PHOENIX – Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli was never close to leaving the Dallas Cowboys.

Marinelli acknowledged his history with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith, with whom he worked with in two stops, including a four-year run with the Chicago Bears from 2009-12, but he said he never talked with Smith about a reunion.

Marinelli cited the Jones family, coach Jason Garrett and the players as the top reasons why he chose to remain in Dallas with a three-year deal.

“I just love it here,” Marinelli said as he checked into his hotel at the Pro Bowl on Tuesday. “I love football and this place, it just reeks with tradition and winning and wanting to win, wanting to be the very, very best. I think that’s as exciting as anything.”

Marinelli took over a defense that finished last in the NFL in 2013 and turned them into a defense that finished 19th in yards per game, 15th in points and finished second in takeaways with 31.

“I think we laid really a strong foundation of what we want in terms of how hard we want to play, the discipline of the system, physical and takeaways,” Marinelli said.

The Cowboys will hold their player evaluations after the Super Bowl and get on with the draft process.

“You have a pretty good feeling where we’ve got to get stronger and that’s the rush,” Marinelli said. “The rush has got to better and that will improve us as much as anything. It came on well the last quarter of the season, so there’s something to hopefully build on.”

The Cowboys have a number of defensive linemen set to be free agents in Anthony Spencer, Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Henry Melton. Jeremy Mincey, who led the Cowboys in sacks with six, is signed through 2015, and the Cowboys like the progress second-round pick DeMarcus Lawrence showed.

“Hopefully things are in place, but, no, you start right from scratch, from the bottom again,” Marinelli said. “You got to put your socks on again.”