The league’s second-best offense in the NFC East — and 11th overall — still made an offensive coordinator change this offseason.
With Kellen Moore now off to the Los Angeles Chargers after being let go, the Dallas Cowboys will call on a past consultant and veteran NFL mind Brian Schottenheimer to help turn this offense loose in 2023.
Who Is Brian Schottenheimer?
Schottenheimer got a promotion inside the Cowboys facility.
Last offseason, the franchise hired him as a consultant after he wasn’t retained by the Jacksonville Jaguars when they pivoted to Doug Pederson.
Schottenheimer, 49, may be considered fairly new around in the building. But he’s certainly not new to the NFL.
He’s the son of NFL coaching legend Marty Schottenheimer, who coached four different NFL franchises and produced playoff contenders out of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers. He also went 8-8 in one season with Washington.
The younger Schottenheimer got his first coaching start with the St. Louis Rams in 1997 and is now entering his 26th year of the profession. But along with NFL stops, he’s coached collegiately with Syracuse, USC, and Georgia. His role as the new offensive coordinator for the Cowboys, though, won’t be his first rodeo as an OC.
Where Else Was Schottenheimer an OC? And How Have His Offenses Fared?
In just 10 seasons, Schottenheimer got his first offensive coordinator opportunity in the NFL with the New York Jets … a position he went on to hold between 2006 to 2011.
His first offense struggled early, settling for a No. 18 ranking but finishing 25th in total yards. That was also with Chad Pennington as quarterback and with the Jets finishing 10-6 and making the playoffs under then-head coach Eric Mangini (they were eliminated in the first round).
Two seasons later, Schottenheimer’s Jets offense rose to No. 9 overall — and that was with Brett Favre behind center and finishing 9-7. After Mangini was replaced by Rex Ryan, the latter decided to retain Schottenheimer for the next three seasons, which saw back-to-back AFC title game runs. The next three Schottenheimer-led offenses ranked no worse than 18th overall.
After the Jets cleaned house from the Ryan regime, Schottenheimer returned to the Rams via Jeff Fisher, but this time running the offense from 2012 to 2014. His three offenses, though, ranked no better than 23rd in total yards.
Schottenheimer managed to stay in the NFC West by latching onto the Seattle Seahawks from 2018 to 2020. His units improved by avoiding ranking in the 20s for yards, including rising to eighth in 2019. And all three of those Seahawks teams made the postseason.
Those Seattle teams also featured a future 1,000-yard receiving tandem in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Schottenheimer also helped oversee the final two 4,000-yard seasons of Russell Wilson with Seattle.
How Will the Cowboys Look With Schottenheimer Assisting?
Again, Dallas is Pivoting away from Moore — the only team he ever coached for in the NFL prior to his Chargers hire.
Schottenheimer’s father was known as an aggressive, ball-control coach who oversaw high-profile running backs like Earnest Byner, Kevin Mack, Christian Okoye, Marcus Allen, and LaDainian Tomlinson, including Tomlinson’s 2006 MVP-winning campaign.
But the younger Schottenheimer is more on the balanced side, attacking defenses with a concoction of inside zone runs and play-action passing downfield.
But if anything, Dallas is anticipated to see an elimination of the curl and hitch routes that became a staple under Moore. Schottenheimer’s system will aim to prioritize hitting receivers through more shallow crossers, fades, and streaks. Basically, he will be tasked to feed the ball to wideouts on the move rather than them stopping and planting.
However, the early perception around Dallas is McCarthy will have more say with the plays than Schottenheimer. Plus, as gutsy of a decision as it was to let go of Moore, he still helped produce offenses that ranked in the top 10 in three of his four seasons as OC.
A move like this points to McCarthy going with more of a simplistic yet historically effective scheme to benefit Dallas. But in his fourth OC stop, Schottenheimer will aim to do his part in producing a high-powered offense next to another offensive mind in McCarthy.