Brian Schottenheimer should know what he is doing. He was brought up in a football family. His father, Marty, was a long-time head coach in the NFL. Brian has spent many years as an offensive coordinator, including with the Seattle Seahawks from 2018 to 2020. Now, he is a first-time head coach with the Dallas Cowboys.
Seahawks fans likely do not care if the Cowboys win many (or any) games. The divisive Jerry Jones owns Dallas, and Schottenheimer almost accidentally became the head coach after Dallas and former coach Mike McCarthy could not agree on a new contract. The former Seahawks OC might have been hired for a job where he will soon be fired.
Dallas has talent, but it has been present for the last decade. The team has come nowhere close to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys appear to be the opposite of the sum, which is greater than its parts. The parts are fine; the sum is unimpressive.
Former Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer might be doomed as a head coach
Maybe Schottenheimer's cool and calm demeanor helps the team play with poise, get to the playoffs, and not implode with mental errors. Again, Seahawks fans might be hoping Dallas doesn't even make the postseason, especially if it comes at the expense of Seattle, but 12s might wish Schottenheimer the best.
The problem for the new head coach is that the team's 2025 schedule is brutal. Yes, the Cowboys have six prime-time games, which they don't deserve other than "Cowboys" being in their name, but one four-game stretch is horrifically brutal.
Between Weeks 12 and 15, Dallas will play the Philadelphia Eagles at home, the Kansas City Chiefs at home on Thanksgiving Day, travel to take on the Detroit Lions, and return home to face the Minnesota Vikings. Only once in NFL history have four teams won 14 games in one season, which was in 2024. The Cowboys will face those four teams in the previously mentioned four-game stretch.
Perhaps, the Cowboys deserve to lose them all, and most NFL fans will hope they do. Dallas has the moniker of America's Team, but that is one they created themselves, which has rarely been true. With Jerry Jones in charge, the team is even more disliked.
But Brian Schottenheimer deserves better. He finally got a chance to be a head coach and could be cooked after one season due to his team's schedule. Will he get another opportunity to be the lead guy? He might have a better chance of returning to the Seahawks as the offensive coordinator one day.