The latest and greatest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys is here.
Dallas Cowboys hiring Brian Schottenheimer as 10th head coach in franchise history – RJ Ochoa, Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys chose Brian Schottenheimer as their new head coach.
The Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach. It is Brian Schottenheimer.
Schottenheimer is an NFL legacy as the son of the late Marty Schottenheimer, so he has been around the game for a long time. He has been in and around the NFL for over 20 years and has served as the offensive coordinator for several teams, including the Cowboys over the last two years, but this is his first opportunity to be a head coach.
While Schottenheimer did serve as OC for the last two seasons he did not call plays, head coach Mike McCarthy did. Clearly the front office is interested to see what he can do.
Cowboys to hire coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as head coach – Todd Archer, ESPN
Can Schottenheimer can get the offense back on track, the way Archer suggests he did in 2023, when the Cowboys abandoned McCarthy’s caveman offense and came out with a high-octane offense after the bye?
Schottenheimer has been an offensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams, Jets and Seahawks. He served as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ passing game coordinator in 2021 before coming to Dallas.
In 12 years as a playcaller, Schottenheimer had four offenses finish in the top 10 in points per game and three times in the top half in the league in yards per game. His best three years came with the Seahawks when they finished sixth, ninth and eighth in points per game with Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Though he did not call plays under McCarthy, Schottenheimer had a large role in the offense. Team sources say he helped jump-start the offense in 2023 after a slow start. The Cowboys, who scored 30 or more points in seven of their final 11 games, finished with the highest-scoring offense in the league (29.9 points per game) and were fifth in yards (371.6) that season.
Matt Eberflus is the favorite to become Cowboys defensive coordinator – David Moore, DMN
Late last night, Moore called Eberflus the prohibitive favorite to land the job, and a little later, Ed Werder jumped the gun by confirming the hire, only to then quickly issue a correction.
Matt Eberflus was a highly regarded position coach in his time with the Cowboys.
Chances are he’ll be welcome back to oversee the defense.
Eberflus, who left Dallas to become the defensive coordinator for Indianapolis before using that as a platform to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears, is in discussions with club officials to return to the Cowboys as defensive coordinator, two people with knowledge of the potential staff told The Dallas Morning News.
Corrected: Eberflus has emerged as a candidate to be the next DC and discussed the position but team will first conduct interviews as required by league rules before final decision, per source. https://t.co/eKjJSTOLJM
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdNFL) January 25, 2025
Report: Jason Witten not currently part of Dallas Cowboys plan to build staff – Grant Grubbs, Newsbreak
Witten’s name caused a lot of hand-wringing on social media over the last week, but it seems throwing out his name was more about engagement farming than anything even remotely close to what was actually happening in Dallas.
While insiders speculated who will be joining Schottenheimer’s staff, NFL Network’s Jane Slater named one person who won’t be.
“A source informed tells me the #Cowboys have not completed the process of hiring their defensive coordinator,” Slater wrote. “Matt Eberflus is certainly someone held in high regard and certainly part of the consideration however.
“Not part of their considerations, according to two sources, Jason Witten on staff. While Jerry Jones has maintained a relationship with him and they have talked in recent months it appears my sense of him being part of the plan are unsubstantiated at this point and haven’t been discussed in fact.”
Cowboys defensive backs coach Al Harris joining Chicago Bears staff, per report – Kellen Bulger, Dallas Morning News
Al Harris is the latest member of the Cowboys coaching staff that won’t return in 2025.
As the NFL coaching carousel continues to spin, the Dallas Cowboys lost yet another member of its coaching staff on Thursday, when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that defensive backs coach Al Harris is set to join the Chicago Bears staff.
Cowboys defensive backs coach Al Harris — a former Packers standout cornerback — also is joining the Bears’ coaching staff as Chicago’s Defensive pass game coordinator/DBs coach, per source. https://t.co/WJsYfGMyjF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2025
Harris will be joining new Chicago head coach Ben Johnson’s staff. Johnson was recently hired by the Bears after multiple successful seasons as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator.
Harris was a standout cornerback in the NFL and after his playing days was hired by Dallas in 2020 by his former head coach in Green Bay Mike McCarthy. Under Harris, multiple Cowboys secondary players saw career years. Perhaps most notably Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.
Best NFL rookie classes: Ranking teams with most production – Aaron Schatz, ESPN
The last two, maybe even three, drafts have not been great for the Cowboys, and the 2024 Cowboys rookie class is another one with low grades.
19. Dallas Cowboys
First-round pick Tyler Guyton struggled with both knee and ankle injuries but managed to make 11 starts at left tackle. He was exactly league-average in pass block win rate (88.9%), ranking 30th, and slightly above average in run block win rate (75.7%). Cooper Beebe became the Cowboys’ starting center and was more impressive, ranking eighth in pass block win rate (95.3%) and 10th in run block win rate (70.5%) at the position. Tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford caught nine passes for 88 yards with good blocking.
The leading defensive rookie was third-round linebacker Marist Liufau, who started nine games. He had 50 combined tackles, plus two forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks. However, second-round edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland never got going, finishing the season with no sacks. He suffered a torn meniscus and played 36% of defensive snaps in the 11 games where he was active.
What’s Next? Cowboys have questions at defensive back following Trevon Diggs news – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The back end of the Cowboys defense is in flux.
Present: Alright, now let’s talk about the current state of affairs at defensive back, because there is much to discuss and digest as far as the outlook goes, in an offseason where, once again, Jourdan Lewis will enter free agency if the two sides don’t agree to a deal prior to the start of the new league year.
Lewis’ latest contract, a one-year deal, wound up being attached to the best season he’s produced as a pro, arguably snubbed in both Pro Bowl and All-Pro voting. It’s paramount the Cowboys treat Lewis as a high-priority re-signing for the coming season, in the tone of a multi-year negotiation, but more on that in a moment.
DaRon Bland returned from weeks away with a foot injury, only for the Cowboys to lose Trevon Diggs for the season, and possibly the start of next season, to a knee injury. Caelen Carson had a strong start as a rookie but a shoulder injury derailed his first season and he’ll need more reps before it’s determined if he’s ready to be an NFL starter.
One who helped to stabilize the depth chart was Israel Mukuamu and Josh Butler but, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, a season-ending torn ACL took one of these two off of the board (Butler, and after a breakout game in Washington, no less).
There were several others who tried to contribute rotationally, e.g., Amani Oruwariye, Andrew Booth (acquired via trade in training camp), Kemon Hall and Troy Pride, but nothing really stuck.
As far as safeties go, Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell provided stellar young and promising talent behind Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker, and only injury (yeah, another one) was able to shake that depth chart — Bell being lost to a season-ending shoulder injury in 2024.
