Brian Schottenheimer and his coaching staff have been instilling a new culture at Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard as he prepares for his first season as an NFL head coach.
That culture will be tested immediately against the defending Super Bowl champions in the season opener, and over the course of a 17-game schedule against other talented coaching staffs.
And depending on who you ask, the Cowboys are way behind the eight ball when it comes to how their sideline may fare against others in 2025.
In a recent ranking released by ESPN, Schottenheimer’s staff was ranked as the 29th best head coach-coordinators combo in the NFL heading into the season — a drop from 16th last season during Mike McCarthy’s last ride at the helm.
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Only New Orleans, Jacksonville and the New York Giants ranked worse.
“It’s just tough to argue Schottenheimer as an elevator of the Cowboys’ offense, when we have a large body of work to show otherwise,“ said ESPN’s Ben Solak. ”Has he grown from his time coordinating the 2006 Jets? Without question, and hopefully that growth — and his first time in the head chair — leads to some pleasant surprises.”
Solak also had a bit of a good news, bad news outlook on the additions of new coordinators Klayton Adams and Matt Eberflus and what they would bring to Dallas.
“I struggle to get too excited about Eberflus as defensive coordinator, as Eberflus’ defenses tend to look strong against bad opponents but struggle against elite quarterbacks,” Solak said.
“Adams at offensive coordinator, however, is exciting for the football hipsters. Previously the Cardinals’ running game coordinator, Adams has a deep bag of quirky rushing schemes. An injection of creativity on the ground could be big for Schottenheimer’s offense.”
See the full rankings here.
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