January 27th, 2025
By Stephen Juza
The Cowboys announced last week that their new head coach for the 2025 season is going to be Brian Schottenheimer. While owner Jerry Jones has consistently run the franchise to the beat of his own drum, there are plenty of times where Cowboys fans are left wondering, “What are the Cowboy’s thinking?!?”
Cowboys fans looking for online gambling with 1000 free spins no deposit can play online while their team takes shape as the newly-promoted Schottenheimer forms his coaching staff. All the while wondering, “What is going on in Dallas?”
Cowboys’ Approach to Head Coaches
Before we dive into why Schottenheimer was an unusual pick, let’s cover how the Cowboys have an unusual approach to head coaches. For 31 other teams across the NFL, coaches end their employment two ways - they either retire, or they are fired. It doesn’t matter if you are a coaching legend like Bill Belichick, poor performance results in a firing.
Knowing this, it’s incredibly unusual for a head coach to enter the last year of his contract. It’s almost a given that a contract extension will come their way with a year to go. However, for the Cowboys, they have simply let their last two head coaches walk away as their contract ended. Jason Garrett frustrated Dallas fans throughout his tenure for how exceedingly mediocre the Cowboys were. Four of his nine seasons at the helm were 8-8, with only making the playoffs three times during his run.
McCarthy was a mild improvement, but still not what Jones is after. McCarthy led the team to three consecutive 12-win seasons, but only a single playoff win. Despite a high-powered offense, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, the team could never get it done when it mattered. At the conclusion of the season, McCarthy and Dallas were trying to work out a new contract, but could not come to an agreement.
Unfortunately for Cowboys’ fans, all of this took place after some of the top coaching candidates already started joining their new teams, leading the Cowboys to miss out on some prized candidates. Fans may feel that the team could have landed a better coach had Jones had a better vision. He even acknowledged that Schotty is a “risky” hire in his introductory press conference. So what makes him so risky?
Schottenheimer as a Risky Hire
Schottenheimer has been around the game for a very long time. Twenty five years in the league as a coach, fourteen years as a coordinator, and countless more around the game as the son of Marty Schottenheimer. With that long track record, you have to wonder why such an experienced coordinator has never gotten his shot at the top job.
The results don’t follow him. Only five of his fourteen seasons at the helm did the team rank in the top-10 in points scored. One season in Dallas, one season with the Jets, and three with the Seahawks. While he coached on teams with impressive defenses giving him shorter fields frequently, his offense couldn’t get the job done.
He also doesn’t exactly have a long track record of developing offensive playmakers under his tenure. Arguably the only season-award winner he has coached is Chad Pennington to the 2006 Comeback Player of the Year. No MVPs, no offensive players of the year, no rookies of the year. It certainly feels like the main reason why Jones wanted Schottenheimer was for the continuity, and his four year contract lines up with Prescott’s and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. After four years, it could be easier to hit the reset button if Jones is thinking like that.
25 years in the league, and stunning mediocrity. Maybe that’s why he’s a fit for the Cowboys.