INDIANAPOLIS — Brian Schottenheimer has had a full plate since being named Dallas Cowboys head coach last month. He acknowledged Thursday that the most difficult part has also been his most enjoyable, and that’s putting together his coaching staff.
Schottenheimer didn’t just hire coaches he knew from previous jobs. He’s been coaching in the NFL for 25 years. There are obvious connections. But he went through a lengthy process to find who he thought would be the best fit for the collective group.
“I think we found great teachers,” Schottenheimer said. “We found guys that were incredible people. And I have a real big belief in fundamentals. I think if you look at all the coaches that we’ve added, both young, old, the ability to train fundamentals and the developmental process of our players is critical.
“I know for a fact that our players are going to feel the passion and energy of this staff. This staff is awesome, just in terms of the energy, the way they want to teach, the way they want to be on the grass. I can’t wait to see us get to work here in a couple months.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer on new Dallas DC Matt Eberflus pic.twitter.com/vfEvKwrGQS
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) February 27, 2025
The process of finding the staff didn’t start last month. Schottenheimer said for a long time, he has spent the summer tracking coaches.
“I literally call guys in the business that I know and that I trust,” he said, “and I’m like, ‘Hey, tell me somebody that maybe you think the world of, but that I’ve never heard of.’ It’s such a close-knit fraternity that guys are happy to share good people with good people. I think there’s three guys (on this staff) maybe that I’ve worked with before that weren’t carryover guys. When you asked me initially how the staff was going to come together, did I think that would be the case? Probably not.”
During Schottenheimer’s 22-minute news conference inside the Indiana Convention Center, he mentioned one notable change from his previous years in Dallas. He wanted every member of his staff in Indianapolis for the entire combine week.
“I think we learned a couple years ago with Mike (McCarthy), when I took over as the (offensive) coordinator, that when you stay back and some guys go, things get lost,” he said. “It’s just better to move the whole shop. Kudos to Jerry (Jones) and Stephen (Jones) being willing to do it. It’s certainly expensive to do it, but you bring everybody up here. We all got here on Sunday. Monday morning was no different than working out of The Star. We just worked most of the day on football and we got pulled away to formal (interviews). Otherwise what happens is a guy gets caught on a flight and he misses something and just the attention to detail is not the same. I think we learned that a couple years ago with what we tried to do with Mike.”
As expected, Schottenheimer didn’t get into much detail about what they’re looking for from draft prospects or in upcoming free agency. There’s still plenty of work remaining in both areas. Things won’t slow down for him any time soon.
“I’m ready for it,” he said. “Always have been. Way more ready for it now than I was probably when I was 32 and had some opportunities. I think the biggest thing for me is it’s way more clear to me now what I want to do, how I want to do it with a special culture about winning, about doing it with the right type of people.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer when asked about the team’s approach to free agency pic.twitter.com/3Su8VtU77c
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) February 27, 2025
Required reading
(Photo: Jon Machota / The Athletic)
