Finally, Sunday has arrived, and we have conference championship game football to distract us from the fact that Dallas Cowboys Owner/GM Jerry Jones hired Brian Schottenheimer as the 10th coach in franchise history.
Brian, if by some miracle you catch wind of this article, Cowboys Nation has no personal vendetta towards you. You are an innocent bystander (an incredibly rich and fortunate one) of Jerry Jones’ selfishness.
I applaud you for your bravery because being head coach of the Dallas Cowboys might seem like the ultimate job to have in the sports industry, but all that glitters isn’t gold.
Jerry Jones is a snake oil salesman who happened to find wealth in Texas oil, and he might be the only person in the world who can still convince people to buy snake oil in the 21st century.
Jones is a businessman before he is a football man. One of the traits that Jones holds dear is the fact that he never likes to be in a position where he doesn’t hold the negotiating power. He needs to control the situation, and that includes contracts for his coaches.
He has hired yet another “yes” man to patrol the sidelines, and he has his reasons for doing so.
The Upper Hand
As I mentioned above, Jerry and Stephen Jones value business over all. To them, the Dallas Cowboys are a for-profit business and the bottom line is king, no matter how it affects the product on the field.
That’s why they choose coaches like Brian Schottenheimer. They choose selfish comfort over a coach who would be best for the team. Instead of a coach who can challenge people to change the way things have been for 30 years, they choose a coach who will do whatever they say.
Schottenheimer didn’t draw interest from any other teams, so he didn’t have a strong leg to stand on when negotiating the terms of the deal. If he doesn’t call plays, the Cowboys can just blame his coordinators when the team doesn’t perform well.
On top of controlling all aspects of the contract, they also don’t have to pay him as much as other coaches are making. They use his inexperience as a reason to warrant less than market value.
A Backup Plan
One thing that people who love power and control always have is a backup plan in case the situation they are in blows up in their faces. Jones put all his eggs in Jimmy Johnson’s basket in 1989, and when Johnson got too big for Jones to handle, he could no longer control the situation.
He learned from this mistake, and never again hired a head coach without making sure he could have the upper hand at all times. Schottenheimer is a coach they are familiar with, and he was the backup plan behind Mike McCarthy once Kellen Moore left for Los Angeles.
Even Schottenheimer won’t be safe from this malpractice. Rumors are swirling that former Cowboys TE Jason Witten will have a place on the staff somewhere. Just another hand-picked coach that Jones can elevate to head coach if Schottenheimer gets out of line.
Spreading the Blame
It is reported that the length of Schottenheimer’s contract is four years. If true, that holds significance because it would mean it will end the same season as QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, and possibly DE Micah Parsons if he signs an extension this offseason.
Jerry Jones tied the coach and the superstars of the team together so he could spread the blame if there still isn’t playoff success after the 2028 season. He can say that the mix of coach and players wasn’t the right mix, even though he is the chef in this recipe.
He has already made comments about Prescott needing to do more with less because of the amount of pie he is taking up. What makes you think he isn’t using Schottenheimer’s contract in the same way?
At the end of the day, Jerry Jones doesn’t put himself into a corner. Even if you think he lost the deal, he always has another exit planned. The only difference is that we can see through those plans now.