Brian Schottenheimer makes a good point about controversial team celebration, but it’s not the message his Cowboys need right now
The Dallas Cowboys’ locker room celebration started as a viral tradition fans welcomed with open arms. In Year 2 of Brian Schottenheimer, it felt out of place following the win over the Colts.
When Brian Schottenheimer won his first game as Dallas Cowboys head coach in September of 2025, his locker room celebration went viral. He listed all the “cool stuff” Cowboys players did in the game, as players yelled “Yeah!” after each one.
It became a staple of every Cowboys win after that.
On the aftermath of the Cowboys’ Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts, a 27-24 contest that was plagued by Dallas mistakes including 14 penalties, the celebration felt out of place. And though Schottenheimer made a good point defending it, it’s not the message his Cowboys team needs. And even Jerry Jones appears to know it.
Schottenheimer defends Cowboys’ celebration
Asked about the origins of the locker room celebration on Monday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer explained why he does it.
“It’s hard to win in this league,” Schottenheimer told reporters on Monday. “And so, when you win in this league, you’re going to celebrate. There’s high highs and low lows. Guys do really cool things when you win, and so we’re always going to celebrate that.”
He later explained the celebration comes from Pete Carroll doing something similar during Schottenheimer’s time in Seattle as offensive coordinator. The Cowboys coach insisted “it’s something that we’re always going to celebrate when our guys do things that help us win games.”
Listen, Schottenheimer makes a solid point. It is hard to win in the NFL. Which is why most NFL coaches do something similar even when wins are ugly. Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears led a victory speech after the offense turned it over five times on Sunday Night Football. It was ugly, but celebration was called for.
A couple of key differences, though. Johnson was quick to admit the obvious, saying the victory didn’t feel as good as previous ones did. The other key difference? The Bears are 7-2. They struggled against one of the top defenses in the NFL. They’re not in the need of a slap in the face wake-up call.
The 4-5 Cowboys, however, are proven underachievers in 2026.
When Schottenheimer did the locker room “yeah!” celebration the first time, it was the beginning of a new era. New coach, new culture, first win of his tenure.
Fast forward to today, and the message, using Schottenheimer’s opening words from the speech, is: “How do you learn how to win? By finishing and winning. Outstanding.”
The Cowboys, 26 games into the Schottenheimer era, should not be in the business of learning how to win.
The message is “I’m so proud of you, guys. The way we played. Outstanding.”
14 penalties and almost dropping a 27-24 game in which you blew a 17-7 halftime lead against a team that’s given up in their season should not be something described by the adjective “outstanding.”
In that first of celebration of 2025, Schottenheimer shouted out mostly touchdowns, an interception, sacks, and Brandon Aubrey’s four field goal day, which included a 64-yarder, a 51-yarder, and a game-winning overtime 46-yarder.
On Sunday, despite a 50-yard miss by the field goal unit, Schottenheimer shouted out a 45-yarder and a 28-yarder. It wasn’t the intention, of course, but it sure felt like celebrating the absolute minimum in the locker room.
Is Schottenheimer’s culture one of championship expectations because they hold themselves to a high standard? Or because they treat minor achievements and lackluster wins like championships? The Cowboys head coach has to decide.
Now listen, these are NFL players putting in long hours and working extremely hard to compete at the highest level of football. A lot of things should be celebrated. But that’s different from overreacting to an ugly win. Schottenheimer and his team should have expected to beat the Colts, who were in full selling mode entering the matchup. They should not have sweated it out as much as they did in the fourth quarter.
Ask someone with no context of the game, and they’d probably guess the team pulled off an upset based on the locker room celebration. This wasn’t a win that warranted such a message.
And based on Jerry Jones’ words on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, the owner and GM seems to agree.
Jones admits Cowboys win was underwhelming
Potentially lost in the trade deadline conversation, Jones made a comment indicting the Cowboys coaching staff and the team’s results through nine weeks.
“Relatively speaking, we’re acceptably healthy,” Jones said when discussing the team’s struggles. “Our quarterback is really in good shape. That’s saying a lot. We’ve had years when we haven’t had him in that good of shape.”
Speaking of the game specifically, Jones called it a bittersweet win for the Cowboys.
“We had to really have some help to get that win,” Jones said. “And overall, we’re not playing very good. We’re sure going to have to take what we’ve done over the last several weeks and put the best parts of it together because we’ve got a real challenge coming up this weekend with San Francisco.”
The 49ers, 7-1, will do their best to keep the Cowboys from putting together a win streak—which has happened once since Schottenheimer took over.
If Dallas is able to pull off the upset, let the locker room celebrations take place. Otherwise, it will be a reminder of how far away this team is from playing “outstanding” football. And it will be a reminder of why the Cowboys should not be proud of underachieving.
