The Dallas Cowboys have fired their defensive coordinator Rob Ryan after two seasons with the team.

Cowboys owners Jerry Jones had previously said that there would be a change after the side missed out on the post-season.

Ryan told ESPN: "I inherited a team that was 31st in the league in defense and made them better.

"I'll be out of work for like five minutes. I think I did a good job, and I think our staff did a good job on defense trying to compete with what we had at the end of the year. But the best job we did was when we were able to coach our starters."

The Cowboys finished the season third in their division with eight wins and eight losses.