The Dallas Cowboys had a disappointing 2024 season. Dallas finished the regular season 7-10 and missed the playoffs, largely due to several injuries including a season-ender for QB Dak Prescott. Now the Cowboys have a brand new head coach who will look to turn things around in 2025.
The Cowboys announced on Friday that they are making Brian Schottenheimer their next head coach. One key detail is now revealed: Dallas signed Schottenheimer to a four-year contract according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Schottenheimer is now the 10th full-time head coach in Cowboys history. He is the ninth hired by Jerry Jones, who purchased the team in 1989.
This will be Schottenheimer’s first time as an NFL head coach. He has been a member of the Cowboys organization since 2022. Schottenheimer started as a consultant before becoming the offensive coordinator in 2023.
Dallas decided to choose someone who is close with the organization and who has proven he can work well within its framework. This may differ from what Cowboys fans wanted — a big name like Deion Sanders, Robert Saleh, or Kellen Moore.
The Cowboys interviewed Robert Saleh, Kellen Moore, and Leslie Frazier in addition to Schottenheimer.
It seems that Schottenheimer nailed his alleged five-hour second interview with the Cowboys earlier this week.
Matt Eberflus emerges as top candidate for Cowboys’ DC job after Brian Schottenheimer hiring
Former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has emerged as a top candidate for the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator role according to ESPN’s Ed Werder.
“Corrected: Eberflus has emerged as a candidate to be the next DC and discussed the position but team will first conduct interviews as required by league rules before final decision, per source,” Werder wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.
Werder had to correct his original post, which claimed that the Cowboys had already hired Eberflus.
“Breaking: The #Cowboys have hired Matt Eberflus as their defensive coordinator on new HC Brian Schottenheimer’s staff, per sources,” Werder wrote in his initial post, which has gotten corrected since. “He was a defensive assistant under Rod Marinelli on Jason Garrett’s staff for 2011-2017. He was most recently head coach of the Chicago Bears.”
The likely answer is that the Cowboys have not yet satisfied the Rooney Rule for their defensive coordinator position.
Cowboys fans can expect Eberflus to eventually become their defensive coordinator after Dallas gets one or two additional interviews out of the way.
It will be interesting to see how Schottenheimer continues building his staff over the coming weeks.
