The Dallas Cowboys have hired Brian Schottenheimer, their offensive coordinator, as the team’s next head coach, announcing the move Friday with a message from Jerry Jones attached.
“Brian Schottenheimer is known as a career assistant,” Jones said, according to ESPN. “He’s not Brian anymore. He’s now known as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.”
The hire comes as a shock to some and a surprise to many, as the Cowboys’ process this offseason has been a real headache.
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Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer of the Dallas Cowboys during the NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on September 24, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals beat the Cowboys 28-16. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Cowboys fans voiced their opinions on social media and they weren’t too happy with their team’s choice.
“Hiring Brian Schottenheimer as head coach without even trying to talk to Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn or other top candidates is 1000% the same as not calling Derrick Henry and just signing Zeke,” one fan said on X. “Same. Exact. Thing.”
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To understand where Cowboys fans are coming from, you have to understand the strange process the team has gone through since the start of the offseason.
First, the dilemma for Jones and the rest of the organization was what to do with Mike McCarthy, the veteran head coach who went 7-10 in the final year of his contract without the quarterback Dak Prescott for much of the season.
Players like Prescott and others publicly expressed support for McCarthy, but the Cowboys moved on.
In doing so, however, they were already behind schedule, as other needy head coaching teams were already conducting interviews and getting their candidates in order.
When Dallas put together its roster, it was an interesting group. Robert Saleh, the former New York Jets head coach who was fired mid-season in 2024, arrived despite only being listed at the top of the roster for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He eventually returned to the Bay Area to assume his old position as defensive coordinator under Kyle Shanahan.
Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer looks on before the game against the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on November 28, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
There was also Pete Carroll, who eventually returned to the NFL by taking the job with the Las Vegas Raiders. Kellen Moore, the former Cowboys offensive coordinator who is now with the Eagles, came in for an interview, as did Leslie Frazier, who is an assistant head coach for the Seattle Seahawks.
While these contestants all had their credentials, fans weren’t happy that top contestants like those mentioned above, who all landed elsewhere, never entered the building.
David Helman of Fox Sports analyzed the situation from a Cowboys process perspective.
“We don’t know that Brian Schottenheimer will be a failure any more than Ben Johnson will be a success,” he posted on X. “Coaching hires are weird and hard to predict.
“We know it smells like a bad process to fart for eight days with a head coach who needs a new contract, to fail to retain him after missing an interview window for coveted candidates, to appeal ask two former head coaches who aren’t at a high level, ask for an outside assistant you already have a relationship with and *then* choose the guy down the hall who a) isn’t attracting interest elsewhere b) isn’t. was not head coach c) did not call games for you and d) has had mixed results when reporting a violation in the past.”
Finally, some think Schottenheimer resembles Jason Garrett, who took over the job after Wade Phillips, for whom he worked, was fired.
Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer during training camp at River Ridge Fields. (Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports)
“Quick, easy, CHEAP, and the Joneses keep control the way they like it,” wrote one disgruntled fan. “This team doesn’t want to win. It’s an attention thing. It’s an ego thing. Cowboys fans are exhausted from this clown show.”
Schottenheimer joined McCarthy’s Cowboys staff in 2022 as a coaching analyst before replacing Moore as offensive coordinator in 2023. His first year on the job was also Prescott’s best season, as the team won the NFC East before falling short in the Wild Card round. the Green Bay Packers. The team had the fifth-ranked offense that season.
Schottenheimer, the son of decorated NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, has nearly three decades of coaching under his belt, spending time with the Jets, Rams and Seahawks before joining the Cowboys. He served as offensive coordinator for each of these teams.
