Cowboys hire coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as head coach

FRISCO, Texas — After looking outside the organization for Mike McCarthy’s replacement, the Dallas Cowboys chose coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as the 10th coach in franchise history, the team announced Friday night.

The Cowboys also interviewed Seattle Seahawks assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh and Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who coached with the Cowboys for five seasons, spending 2019 to 2022 as their offensive coordinator.

This week, Schottenheimer interviewed with Jones, executive vice president Stephen Jones and vice president of player personnel Will McClay after the aforementioned coaches met with the club. He has a strong relationship with quarterback Dak Prescott and has connected well with people in the organization, but this will be his first head coaching job.

“Brian Schottenheimer is known as a career assistant,” Jones told ESPN. “He ain’t Brian no more. He is now known as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.”

Schottenheimer and the Cowboys agreed to a four-year deal, sources said.

Though Schottenheimer still has to hire his staff, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is a candidate for the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator job. Eberflus was a Cowboys assistant from 2011 to 2017.

Schottenheimer, 51, joined the Cowboys in 2022 as a consultant, working mostly with former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. When Moore left for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2022 after McCarthy took over playcalling duties, Schottenheimer was hired as the offensive coordinator.

Schottenheimer’s father, Marty, was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington and San Diego Chargers. As a coach, Marty Schottenheimer made the playoffs 18 times in 21 years and reached the AFC Championship Game three times (twice with the Browns and once with the Chiefs). His 200 regular-season wins are seventh most in NFL history.

In Jones’ era as owner, the only other Cowboys head coach to be hired without head coaching experience was Dave Campo, who posted a 15-33 record from 2000 to 2002. Jason Garrett served as the interim head coach in 2010 before landing the full-time job in 2011. He lasted until 2019.

Schottenheimer has been an offensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams, Jets and Seahawks. He served as the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ passing game coordinator in 2021 before coming to Dallas.

In 12 years as a playcaller, Schottenheimer had four offenses finish in the top 10 in points per game, and three times his offenses were in the top half in the league in yards per game. His best three years came with the Seahawks when they finished sixth, ninth and eighth in points per game with Russell Wilson at quarterback.

Though he did not call plays under McCarthy, Schottenheimer had a large role in the offense. Team sources say he helped jump-start the offense in 2023 after a slow start. The Cowboys, who scored 30 or more points in seven of their final 11 games, finished with the highest-scoring offense in the league (29.9 points per game) and were fifth in yards (371.6) that season.

In 2024, the Cowboys’ offense struggled, averaging 20.6 points and 327.5 yards per game. Though curtailed due to injuries, particularly to Prescott, the Cowboys scored 30 or more points just three times last season. The Cowboys and McCarthy opted to part ways Jan. 13 after it became clear the length of a potential extension was an issue, per multiple sources.

McCarthy went 49-35 in the regular season with the Cowboys, posting three straight 12-5 marks from 2021 to 2023, but he couldn’t continue the playoff success he had with the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys were just 1-3 in the postseason, losing two games at AT&T Stadium, including a 48-32 defeat to the Packers in the wild-card round after the Cowboys entered that game with a 16-game home winning streak.

Schottenheimer will be tasked to take the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1995 — a 29-year drought.