Cowboys pass over Deion Sanders and others, hire Brian Schottenheimer as next coach

The Dallas Cowboys are going with an in-house option for their next head coach.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and the Cowboys have agreed to a deal to make him Dallas’ next head coach, the team announced on Friday.

Schottenheimer, 51, has been on the Cowboys’ coaching staff for the last three seasons, serving as their offensive coordinator since 2023. However, former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy handled the offensive playcalling duties over the last two years.

Still, Schottenheimer’s promotion aligned with quarterback Dak Prescott’s best season. The Cowboys quarterback finished second in MVP voting in 2023, leading the league in passing touchdowns that year en route to the team’s third straight 12-5 season.

Now, Schottenheimer will be tasked with helping Prescott return to that level along with improving the rest of the Cowboys’ roster following a disappointing 7-10 season in 2024. Prescott, who’ll be 32 when the 2025 season begins, missed the back half of 2024 after undergoing hamstring surgery, which came following his early-season struggles. 

Prescott’s injury, along with a handful of others, played a big part in why Dallas started the year 3-7, essentially ending its playoff hopes before Thanksgiving. The Cowboys opted to keep McCarthy around through the end of the season, but announced that they were unable to come to terms on a new deal on Jan. 13, a day before his contract was set to expire.

The Cowboys’ decision to part with McCarthy made them the seventh team this offseason to have a head coach vacancy, but it came over a week after the end of the regular season. As a result, Dallas missed out on the opportunity to speak with a few of the top coaching candidates early on, such as Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. 

Dallas didn’t conduct many interviews, though, in its search to replace McCarthy. Former Jets head coach Robert Saleh, Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore (who previously played and coached for the Cowboys) and Seahawks assistant head coach Leslie Frazier were the only other three candidates to interview for the opening. 

There were also some rumors that Colorado coach and former Cowboys star Deion Sanders was a top candidate for the opening. Despite reports of mutual interest, Sanders never officially interviewed for the job. Jones also informally spoke to former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

Schottenheimer has never been a head coach before, but he brings nearly three decades of experience as an offensive assistant coach to the table. He served as an offensive coordinator for a few other teams before joining the Cowboys in 2022, working in that role for the Jets (2006-11), Rams (2012-14) and Seahawks (2018-20).

Schottenheimer is also the son of decorated former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer. The elder Schottenheimer was a head coach for four teams, recording the ninth-most wins (205) for a coach in NFL history. 

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