FRISCO - Interest from other NFL teams in search of a head coach is an obstacle to the Dallas Cowboys retaining top defensive assistant Kris Richard, of course. But another potential obstacle that is commonly in play in these matters -- ego -- has been eliminated.

"I’ll do whatever the Cowboys need to be done for us to keep Kris Richard,'' defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli tells me in an exclusive visit. "I only care about

what’s best for the players. I don’t care about titles. Having Kris here is best for the players. That’s all I am in favor of.''

Marinelli, 69, is legendary in NFL circles for his selflessness. In his lengthy career, he's been responsible for the development of some of the best defenses, and defensive coaches, in league history. He believes Richard has "the right stuff'' to be all of that, comparing him to the likes of former associates like Tony Dungy and Mike Tomlin. And so while he certainly doesn't want to stand in the way of the 39-year-old Richard departing to run his own program with the Miami Dolphins or the New York Jets or wherever, he doesn't see it as a personal sacrifice at all to shuffle some responsibility and some titles to keep intact a staff that has led Dallas to "elite'' status on defense.

"Back when I started coaching, in college, we didn’t even have titles,'' Rod tells me. "There wasn't a defensive coordinator. Guys just had their areas of responsibility and we all worked together and we all pulled together and I still think of it the same way.''

Presently, in Richard's first season in Dallas, he's the "defensive passing game coordinator'' and the "secondary coach.'' But as the group developed last spring, Marinelli encouraged Richard to put his stamp on things. Suddenly, like Matt Eberflus before him, Richard was the defensive play-caller and when I suggest to Rod that Richard is "basically the 'co-defensive coordinator,''' he does not balk.

"I hope so,'' Rod says when I add that the development of Eberflus and Richard has been quickened by Marinelli's lack of ego. "My whole thing is, 'How do we make our defense the best defense?' Not, 'How do we make things best for me?' I want to help develop men to go lead organizations. That's important to me. Give them some ownership and the faster they grow. 'Flu' (Eberflus, now the Indianapolis Colts coordinator and a Cleveland Browns head coach interviewee) and Kris? Give them that. And, whoosh, they take off.''

"Take off'' meaning development, of course -- not necessarily "take off'' for New York or Miami.

Amid errant reports that the Dolphins have "focused'' on Richard, I'm told Patriots assistant Brian Flores is also highly-regarded there. And in New York, one formidable candidate is Packers ex Mike McCarthy and Baylor's Matt Ruhle, I'm told, is part of an "intensifying buzz'' for the Jets job.

If Richard wants to go? Marinelli will support that. If the Cowboys need to be creative in order to keep Richard on head coach Jason Garrett's staff? Marinelli supports that, too.

After Richard helped his Cowboys beat the Seahawks in last week's playoff opener, and on the eve of the trio of interviews he was to have with the Jets, Dolphins and Buccaneers about their head coaching vacancies - I asked him a general philosophical football question.

"The game's about the ball,'' Richard told me, his usual intensity on full display right before he heated up a pot of coffee. "As much as everyone loves the high-flyin' and scoring points and this and that, protect the football and you give your team a really good chance to be successful.''

Three Richard interviews were conducted in DFW on Sunday. The Bucs found their guy in Bruce Arians. Two other spots, it seems, remain. Said Rod: "To me, he's a head coach. He just hasn't beem hired yet. But he's a head coach. Just waiting for the right job. But he's a head coach.''

OK, but what if the Cowboys can compete to make Richard's situation in Dallas better than he might find elsewhere? I ask Marinelli if he cares if Kris gets a promotion to defensive coordinator, or if somebody gets the promotion to assistant head coach, or even if Marinelli himself is scaled down to his first positional love, coaching the D-line.

"Would not bother me at all,'' Marinelli tells me, indicating that as it regards his egoless approach to helping the team, its coaches and its players, the Jones family is aware.

And now, Cowboys Nation, in regard to an important dynamic about how the Dallas Cowboys work inside this building ... so are you.





