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Todd Archer
INDIANAPOLIS — There might have been times in previous trips to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis when Brian Schottenheimer could walk through the convention center halls or hotel lobbies and go unnoticed.
Now that he’s the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, not anymore.
After Schottenheimer fulfilled some media obligations Thursday, a handful of folks wanting pictures signed saw him walk down the hallway and called out his name.
“I haven’t gotten out much, to be honest with you,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s been nonstop. There’s a lot of work to be done. Other than a few autograph seekers, it’s been pretty normal.”
Schottenheimer has been the Cowboys’ head coach for 34 days. He has put together a coaching staff that includes a former head coach (Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator), younger offensive and special teams coordinators (Klayton Adams and Nick Sorensen) and a few coaches from college football, including receivers coach Junior Adams from Oregon and offensive line coach Conor Riley from Kansas State.
“I think we found great teachers. We found guys that were incredible people,” Schottenheimer said. “I have a real big belief in the fundamentals, and so I think if you look at all the coaches that we’ve added, both young, old, the ability to train fundamentals and the developmental process of our players is critical. And one last thing, I know for a fact our players are going to feel the passion and energy of this staff. This staff is awesome, just in terms of the energy, the way they want to teach, the way they want to be on the grass. So I can’t wait to see us get to work here in a couple months.”
Schottenheimer and the entire staff have been in Indianapolis since Sunday, whereas most teams have coaches come in for only a few days depending on when their position groups work out.
Schottenheimer’s staff has gone through a series of meetings in the mornings and afternoons, going over scheme, the Cowboys’ personnel, potential free agent targets and potential draft picks.
When he was named Cowboys offensive coordinator in 2023 under Mike McCarthy, the offensive staff remained in Texas or went up to Indianapolis for a short amount of time.
“I think we learned a couple years ago with Mike, when I took over as the [offensive] coordinator, that when you stay back and some guys go, things get lost,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s just better to move the whole shop. … Monday morning was no different than working out of The Star. We just worked most of the day on football and we got pulled away to formals. Otherwise, what happens is a guy gets caught on a flight and he misses something and just the attention to detail is not the same. I think we learned that a couple years ago with what we tried to do with Mike.”
Schottenheimer had praise for the coach he replaced and said he will continue some of what McCarthy did for five years.
“Mike’s an incredible coach, [but] I’ll put my fingerprint on it for sure,” Schottenheimer said. “Mike and Jerry [Jones] had a lot of hard conversations, and it ended up not working out, but I will never talk about Mike McCarthy in any way but hold him in the highest regard. He’s one of my best friends in football, an amazing coach, an amazing mentor to me. And he’ll be back on the sidelines before too long.”
With the head coach title come more responsibilities. Schottenheimer said there have been times he has woken up in the middle of the night remembering different things he needed to accomplish. He said coaches from across the league have been helpful sounding boards.
“I’m ready for it, more ready for it now than I was probably when I was 32 and had some opportunities,” he said. “But I think the biggest thing for me would be it’s way more clear to me now what I want to do, how I want to do it with a special culture about winning, about doing it with the right type of people.”