If, like I did, you woke up yesterday hoping that Jerry Jones had changed his mind about Brian Schottenheimer, well, he didn’t.
Yesterday’s Jerry Jones self-lovefest press conference confirmed Schottenheimer will be the team’s 10th head coach.
Personally, I’m not optimistic. I think in four years both Schottenheimer and Dak Prescott will be gone and a sixth Lombardi Trophy will not be at The Star.
But there’s always a chance.
A chance that Schottenheimer will somehow conjure up some dark magic and the team will gel into realistic contenders.
About the same chance that Sydney Sweeney will knock on my door in the next five seconds.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Alas…
How Schottenheimer Can Succeed
The slim chance that the new head coach can in fact shock about 99.9% of Cowboys Nation depends on two factors.
First, will he lean on his run-oriented roots of the past?
In what was arguably his best run as an offensive coordinator in the 2009 season, the New York Jets made it to the AFC championship game. With Mark Sanchez at quarterback.
The reason why was the Jets had a running game. Thomas Jones had 331 carries for 1,402 yards.
His back-up, Shonn Greene, had 108 carries for 540 and Leon Washington added 331 yards on 72 carries.
This is the season he needs to channel this upcoming year in Dallas.
The second factor? Will Jerry Jones take note of why the Eagles are playing in the Super Bowl and give his new coach the key players that he needs to succeed?
Namely, with the 12th pick of the draft, if he’s still available, Jones had better grab Ashton Jeanty.
Give me a backfield of Jeanty, spelled by Hunter Luepke and Deuce Vaughn, or a free agent back assuming Rico Dowdle is not brought back, and look out.
If Dallas can lean on the running game and its defense, it takes pressure off of Dak Prescott and there is a good chance 2025 will be a winning season.
If he’s not trying to play hero ball, Prescott usually can play a steady game. That’s really all Dallas has needed from him in the playoffs.
This is the formula that will get the Cowboys back to an NFC title game, and a Super Bowl.
But Schottenheimer’s statement on Monday that “Prescott will win championships” is a pipe dream that will derail his stint in Dallas.
Because Prescott is not that kind of quarterback. Hasn’t ever been even at Mississippi State.
That’s the biggest difference in Philadelphia this year as opposed to the 2023 season. They went out and got a stud running back and took the heat off of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Last year, without a strong running game, Hurts folded down the stretch and so did the Eagles.
This year Hurts has just had to stay out of the way.
I seem to recall someone saying this was what Dallas should have done last year in free agency and the draft. I also seem to recall some folks saying that “doesn’t work in today’s NFL” too.
The Eagles would beg to differ.
As do I.
Why Schottenheimer Will Probably Fail
Look no further than Monday’s press conference.
I felt for the new coach who had to sit there and listen to Jones’ back-handed compliments. At least I think that was the intent there, when Jones said he was taking a big risk on a coach with no head coaching experience.
Ouch. I mean, the poor guy is sitting right there, and you let fly with that, Jerry Jones?
Ultimately, it will be the Jones family that will be Schottenheimer’s undoing.
Just as it has been for every coach in the team’s history, yes, even back to Landry.
The Jones way of waiting too long to resign players so that they end up overpaying is why they didn’t have the money to go after Barkley or Derrick Henry.
Their approach to free agency and the draft has also handcuffed this franchise to a 29-year-long drought. Dear Stephen Jones, notice the lack of quotation marks around the last word of that sentence?
The younger Jones, after insulting the intelligence of the entire fanbase, then allowed that they would look at their approach to free agency to see “if any changes” were needed.
If?
IF????
(Yes, you should read that in Jim Mora’s voice the way he said “playoffs” during one of his pressers.) A change must be made and there’s no “if” about it.
Can Schottenheimer find a way to stand up and demand the front office do their jobs correctly for a change?
I don’t know. But over the next few months, we’re going to find out.
By the end of this year, we’ll either be celebrating the return of America’s Team, or starting the chatter about whom the 11th head coach will be and how soon his tenure will begin.