Cowboys, please look elsewhere.
No one knows where the Dallas Cowboys will turn to in finding their next head coach right now. They’ve been rumors about Deion Sanders; they had an interview with Robert Saleh and a virtual interview with Kellen Moore. It’s also hard to rule out reopening talks with Mike McCarthy if they genuinely were unsure of what direction to go after their negotiations broke down a few weeks ago.
That would be shocking, yet uninspired. However, what would be equally uninspiring is hiring Brian Schottenheimer for the position of head coach. Fans understand that Jerry Jones’ way of doing business isn’t like that of anyone else in the league. A positive spin would be that he is comfortable in his beliefs and methods, but a negative spin would be it’s terribly archaic for the modern NFL.
Dropping McCarthy and spurning other coveted candidates to promote from within with Schottenheimer would be a horrible mistake. Here’s why the Cowboys settling on Schottenheimer would set them back.
The Results
Should Dallas make the unpopular decision and hire Schottenheimer, it would be the first time he’s occupied that role in his coaching career. He is the son of longtime NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer. Like many others, Schottenheimer worked under his father in multiple stops while he developed his coaching experience in a career that spans almost 25 years.
Still, you wonder why it’s taken so long for him to have gotten a shot as an NFL head coach. When you look at his résumé and his results, you understand why. For much of his career, he’s failed to get the most out of quarterbacks, which is worse when his primary function as a position coach was quarterbacks. Here’s a long list of the outcomes of his primary starting quarterbacks with him as either the quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator from 2001-2014.
After his time with the Rams, Schottenheimer spent one year at the University of Georgia before returning to the NFL. Sure, Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck had two good years under Schottenheimer, but that’s more the anomaly over his long coaching career. The numbers aren’t good. The question that has to be asked: If these are the results he’s had and the offense took a nosedive last season, then why double down on this system with him as the leader of your team? His history suggests he’ll get pedestrian results with good quarterbacks and will not uplift bad quarterbacks to be somewhat passable.
Him, but no Lunda Wells and Al Harris?
Lunda Wells has been excellent in developing tight ends when given significant snaps to develop. Before Wells arrived, Dalton Schultz was just an afterthought. After Wells joined the Cowboys staff, Schultz tallied up 198 receptions and 1998 receiving yards from 2020-2022. Wells did it again by making another fourth-round into a valuable piece for the offense, Jake Ferguson, a former Pro Bowler.
Let’s also consider Al Harris. As a coach and player, Harris has been around the NFL every year except for one since 1997; he spent a year at Florida Atlantic. He understands the defensive back position well and has overseen the development of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, who have been named all All-Pros. When you look at Wells and Harris, you can tell they’re well-liked, but also, more importantly, they’re respected and unafraid to be straightforward with their players. Despite his years of experience, it’s hard to gauge how the players feel about Schottenheimer and whether his personality is able to hold the team accountable. If the team insists on promotion from within, why not, at the very least, interview Harris and Wells?
Can he fix the problems from last year?
Over the last two seasons, the Cowboys offense has found itself in a rut regarding CeeDee Lamb. In 2023, there seemed to be a brick wall between Dak Prescott and Lamb until things clicked in the second half of the season, but that shouldn’t have been a problem. It also happened this year, with Lamb disappearing for stretches at times during games. Look around the NFL, it doesn’t seem so easy to take away premier receivers like Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. Yet, it’s been happening in Dallas.
Last year, Prescott also saw his production take a downturn before he ultimately went on injured reserve, but the numbers weren’t looking good. He threw eleven touchdowns versus eight interceptions. The Cowboys were one of the worst red zone offenses in the NFL in 2024 and only better than the lowly New York Giants. Dallas converted just 46% of their red zone drives into touchdowns. The last two points would be the usage of KaVontae Turpin. Turpin is the most explosive offensive talent the Cowboys have, but somehow, there’s no concerted effort to get him touches with regularity. Finally, does Schottenheimer have the ability to develop integral pieces on the roster, like Tyler Guyton, who will play a pivotal role in the team’s future?
