Brian Schottenheimer officially becomes the next Dallas Cowboys head coach and the only reason that justifies it is a terrible one
The Dallas Cowboys have their man. Brian Schottenheimer will become the tenth head coach in franchise history after two seasons of being offensive coordinator for America's Team, taking the job most recently held by Mike McCarthy, the team announced.Schottenheimer interviewed with the Cowboys' front office on Tuesday, one day after emerging as the betting favorite […]
The Dallas Cowboys have their man.
Brian Schottenheimer will become the tenth head coach in franchise history after two seasons of being offensive coordinator for America's Team, taking the job most recently held by Mike McCarthy, the team announced.
Schottenheimer interviewed with the Cowboys' front office on Tuesday, one day after emerging as the betting favorite for the job. A follow-up interview was held Thursday. Jimmy Johnson unexpectedly mentioned him as a candidate over the weekend during a NFL on FOX segment and from there, the buzz kept getting louder. Now, he's taking the job.
Schottenheimer has 14 years' worth of NFL experience as offensive coordinator, most of which has come with mixed results.
Per Pro Football Reference, his offenses have finished in the Top 10 in yards only twice, one of which was under Mike McCarthy as play-caller and main offensive architect in 2023. The other was in 2019 with the Seattle Seahawks, one season prior to being fired for "philosophical differences."
In contrast, his offenses have finished in the bottom 12 of the league six times and five times in points scored.
As for the biggest reason why Schottenheimer was brought back, I bet it's all about continuity. Last year, Dak Prescott signed a $240 million deal with the Cowboys, with CeeDee Lamb joining the party with a $136 million contract.
By keeping Schottenheimer, the Cowboys will be able to keep the same language around the team's offense, decreasing the usual adaptation process after moving on from a play caller. That might not be a good enough reason to pick an NFL head coach, but that's the best argument in his favor and likely a big reason why he's Jerry Jones' choice.
I'd argue it's a terrible reason, albeit the only one that justifies the move. The Cowboys should be looking for a significant shake up, organizationally or schematically. Schottenheimer provides neither.
Sure, he didn't call plays in his two years as offensive coordinator in Dallas but he won't be coming in with a scheme proven to consistently work elsewhere like the Shanahan/McVay coaching tree has.
The question the Cowboys have to ask themselves is "Continuity at the expense of what?" They're shopping for the wrong thing. They need change but they're paying for the contrary.
The same goes from an organizational point of view but it's no secret the Jones family wouldn't be a fan of a coach that comes in and shakes things up like Bill Parcells did back in the 2000s. They've got their way of doing things in Dallas and they like it, as evidenced by the team's coaching search.
Why Cowboys fans should be worried about the hire
I struggle to take the Cowboys' head coaching search seriously because you'd have a hard time convincing me they did. They interviewed only four candidates, two of which are known coaches to them (Kellen Moore and Schottenheimer). Of course, that only happened until McCarthy caught the franchise off guard by turning them down because of disagreements over contract length.
Meanwhile, they didn't even request interviews with Detroit Lions coordinators Ben Johnson or Aaron Glenn, while every other team with a HC vacancy did with at least one.
Maybe, just maybe, Schottenheimer turns out to pay off for the Cowboys. We've never seen him be head coach. Maybe he's got a special something. Perhaps as the son of legendary NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, it's in his blood. But the search itself inspires little to no confidence and his resume doesn't help, either.
Why should fans not be worried about the future of the franchise? Schottenheimer hopes to provide an answer soon.
