Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer turning back the hands of time in first year in Dallas
The Dallas Cowboys are in a transition year with a change at the helm, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have high expectations for the season to come.
What’s more American than writing about America’s team on the Fourth of July? The Dallas Cowboys are looking for a rebound season after missing the playoffs, and making a coaching change at the end of the year. Now new coach Brain Schottenheimer wants to look to the future by remembering the past.
Changing of the guard in Dallas
The Cowboys went 7-10 last year as their quarterback Dak Prescott struggled with injuries and the team struggled to string wins together. It was the first time in three years that they had missed the playoffs and team owner Jerry Jones knew it was time for a change. He fired coach Mike McCarthy, and hired rookie head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
The move is a bit of a risk, and Jones was the first to admit it. “This (hiring Schottenheimer) is as big a risk as you can take. No head coaching experience,” said the long time owner of the Cowboys. Schottenheimer’s dad was a legendary coach for the Browns, Chiefs, Chargers and Redskins, but Brian is getting his first chance to be a head coach this year and is taking the gig at the most polarizing team in the NFL, and maybe in all of sports.
Jerry Jones on hiring Brian Schottenheimer:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 27, 2025
"If you don't think I can operate outside my comfort zone, you are so wrong. This (hiring Schottenheimer) is as big a risk as you can take. No head coaching experience."pic.twitter.com/hOUAw8mJ6H
Brian does have experience. Aside from having coaching in his blood, he has been around the NFL in some coaching capacity since 1997 as a 24 year old assistant with the St. Louis Rams. In 2006 he was named offensive coordinator of the New York Jets. Since then he has been in St. Louis, the Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville, and finally in Dallas as the offensive coordinator for the last two years.
Back to the future
The first year coach has his work cut out for him. In Dallas, the attitude is: Super Bowl or nothing. That comes from a long tradition of winning mostly in the 1990’s with Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith and Michael Irving. Since their last Super Bowl win in 1996, the Cowboys haven’t returned to the NFC Championship and have won just 5 of 18 playoff games since.
Schottenheimer has been around the game long enough, and he realizes that a change of culture is necessary in Dallas. That’s why he wants the legends and champions of yesteryear to be around the team, instilling advice and a winning mentality while showing off some of their Super Bowl bling.
𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: #Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer says he wants some of the legendary players in Dallas’ history to be in the building, wearing their Super Bowl Rings, he told @toddarcher
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) July 3, 2025
“I think the more those guys are around, the more we see their Super Bowl rings, which… pic.twitter.com/wvVNIToYNf
Dez Bryant is all on board with the idea. While he never won a ring with Dallas he does know what it is to be a Cowboy. He spent seven seasons with the Cowboys and made three Pro Bowls while being named to the First Team All-Pro in 2014. Guys like Aikman and Smith and Irving are still heavily connected to the team, but Schottenheimer wants them even closer to the guys trying to bring the team back to the Golden Age.
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