Eberflus will try to pull Morris in another direction.
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