The Dallas Cowboys appear to be zeroing in on a new head coach, but they might have missed out on innovative options by casting a small net.
DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys’ search for their next head coach is apparently coming to a close and the new leader in the clubhouse is current offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. It’s appropriate to use a golf phrase in this instance because Jerry Jones continues to run a country club atmosphere where he refuses to challenge himself, or the organization, instead opting for what’s comfortable.
Schottenheimer isn’t to blame. By all accounts, he’s a good leader, and the players like him. However, being liked and being a good coach are two different things, and the jury’s out on the latter.
The son of legendary coach Marty Schottenheimer has never been a head coach and despite being the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys for the past two seasons, he’s never called the plays in Dallas. The offense installed was Mike McCarthy’s system and Schottenheimer worked with his former boss to tweak the now famed ‘Texas Coast’ offense which was successful for one season. Last year’s iteration wasn’t nearly as good and there were no answers when defenses adjusted.
Schottenheimer has been a part of some top 10 offenses as an OC and quarterbacks coach, once with the Indianapolis Colts in 2016, and again with the Seattle Seahawks, in 2019. To boost his resume, every season that Schottenheimer was with the Seahawks, the team finished in the top 10 in points scored.
Those offenses that prospered under Schottenheimer were led by great signal callers, Andrew Luck with the Colts, and Russell Wilson with the Seahawks. At the helm with the Cowboys, Schottenheimer would have another top QB in Dak Prescott.
However, there have been some flops with Schottenheimer leading the offense. It wasn’t a pretty ending with the Colts, where his offense finished next to last in the league – although that was the season the Colts played without Luck – and as the passing game coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Trevor Lawrence’s rookie year, things didn’t go well.
The offenses under Schottenheimer tend to be led by the running game, which is not ideal when the league has shifted to find more impact through the air and especially curious considering Schottenheimer’s history as a passing game coordinator. In 2018 and 2019, the Seahawks had the first and fourth-best running games in the league, respectively, which shows that Schottenheimer can have success on the ground.
However, the passing game has struggled in offenses run by Schottenheimer, which too often have found themselves outside the top 20 in the NFL.
It also doesn’t help Schottenheimer’s cause that the last four teams he’s been a significant part of haven’t advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs. That’s the same fate as his predecessors fell victim to, and they are no longer the head coach.
No matter how anyone feels about Schottenheimer, though, it would be an uninspiring hire. The Joneses would no doubt try to spin how this might be the best fit for the team and its quarterback, but that’s the biggest problem with the whole process.
No one has been hired yet, and the Cowboys are continuing the search after interviewing the offensive coordinator that Schottenheimer replaced in Dallas, Kellen Moore, who has led the Philadelphia Eagles offense on their way to the NFC Championship Game and former New York Jets defensive-minded coach Robert Saleh.
One of the latest possibilities was a brief, unofficial look at Schottenheimer’s former head coach in Seattle, Pete Carroll. Instead, just as those rumors got started, Carroll joined the Las Vegas Raiders as their new coach, leaving Dallas with another potential option off the board and with Schottenheimer once again as the favorite.
Regardless of whether Carroll was ever really an option or not, the Cowboys’ organization simply hasn’t interviewed many of the top available candidates, mainly speaking with coaches they know and are comfortable hiring. Schottenheimer, as a first-time head coach that no other org had on their radar, also feels like a cheaper option, rather than finding the right fit.
While teams who needed coaches were busy lining up candidates who they believe can turn them around by making changes, the Cowboys look like they’re targeting someone who can keep the status quo. After 30 years of failure, but skyrocketing franchise valuation, the Joneses don’t want anyone upsetting the apple cart.
None of the hand-wringing over Schottenheimer is his fault. There are only 32 jobs at the highest level of football, and striving to become a head coach of an NFL team – and, despite it all, one of the most prestigious teams in the league – would be a dream come true for most in his shoes.
But the word that keeps being brought up in the entire process for the Cowboys is ‘unserious.’ Jerry Jones has often said that there’s no check he wouldn’t write to win another Super Bowl, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. He isn’t willing to shell out the money that it would take to get a top coach in Dallas, nor is he willing to force necessary changes on an organization that desperately needs them.
Instead, the Cowboys are likely to go with a comfortable option. This is the last thing the Cowboys need; from the top on down, the Cowboys need to be challenged. The general manager needed to set that tone, and it needed to be reinforced through the new coach and then down to the quarterback to instill in his teammates.
If the Cowboys hire Schottenheimer, they will be going with the wrong ‘C.’ They’ll be choosing to be comfortable over being challenged. It’s the wrong message and it will likely end with the same results from the previous 30 seasons, a ‘C’ Dallas can’t find: Championship Game.
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