DALLAS – The Dallas Cowboys say offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has agreed to a deal to become the next coach of the storied franchise.
The somewhat surprising choice announced Friday night is familiar to star quarterback Dak Prescott, who worked closely with Schottenheimer the last two seasons when former coach Mike McCarthy was the play-caller.
Prescott publicly supported the return of McCarthy, whose initial five-year contract with Dallas had expired, but McCarthy and the Cowboys mutually parted ways last week.
Schottenheimer, the 51-year-old son of late NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, has 25 years of NFL coaching experience – including 14 years as an offensive coordinator – but no experience as a head coach.
Schottenheimer was the only known person the Cowboys interviewed for several days, with conversations that began on Tuesday and continued for several hours on Wednesday.
He is the ninth coach owner Jerry Jones has hired since purchasing the team in 1989 and fired Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Landry, the Cowboys’ only coach for the first 29 seasons.
Schottenheimer is the seventh appointment for Jones, the last time the Cowboys advanced beyond the divisional round of the playoffs was in 1995, when the club won its fifth Super Bowl title. An introductory news conference is planned for Monday.
Jones hired McCarthy, a Super Bowl winner with Green Bay in 2010, in the hopes that he would end the longest streak any NFC team has ever had without reaching the conference championship game.
Dallas made three consecutive trips to the postseason in 2021–23 but won only one playoff game.
Schottenheimer joined the Cowboys as a consultant in 2022 and moved into the role of offensive coordinator when McCarthy took over play-calling duties a year later.
Prescott had one of the best years of his career in his first season with that system, finishing as the runner-up in NFL MVP voting, but the Cowboys lost before a shocking home wild-card-round loss to the Packers late in the season. Stumbled by.
Dallas’ offense played a large role in the 27–0 loss in the first half, and the Cowboys fell behind by 32 points in the fourth quarter of that 48–32 loss.
Schottenheimer’s second season with Prescott was a struggle from the beginning, even before Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury. The Cowboys were 7–10, ending a three-year streak of 12–5.
McCarthy, who got his NFL coaching start on Marty Schottenheimer’s Kansas City Chiefs staff in 1993, brought in the younger Schottenheimer as Jacksonville’s passing game coordinator after one season.
Schottenheimer was Russell Wilson’s offensive coordinator in Seattle from 2018-20, when the Seahawks finished in the top 10 in passing offense all three years but faltered in the playoffs each time.
The first stint as an offensive coordinator for Schottenheimer lasted six seasons with the New York Jets from 2006–11, followed by three years in the same role with the St. Louis Rams.
The Cowboys conducted a virtual interview with Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who was Prescott’s play-caller from 2019-22. Moore’s Eagles will play Washington at home in the NFC title game on Sunday.
Dallas conducted personal interviews with two former head coaches, Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier.
Saleh agreed Friday to return to San Francisco as defensive coordinator, a job he held before being hired by the New York Jets. The Jets fired Saleh in October five games into his fourth season as coach. Frazier is an assistant head coach in Seattle.
Jones had an informal chat with Colorado coach Deion Sanders. The Hall of Fame cornerback played five seasons for the Cowboys and helped them win their last Super Bowl.