4 reasons why Brian Schottenheimer is a good hire for the Cowboys

Brian Schottenheimer is the new head coach of the Cowboys… and we are trying to be as optimistic as we can.

After days of speculation and a general feeling of inevitable dread from the fan base, the Cowboys made it official: Brian Schottenheimer is replacing Mike McCarthy as the head coach. Needless to say this hire is not popular among fans, and there are very few people who feel good about the process that led to this decision, as well as the decision itself.

That said, Schottenheimer is not entirely without his merits. The son of coaching legend Marty Schottenheimer, one of just seven coaches with 200 career wins to his name, Brian Schottenheimer has some positive attributes. If you’re looking for a moderate amount of copium after the news, here are four reasons why this is a good hire.

Good relationship with Dak Prescott, offense

The main selling point from the moment Schottenheimer became a public candidate for the job was his standing within the locker room. The players apparently like and respect Schottenheimer, just as they did McCarthy, and Schottenheimer especially has a strong relationship with Dak Prescott.

Obviously the connection between your head coach and quarterback is important, so Prescott’s approval is a big deal. Schottenheimer has also been there for three years, with two of them playing a large role in the formation of the Texas Coast offense when McCarthy took over play-calling. Prescott’s lone full year in that scheme saw him put up the best year of his career and finish second in MVP voting.

That’s nothing new for Schottenheimer, either, as we detailed earlier. He’s been the coordinator for career years from Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, and Russell Wilson before as well. Multiple coaches around the league have described Schottenheimer as someone who gets the most out of his quarterbacks.

The Cowboys are, of course, contractually tied to Prescott for the foreseeable future and the quarterback will be coming off a season-ending injury to start 2025. Keeping some level of continuity for Prescott, and doing so with a coach he already knows and likes, is objectively a positive.

Deep connections to build his staff

Schottenheimer has been coaching for nearly three decades at this point and worked with 10 different franchises and eight different head coaches. On top of that, he has a long list of connections by way of his father, too. When it comes to building out a coaching staff, Schottenheimer will have plenty of names to call.

Oftentimes the concern with rookie head coaches is just that: their rolodex of names is too limited. One reason that so many Bill Belichick disciples have failed in their own head coaching ventures is because their network of coaches is essentially limited to just one coaching tree. Even Sean McVay owes much of his early success to the arranged marriage of veteran coach Wade Phillips coming on as his defensive coordinator.

That won’t be an issue for Schottenheimer. He has a long list of names to reach out to and is well-respected around league circles. Even if there are coaches he doesn’t personally know, Schottenheimer likely knows someone who can make a connection on his behalf.

Familiarity with how the Cowboys operate

The number one criteria for being the head coach in Dallas is being able to work with Jerry Jones. By that I mean being comfortable with an owner who also calls all the shots, but will occasionally be hands-off and delegate to others, and then also randomly decide to take control of the wheel and even publicly contradict you on the radio.

Simply put, most coaches are not interested in putting up with that. It’s why Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn were never going to be serious candidates in Dallas, regardless of when the Cowboys had their opening. McCarthy didn’t fully understand what he was getting himself into when he took the job either, and after five years of those working conditions, it absolutely played a part in the coach deciding to walk away.

Schottenheimer, though, is fully aware of that power dynamic now. He’s observed McCarthy the past three seasons and seen things up close and personal. Whereas any external candidates, such as Pete Carroll or Robert Saleh, would be coming in practically blind, Schottenheimer is doing so with eyes wide open. He also already has a relationship with Jones, evident in his back-to-back interviews with the owner.

Outside of Kellen Moore, whose own interview apparently didn’t even last very long, Schottenheimer is the only candidate out there who would take the job knowing exactly what he’s getting into and what to expect. That alone eases the learning curve significantly.

Much needed chip on his shoulder

Schottenheimer is not naïve. He knows full well that he’ll be stepping into this job without a single person in the fan base believing in him. Shoot, he may not even have the owner believing in him, but rather believing he’s the easiest path towards Head Ball Coach Witten.

Schottenheimer also believes in himself. Only six coaches in NFL history have won more than his father, and young Brian was right by his side to watch it all unfold. He’s also had a wide variety of experiences, both good and bad, throughout his career.

He was there when the Jets, led by Eric Mangini, oscillated from 10-6 to 4-12 and back to 9-7. He was also there when Rex Ryan took the same team to consecutive AFC Championship games. He became well-versed in Pete Carroll’s aggressive coaching style while also witnessing the decline of that dynasty, largely due to poor roster management as stars got older. He got a masterclass in dysfunction during his one season on the Urban Meyer Jaguars staff. And, of course, his time in Dallas saw plenty of success and failure.

Simply put, Schottenheimer knows full well what he’s getting into. He knows nobody will be in his corner, and he’ll have to earn everyone’s trust. But he believes he can do it; after all, he’s been preparing for this job his entire life, and has had a litany of examples of what to do and what not to to along the way.

In a sense, that’s exactly what the Cowboys need. Every single year is the exact same: fans come into things believing this is the year, and sportsbooks largely support that notion, but it always ends the same way. Schottenheimer will come into this role with a gigantic chip on his shoulder, and with his reputation for being an infectious personality, that will spread to the rest of the team. How nice would it be to finally see the Cowboys play every game as if they have something to prove?

For all the talk of Jerry trying to find his next Dan Campbell by hiring Witten, he might accidentally find it in Schottenheimer. After all, nobody (well, almost nobody) had Campbell on their radar except for the Lions. But Detroit believed in his valuable experience, having played for Bill Parcells and coached under Sean Payton, and trusted his vision despite everyone telling them it was too unconventional of a hire.

Nobody will confuse Schottenheimer for Campbell – they look completely different and might as well speak different languages – but the results could be similar. Schottenheimer could infuse the team with a sense of “us against the world” in the same way Campbell embraced “Detroit vs Everybody.” That deep sense of needing to prove oneself could be just what the Cowboys need right now.