DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys have announced that offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has reached an agreement to take over as the head coach for the franchise. This unexpected decision, revealed on Friday night, is particularly noteworthy for star quarterback Dak Prescott, who has collaborated closely with Schottenheimer over the previous two seasons when Mike McCarthy was in the role of play-caller.
Despite Prescott’s public endorsement of McCarthy returning to the team after his initial five-year contract expired, the two sides ultimately chose to part ways last week. At 51 years old, Schottenheimer, who is the son of the revered NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, brings with him 25 years of coaching experience in the league—14 of which were spent as an offensive coordinator. However, he has never held the position of head coach before.
The Cowboys conducted an extensive interview process over several days, with Schottenheimer being the only known candidate. Initial discussions started on Tuesday and extended into a lengthy dialogue on Wednesday. With this appointment, Schottenheimer becomes the ninth coach hired by owner Jerry Jones since he acquired the team in 1989, when he also dismissed the legendary Tom Landry, who had been the Cowboys’ only coach during their first 29 seasons.
Jones has now appointed Schottenheimer as the seventh coach since the Cowboys last advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs in 1995, which was also the year the team secured its fifth Super Bowl victory. A press conference to introduce Schottenheimer is scheduled for Monday. Jones brought McCarthy on board after he led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl win in 2010, hoping to end the franchise’s streak of not reaching the conference championship game— a record that remains the longest in the NFC.
While Dallas made three consecutive playoff appearances from 2021 to 2023, they only managed to secure a single postseason victory. Schottenheimer initially joined the Cowboys as a consultant in 2022 before stepping into the role of offensive coordinator when McCarthy took back play-calling duties the following year. Under this arrangement, Prescott enjoyed one of the most successful seasons of his career, finishing second in NFL MVP voting. But the Cowboys suffered a disappointing loss to Green Bay in the wild card round at home, falling behind 27-0 in the first half and ultimately losing 48-32.
The struggles continued for Schottenheimer in his second year with Prescott, which began with challenges and only worsened following the quarterback’s season-ending hamstring injury. In a turnaround from their previous successful years, the Cowboys ended the season with a 7-10 record, marking the end of three seasons where they consistently finished at 12-5. McCarthy, who began his coaching career on the Kansas City staff under Marty Schottenheimer, brought Brian into the fold after one year as the passing game coordinator in Jacksonville.
Schottenheimer also has experience as an offensive coordinator with Russell Wilson in Seattle from 2018 to 2020, helping the Seahawks maintain a position among the top ten in scoring offense each year, though the team faced playoff elimination on all occasions. His first offensive coordinator tenure spanned six seasons with the New York Jets from 2006 to 2011, followed by a similar role with the St. Louis Rams for three years.
The Cowboys previously conducted a virtual interview with Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who guided Prescott from 2019 to 2022. Moore’s Eagles are set to face Washington at home in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. Additionally, Dallas held in-person interviews with two former head coaches, Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier. Saleh recently agreed to return to San Francisco as their defensive coordinator, a position he previously held before being hired as head coach by the New York Jets, a role he departed from after a brief tenure. Frazier currently serves as the assistant head coach in Seattle.
Jones also engaged in informal discussions with Deion Sanders, the Hall of Fame cornerback who spent five seasons with the Cowboys and was instrumental in their last Super Bowl win.
