Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Search Takes New Turn: Brian Schottenheimer?

The Dallas Cowboys could be in the latter stages of hiring a new head coach to replace Mike McCarthy.

Owner Jerry Jones and Co. have been conducting interviews since Dallas parted ways with McCarthy back on Jan.13. Former New York Jets head coach and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh got the first crack at interviewing. Deion Sanders also spoke to Jones about the vacancy. Though, that seems to be a real long shot.

Jones’ decision to wait so long to move on from McCarthy prevented Dallas from being serious contenders for Detroit Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. Ultimately, Johnson landed with the Chicago Bears in a surprising move. Glenn made his way to the Jets.

As the Cowboys’ process to find a new head coach plays out, their former offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore emerged as a top candidate. He’s currently employed in the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles as they prepare for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. Dallas can’t interview Moore until the Eagles’ season comes to an end, complicating things should they head to the Super Bowl.

We’re now hearing more about what Dallas might do moving forward. To say it’s surprising would be an understatement. It will also make Cowboys fans a bit squeamish.

Longtime Cowboys beat writer, Clarence Hill Jr. reported on Thursday that the Cowboys are closing in on promoting current offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to head coach.

“Look for the Cowboys to cross the finish line on hiring Brian Schottenheimer no later than Friday, possibly today,” Hill wrote on X.

Schottenheimer conducted his second in-person interview with the Cowboys’ brass on Wednesday. He joined Dallas as its offensive coordinator back in 2023, leading the top-scoring offense in his first season. This unit took a major step back in 2024, finishing 21st in scoring. Injures to Dak Prescott and others played a role in the regression.

Making Sense Of Brian Schottenheimer As Top Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Candidate

Dallas fans have every right to be frustrated with the organization. The Cowboys now boast the longest NFC Championship Game drought after the Washington Commanders punched their ticket to the title round last week. They have not made it since the end of the 1995 season. To put that into perspective, Prescott was two years old at the time.

For fans in Dallas, this would not be an attractive hire. Replacing Mike McCarthy with an internal hire wouldn’t exactly be blowing things up from a coaching perspective after an ugly 7-10 season. It would also be a slap in the face to McCarthy, clearly indicating that Dallas’ brass thought he was solely to blame for their struggles. That’s obviously not the case.

However, this makes all the sense in the world for Jones. The outspoken owner has made it more than clear in the recent past that he runs things in Dallas. He’s the boss.

“I bought the team, I think the first thing to come out of my mouth… Somebody asked, ‘Did you buy this for your kids?’ I said, ‘He** no. I bought it for me.’ And I didn’t buy an investment,” Jones said earlier in January about giving up his role as chief decision-maker, via The Athletic. “I bought an occupation, and I bought something I was going to do.”

Hiring Shottenheimer would enable Jones to maintain this power with very little pushback. The veteran assistant has not been a head coach in the NFL despite finding himself in several assistant roles since his days with the then-St. Louis Rams back in 1997. Jones consolidating power seems to be one of the common themes.

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It’s somewhat surprising in that the Cowboys were linked to six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick before he took the North Carolina Tar Heels head coach job.

“Bill Belichick would have been interested in the Cowboys’ job, and it’s believed that Dallas would have been interested in him, had he known the position would become available,” Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported recently.

The likes of Belichick and Pete Carroll would bring success we have not seen from Schottenheimer. In turn, they could be seen as major internal threats to Jones’ power.

As for Schottenheimer’s experience, he has served as offensive coordinator for the New York Jets (2006-2011), St. Louis Rams (2012-2014) and Seattle Seahawks (2018-2020). In his 14 years as a coordinator, Schottenheimer led five top-1o scoring offenses but only two have finished within that range in total yards.

Schottenheimer would bring experience and coaching pedigree to the mix. His father, Marty, served as an NFL head coach for 21 years at four different organizations.

From a pure on-field perspective, looking for an offensive mind makes sense for Dallas. It has a record four-year, $240 million contract committed to quarterback Dak Prescott. They need to put him in the best position to succeed. Whether Schottenheimer is the right pick is obviously up for debate.

As for a potential coaching staff Schottenheimer is looking to put together for the Cowboys, one big name stands out. Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan said recently that he would have been their defensive coordinator last season, but they refused to “pony up the cash.” Never a boring minute in Dallas. That’s for sure.

One thing is clear: The 82-year-old Jones knows that acing the hiring of a new head coach and staff has to be in the cards. Dallas entered the 2024 season with Super Bowl aspirations, only to lose double-digit games.

All the while, chief division rivals: the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles are set to do battle in the NFC Championship Game.

If the Dallas Cowboys want to return to their glory days of the 1990s, a change of culture within the organization and coaching ranks must be in the cards. It’s obviously an open question whether promoting an internal candidate such as Brian Schottenheimer would do that. Call me a skeptic.