Three weeks after leaving the his post in Dallas as the assistant linebackers/defensive quality control coach, ESPN.com reports that Dat Nguyen has accepted an offer to join Mike Sherman's staff at Texas A&M as the inside linebackers coach.
Nguyen played for the Aggies for four years, setting a school record for tackles and winning the Bednarik Award in 1998. After being selected by the Cowboys in the third round of the 1999 draft, Nguyen played seven seasons in Dallas, leading the team in tackles thrice, and winning second team All Pro honors once.
A neck injury forced Nguyen to retire following the 2005 season; a year later, he was among the first to be hired under Wade Phillips.
Despite the impressive resume, Sherman said the hiring had little to do with Nguyen's prowess on the field.
"The fact that Dat was a great player for the Texas Aggies and the Dallas Cowboys had considerably less to do with his hiring," said Sherman, in the Bryan/College Station Eagle. "It was the fact that he thoroughly impressed me in two separate interviews, one in Dallas on Wednesday of last week and one in College Station on Thursday. His intelligence, knowledge and passion for the game are what impressed me most."
