Schottenheimer takes Cowboys’ reins

DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys say offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has agreed on a deal to become the storied franchise’s next coach.

The somewhat surprising choice announced Friday night is a familiar one for star quarterback Dak Prescott, who worked closely with Schottenheimer the past 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 expired, but McCarthy and the Cowboys mutually parted ways last week.

The 51-year-old Schottenheimer, son of the late NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, has 25 years of NFL coaching experience — including 14 as an offensive coordinator — but none as a head coach.

Brian Schottenheimer was the only known person the Cowboys interviewed over multiple days, with a conversation that started Tuesday continuing for several more hours Wednesday.

He is the ninth coach hired by owner Jerry Jones since Jones bought the team in 1989 and fired the only coach the Cowboys had for their first 29 seasons, Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Landry.

Schottenheimer is the seventh hire for Jones since the last time the Cowboys advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs 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 hopes of ending what is now the longest stretch of any NFC team without reaching a conference championship game.

Dallas made three consecutive postseason trips in 2021-23, but won just one playoff game.

Schottenheimer joined the Cowboys as a consultant in 2022 and moved into the offensive coordinator role when McCarthy took over play-calling duties a year later.

Prescott had one of the best years of his career in the first season with that arrangement, finishing as the runner-up in NFL MVP voting, but the Cowboys stumbled late before a shocking home wild-card loss to Green Bay.

The Dallas offense played a big role in a 27-0 first-half deficit, and the Cowboys trailed by 32 points in the fourth quarter of that 48-32 defeat.

Schottenheimer’s second season with Prescott was a struggle almost from the start, even before Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury. The Cowboys were 7-10, ending a three-year run of 12-5 finishes.

McCarthy, who got his NFL coaching start on Marty Schottenheimer’s Kansas City staff in 1993, brought in the younger Schottenheimer after one season as Jacksonville’s passing game coordinator.

Schottenheimer was Russell Wilson’s offensive coordinator in Seattle from 2018-20, when the Seahawks finished in the top 10 in scoring offense all three years but stumbled 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 held a virtual interview with Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who was Prescott’s play-caller from 2019-22. Moore’s Eagles play Washington at home in the NFC title game Sunday.

Dallas had in-person interviews with two former head coaches in Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier.

Saleh agreed Friday to return to San Francisco as defensive coordinator, the job he held before the New York Jets hired him. The Jets fired Saleh five games into his fourth season as coach in October. Frazier is the assistant head coach in Seattle.

Jones had informal talks with Colorado coach Deion Sanders. The Hall of Fame cornerback played five seasons for the Cowboys and helped them win their last Super Bowl.