Run or pass heavy? New Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer has a clear preference
Though Brian Schottenheimer has been at The Star since 2022 as offensive analyst, Dallas Cowboys fans have yet to learn more about him since during his time with the team, Kellen Moore and later Mike McCarthy have been the play callers.Now, Schottenheimer is set to be the face of the franchise as head coach and […]
Though Brian Schottenheimer has been at The Star since 2022 as offensive analyst, Dallas Cowboys fans have yet to learn more about him since during his time with the team, Kellen Moore and later Mike McCarthy have been the play callers.
Now, Schottenheimer is set to be the face of the franchise as head coach and is expected to be the team's play caller after serving two years as offensive coordinator.
To learn more about him, I reached out to analytics expert and Seahawks connoisseur Ben Baldwin to ask about Schottenheimer's days in Seattle, his last run as play caller for more than one season.
Brian Schottenheimer is usually blamed for "not letting Russell Wilson cook." Is that an accurate representation of how things went down in Seattle and did things change right after he exited the picture?
Baldwin: Yes, Schottenheimer was the Seahawks' OC during the "Let Russ Cook" era. It is hard to know how much to separate his influence from Pete Carroll's, but his hire came after the Seahawks were very pass-heavy under Darrell Bevell in 2017 (in part because their run game was horrible that year). After the Seahawks missed the playoffs for the first time in 6 years, Bevell was fired after the 2017 season and Schottenheimer hired.
The Seahawks started the season 0-2 with road losses to a pair of tough defenses (DEN, CHI), and for the rest of the 2018 season, were INCREDIBLY run heavy [see attached image that shows weeks 3+ by season]. That season culminated in the playoff loss in Dallas which played a big role in spawning the "let Russ cook" movement as the Seahawks barely let Wilson throw past the line of scrimmage on 1st down until they were trailing in the 4th quarter.
Schottenheimer was fired after the 2020 season in which Russ sort of did cook, but the season ended with another playoff disappointment (home loss to backup Rams QB). "Philosophical differences" were the reason behind the parting. The 2021 season would again see a return to run-heaviness.
When he was with the Seahawks, what were Schottenheimer's biggest strengths as offensive coordinator?
Baldwin: He will probably call too many run plays, but one advantage of this is that his belief that the run game sets up play action leads him to use play action a lot. I would say that there were times that he was more effective at getting Russell Wilson to play in structure than a lot of his other OCs have been, but this came and went at times.
Baldwin added Schottenheimer, whose offense can be considered a mix between the West Coast and Air Coryell, likes inside zone and play action shots. None of that sounds too strange for Dallas, as it won't be a big change from a philosophical perspective.
The "Let Russ cook" movement in Seattle might be enough to worry fans. The positive? Schottenheimer hasn't called plays since 2020 and his personnel is different in the Cowboys anyways. He has a chance to prove he's grown as play caller.
Additionally, Schottenheimer will have to prove his worth well beyond play calling as his leadership will be what matters most for the Cowboys going into the 2025 NFL season.
