Dallas Cowboys fans are now six months into the Brian Schottenheimer era, and we are already seeing major debates around the new head coach.
At the very beginning, the outrage in the fan base was severe; hiring a career-long assistant, understudy to Mike McCarthy, all while refusing to interview any serious candidates, did not make anybody happy.
That said, we saw the tide turn over the past few months as “Schotty” got to talking. Many, including myself, love the rhetoric to this point in his tenure.
Finally, we reach last night, and the pendulum on Schottenheimer has seemingly swung again. Yes, it was preseason, but boy, are Cowboys fans displeased with the product on-field and the coaching off it.
Brian Schottenheimer: we're gonna run the damn football
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
PassRun the ball dude lol
— Darrion West (@dawest76) August 9, 2025
It begs us to ask the admittedly early question: Should we be concerned about Brian Schottenheimer? I’ll cover both answers to that query here.
The “No Concern” Side: Don’t Judge A Coach From The Preseason
Schottenheimer warned fans that they would not see the real bag of tricks this early in the year. He said it would be a vanilla game plan, and that’s exactly what it was.
Pretty? Far from it. Somewhat expected? I think that’s a fair characterization. We’re talking about the first preseason game; barely any starters played for Dallas, the playbook was highly limited, and it ended up being an ugly performance.
Is that really enough to say Schottenheimer might not be the right guy for the job?
Additionally, second-year quarterback Joe Milton did him no favors as he struggled with accuracy throughout the game, and no single receiver reeled in more than two catches.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said they came into the rams game planning to throw the ball around with Joe Milton and not necessarily trying to emphasize the run
He did not plan to open the game with six straight passes
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 10, 2025
Dallas ended up running the ball efficiently, especially with the recently signed Malik Davis, though it took Schottenheimer a full quarter to call a running play.
Overall, if you’re on this side of the argument, I get it. That game was the earliest matchup of the entire calendar, and it was Schotty’s first as the top dog. It’s easy to see a world where they improve with fewer nerves and rust, and a deeper playbook.
The Reason To Worry: Coaching Lapses Are Troubling, No Matter When
The flip side here is understandable too; pushing Schottenheimer’s oratory skills to the side, what’s left is the same unimpressive resume we were all worried about in the beginning.
Always an assistant, never the head coach, and the assistant career was never that strong. He was never sought after as the premier OC in the league.
What we saw last night, even with the limitations on play-calling, brought those red flags back into memory.
If you give him a pass on the defensive side, which was surely the worst unit of the night, it was an ineffective, pass-happy offensive scheme that reminded many of the Jason Garrett years. You NEVER want to be reminiscent of the Jason Garrett years.
Schottenheimer is trying to lead his team beyond their 8-9 to 9-8 expectations, and last night’s game didn’t do anything to help that goal. If you were worried before that he might just be another mid-tier coach, you are worrying even more now.
The Bottom Line: No New Concerns, No New Confidence
Fans didn’t see anything last night that should, if you’re realistic, spark new concerns about Brian Schottenheimer. You also, however, got nothing new to be confident about.
All the problems with his coaching last night were predictable; the limited playbook, lack of stars on the field, and track record concerns all showed up.
That was all we saw. We’re seeing an increase of confidence when he’s speaking, and a decrease when the product hits the field.
Perhaps that will change over time, considering just how early we are into this experiment, but he shouldn’t expect fans to wait around forever. He needs to start putting fears to bed quickly.
The most concerning thing was the way they lost their one-on-one matchups. The next most concerning thing was the penalties, especially the pre-snap ones.
Sure, people will try to play both issues off as “it wasn’t the starters”, but the coaching is just as much to blame. As often as injuries occur, the 2nd and 3rd strings also need to be coached up in at least the basics of lining up properly, the snap count, and when to go in motion, and the need to get set again after moving.
I’ve had a bad feeling about how much Schotty is trying to be a “player’s coach” and wondered whether discipline and penalties were going to be a problem again. So far, those worries appear to be justified.
Time to stop coddling and start instilling discipline and accountability, because right now it looks like the inmates are running the asylum.
Because you are a professional NFL coach? Bet when this season turns out pretty good, you will be one of the first to talk about how you were behind him all the way.
Nope and nope.
No professionalism. Line up offsides…then do it again. Eleven penalties. Ceedee getting run down . The head coach sets the team discipline . That is failure.
He’s played one game, man, geez, you armchair want to be writers need to use your brains
We all know McCarthy left a mess behind. The Jones’s to a lesser extent as well.
But, 1st game, not all that many starters. lots of young guys playing too.
Nothing really can be judged until 4 or 5 games in, realistically.
until then, chill.
I don’t think he will work out, but you can’t critique anything in first preseason game.
For crying out loud…he’s wanting to see many
new players and how they do it particular situations. This was GAME ONE OF PRE-SEASON!
ONES wern’t even playing. Give him a chance
before you ship him off to some JC.
The pace will pick up as the season progresses.
Omg one preseason game and you’re writing about how bad Schotty is. You should be much more concerned about your writing career than Schotty’s coaching if this is the best topic you have. This is first preseason with new coaching staff, what do you really expect?
People are stupid. He is doing what he is doing on purpose. To anyone with a brain and knowledge of football, just watch the player playing and the actual schemes being played. He is treating the pre season like what it is. The very reason that the majority of pre season top teams typically are bad during the regular season. Are Washington fans worried that they got whipped by 40 points from the Patriots? The worst thing about football are uneducated dramatic fans and click bait articles adding to the ignorance.
As I remember, Jimmy Johnson didn’t have a winning record in pre-season. He was more concerned about who was who. What they can and can do well. Twicking plays and execution. Experimenting with combinations and plays…..All what pre-season is for.
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s I all ready know that if Brian Schottenheimer doesn’t win a super bowl this season Jerry Jones will fire Brian Schottenheimer Jerry Jones does this every season this is nothing new
STOP IT PEOPLE!!! Preseason with second and third string and trying to see what you have in a below average backup QB. G needs to be the backup QB and ditch Milton. You have to see what you have in the rest of the team. Nothing is going to be shown in the preseason games anyways. Tired of them giving up what could be a decent pick for these project showboat QBs that will not make it in the NFL.