CBS Sports: The Cowboys officially announce the next head coach, and It’s not Deion Sanders.
The Dallas Cowboys have officially chosen their next head coach, and it’s not Deion Sanders. Although Sanders surprisingly discussed the position with Jerry Jones, the team has taken a totally different turn. Additional news:49ers to Return As the defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh The team’s new head coach will be Brian Schottenheimer, a former offensive coordinator. Schottenheimer will be heading the Cowboys in 2025 after receiving the ultimate promotion.
Following his tenure as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024, Schottenheimer will now be in charge of bringing in his successor.
At first, Dallas owner Jerry Jones had said he would be open to other teams calling to interview McCarthy after the 2024 season, but the Cowboys were searching for a head coach after the unexpected news that Mike McCarthy was fired.
When the Chicago Bears called the Cowboys to interview McCarthy, that practically happened right away. The Bears’ plea was first totally disregarded. Officially, it was refused a few days later. Many assumed that the Cowboys and McCarthy were negotiating a new contract after the request was denied. That was also the case, according to numerous reports that surfaced. But Jones and McCarthy decided to take a different approach and split up.
The Cowboys were already behind the other NFL clubs in the hunt for a new head coach after McCarthy was fired, and it’s interesting to note that Dallas skipped interviews with several of the top candidates, including defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions.
The Cowboys interviewed Schottenheimer, Robert Saleh, Leslie Frazier, and former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, but ultimately decided to hire Schottenheimer as head coach. Coordinators rarely get hired by their own teams; instead, they typically take opportunities with other teams. Now, Schottenheimer has the opportunity to help the Cowboys recover from a season that wasn’t particularly stellar.
Dallas lost out on the playoffs after finishing the season with an unexpectedly poor 7-10 record. Sam Williams, Dak Prescott, and DeMarcus Lawrence were among the talented players that missed all or most of the season, thus the squad faced a lot of hardship. The Cowboys found it difficult to compete with the other quality NFC teams due to their numerous injuries and lack of free agency moves. Although Schottenheimer has a lot of work ahead of him, he also has the opportunity to return the team to its typical position, which is in the running for the playoffs.
