Nguyen Will Not Return

Dallas Cowboys assistant linebackers/ quality control coach Dat Nguyen was one of three assistants named by Jerry Jones, shortly after the announcement of Wade Phillips's extension, as figures who Jones intended to keep around a while, at least through 2011.

Instead, it was reported today that Nguyen would leave the team as of this off-season. He is not among the Cowboys coaches in South Florida prepping for the Pro Bowl.

Nguyen rejoined the team in this role in 2007, after a year away from football. A third round pick by Dallas in 1999 out of Texas A&M, he made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American to play in the NFL, and silenced critics who believed him to be too small for the league by leading the team in tackles thrice (2001, 2003, 2004).

His 2005 campaign was maligned by a neck injury that would eventually lead to his decision to retire in March of 2006.

After Phillips was came to Dallas in 2007, Nguyen and Wes Phillips were the first two assistants to be hired. They, along with Brett Maxie, comprised the triumvirate of assistants to which Jones gave a vote of confidence last week; but Nguyen's run with Dallas, for now, is at an end.

There has been no word as of yet as to where Nguyen intends to go, or, for that matter, what he'll be doing there.

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