Jerry Jones stayed in-house to find the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
After negotiation with now-former coach Mike McCarthy, a dalliance with franchise legend Deion Sanders and interviews with Robert Saleh, Leslie Frazier and Kellen Moore, the Cowboys are set to make offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer their next head coach, according to a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported later Friday night that Dallas is giving Schottenheimer a four-year deal.
The 51-year-old Schottenheimer is in his third year with the Cowboys, joining the franchise as an analyst under McCarthy in 2022 before becoming offensive coordinator in '23, replacing Moore.
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Schottenheimer broke into coaching in 1997 as an assistant with the St. Louis Rams. A year later, he joined his father Marty Schottenheimer's Kansas City Chiefs staff, later working as his quarterbacks coach with Washington ('01) and San Diego Chargers ('02 to '05). The younger Schottenheimer would go on to be the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets, Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks and the University of Georgia between 2006 and '20, and was the Jacksonville Jaguars' passing game coordinator in '21.
Despite that extensive coordinator experience, Dallas will be his first head coaching opportunity.
The Cowboys led the NFL in scoring at 29.9 points per game and were fifth in total offense (371.6 yards per game) in 2023 after Schottenheimer took over the offense, but fell off a cliff in '24 after significant injuries across the roster, including to starting quarterback Dak Prescott. The team's offense was 16th in the league in yards per game (328.4) but struggled mightily to find the end zone, averaging just 20.6 points per game, good for 21st in the NFL. Dallas finished with a 7–10 record on the year.
Schottenheimer quickly became a surprising favorite for the job after news broke of his candidacy, though based on how the situation with McCarthy played out, perhaps it should not be a huge shock. NFL Network's Jane Slater reported that Jones was "surprised" when McCarthy backed out of negotiations for a new contract after five years in Dallas. So far, McCarthy is without a new team, but had an in-person interview with the Bears (who have since hired Ben Johnson) and was reportedly lining chats up with the Saints.
While Jones has a history of splashy hires which helped stoke the Sanders talk, that reputation primarily stems from his first two hires as Cowboys owner—a pair of college coaches with big personalities, Jimmie Johnson and Barry Switzer—as well as his 2003 hiring of Bill Parcells. More often, he goes with safe, familiar faces. Schottenheimer is the third Dallas assistant to take over as head coach under Jones, following Dave Campo in 2000 and Jason Garrett in '11.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cowboys Hire Brian Schottenheimer As 10th Head Coach in Franchise History.
