Will hiring a defensive coordinator be Schottenheimer’s first move?

FRISCO, Texas – On Friday night, the Dallas Cowboys named offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer the 10^th head coach in franchise history. On Monday, the Cowboys will hold his introductory press conference at 11:00 AM C.T.

A first-time head coach, Schottenheimer will have to hit the ground running in the three days from now until then with a crucial offseason ahead. It starts on Saturday morning, with the first of four days of practices for the Shrine Bowl plus the Senior Bowl beginning practices on Tuesday.

Schottenheimer’s surrounding cast will be of the utmost importance, especially after losing several former staff members earlier in the week with John “Bones” Fassel becoming the special teams coordinator in Tennessee and bringing assistant Rayna Stewart with him, Robert Prince joining the Dolphins as wide receivers coach, and Al Harris headed to Chicago as the passing game coordinator.

The expectation is that Schottenheimer will be the offensive play caller, allowing some form of continuity for Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense. With defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s contract having expired, the looming question will be who takes the reigns of the Cowboys defense.

One name to keep an eye on is former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, who worked under Jason Garrett as the linebackers coach from 2011-15, and was both the linebackers coach and passing game coordinator from 2016-17. Afterwards, he spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts before taking the Bears head coaching job in 2022, where he would amass a 14-32 record.

In his seven years as a defensive play caller, Eberflus’ defense ranked in the top half of the league five times in yards and were top 10 in takeaways in six of those seven seasons.

While Schottenheimer is expected to call plays, don’t rule out the possibility if he names an offensive coordinator as well, similar to the same role he held under Mike McCarthy. NFL rules prohibit lateral coaching moves if a coach is under contract, but promotions are not prohibited, so the Cowboys could look at assistants around the league to fill that gap.

The three currently vacant coordinator positions are now all seemingly up for grabs, so Schottenheimer will turn to his deep roots in the league in order to fill them and look to help the Cowboys rebound from a 7-10 finish to the season in 2024.