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Few NFL teams in 2025, if any, will have more chips on their collective shoulders than the Dallas Cowboys. From oft-criticized players to supposedly failed coaches to a much-maligned front office, Dallas won’t lack motivation to prove all of the doubters, naysayers, and haters wrong.
Recent changes to the coaching staff bring this redemption theme to the forefront. Brian Schottenheimer wasn’t even an afterthought when the 2025 coaching changes began; he wasn’t a thought at all. After nearly 30 years in assistant and coordinator roles, and rarely being considered among the NFL’s best, Schottenheimer was shockingly named Dallas’ new head coach.
Schottenheimer was immediately labeled a puppet and yes-man for Jerry Jones; a laughable hire for an unserious organization. He spent last week earning some new respect with how he handled the introductory press conference and other media, especially the notion that he will bring changes on offense after “biting his lip” during the last few years under Mike McCarthy. But those goodwill points will expire quickly if there aren’t some tangible results on the field, which unfortunately we all have to wait a while to see.
The next big move was the hiring of Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator. Fired last November by Chicago, the first Bears’ head coach to ever be fired mid-season, Eberflus’ stock has fallen significantly from when he was a hot name as an assistant in Dallas and the Colts’ defensive coordinator. Now free of the burdens of being head coach, Eberflus is here to prove that he’s still one of the NFL’s top defensive minds.
Even further down the coaching staff, you’ll find a guy like new special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen. He had one year as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco in 2024 and was quickly dismissed, and now returns to his roots with special teams work in Dallas. Still just 46, Sorensen has big shoes to fill from John Fassel’s departure and a great opportunity to get his career moving back in the right direction.
If you agree that the coaching staff has a bit of a misfit vibe, the Cowboys’ roster should feel similar. You can start right at the top with Dak Prescott, who after placing second in MVP voting in 2023 had a disastrous campaign last season. From all of the criticism of his record-breaking contract extension to down performance over the eight games he played, capped by another season-ending injury, Prescott’s stock feels like it’s at an all-time low going into 2025.
What about Dallas’ key defensive player, Micah Parsons? While he had an excellent second half to last season after getting healthy, he still gets tons of heat for having an active social media presence and accusations of not being focused enough on his craft. Baseless as those complaints seem, perception is still critical for Parsons with his rookie deal close to expiring. He wants to leave no room for doubts this season.
We could find so many other examples among the players. Lots of guys looking to bounce back from down seasons: Jake Ferguson, Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, Terence Steele (if he’s still around), and others. Plenty of third- and fourth-year players trying to prove what they’ve got while they still can like Mazi Smith, Jalen Tolbert, Damone Clark, Luke Schoonmaker, Sam Williams, and more. This is true of most teams coming off a bad year, but it feels especially pervasive throughout Dallas’ roster right now.
The need for redemption carries up through the front office, perhaps there more than anywhere else. Jerry and Stephen have well-earned animosity from fans for how they’ve handled the organization, not just from “the drought” but especially the more recent swing toward quiet, effort-lacking offseasons. Even the generally revered Will McClay, who just signed a new contract to stay in Dallas, has taken a lot of hits lately for the lack of impact from recent draft classes. Cowboys Nation’s depression and disengagement are seemingly reaching new highs (or is it lows), and nobody catches the vitriol from that more than these executives.
Given the last three decades, redemption has been needed around Dallas for a long time. But with the influx of new coaches coming off demotions and firings, a head coach nobody else wanted, a roster full of guys with depressed stocks, and a front office that takes shots from all directions, it just feels like everyone around the Cowboys needs to either put respect back on their names or get some for the first time. Hopefully, this has a unifying, galvanizing effect on a team that needs every edge it can get in 2025.
