Source: Cowboys Finalist as New Coach - Joe Bowden

Bowden, 51, played for almost a decade in the NFL, with his final pro season coming with his hometown Cowboys in 2000.

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are working toward bringing onto the coaching staff a former player in linebacker Joe Bowden, a source tells CowboysSI.com.

Bowden, 51, played for almost a decade in the NFL, with his final pro season coming with his hometown Cowboys in 2000. He played high school football in Mesquite and starred at the University of Oklahoma as an All-America before becoming a fifth-round pick of the Houston Oilers in the 1992 NFL Draft.

Bowden has been working at Tennessee State as the linebackers coach under Eddie George, a former NFL star running back who also had a stint with the Cowboys.

A source tells us Bowden, should he get the job, would serve as the assistant special-teams coach, working under coordinator Bones Fassel and replacing Matt Daniels, who just departed for the special-teams job with the Vikings.

Bowden has previously worked in the NFL as a linebackers coach with the San Francisco 49ers and the Rams.

The Cowboys defensive staff under head coach Mike McCarthy is staying largely intact as far as we know so far, with coordinator Dan Quinn opting to take his name out of contention as a head coach elsewhere to remain with the Cowboys - with a nudge of a "futures deal'' with owner Jerry Jones part of the allure.

It also appears that top assistant Joe Whitt Jr. will also be staying, even as as many as six NFL teams have expressed interest in him elevating to a defensive coordinator job. Also on the staff and figuring prominently after 2021 is George Edwards, who has great experience as a coordinator and handled linebackers for Dallas last season.

The Dallas offensive staff also will likely be largely intact, with Robert Prince slated to come on as the receivers coach under coordinator Kellen Moore.