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One Disgusting Stat Sums Up Brian Schottenheimer's Terrible Cowboys Tenure

Brian Schottenheimer hasn't gotten the job done as the Dallas Cowboys head coach and one stat shows just how bad he's been.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer runs off the field at halftime of a game against the Houston Texans.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer runs off the field at halftime of a game against the Houston Texans. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Fans were shocked when the Dallas Cowboys selected Brian Schottenheimer as their new head coach ahead of the 2025 season. Many changed their tunes when they heard him speak, however, as Coach Schotty has a gift for saying the right things.

Five weeks into his second season as the head coach proves that saying the right things doesn't always equal success. When hired, Schottenheimer said he wanted to build "the greatest culture in professional sports," but after 22 games, he's been the worst coach the organization has seen during Dak Prescott's tenure.

Prescott, who took over in 2016, has faced his own criticism, but he's always been able to win games in the regular season. Under Jason Garrett, Prescott was 40-24, with the Cowboys winning 62.5% of their games. With Mike McCarthy, they had similar success with Dallas going 36-22 when Prescott was healthy under McCarthy.

Schottenheimer has now coached 22 games, all with Prescott, and is 9-12-1. That means he has won just 39% of his games with a quarterback who has historically won 62% of his starts.

Brian Schottenheimer was hired to help Dak Prescott, and he's failed

Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott and coach Brian Schottenheimer watch a play in the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott and coach Brian Schottenheimer watch a play in the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

One of the reasons Jerry Jones made the surprising decision to hire Schottenheimer was his relationship with Prescott. Schottenheimer spent three years on McCarthy's staff, serving as the offensive coordinator for two of those seasons.

He and Prescott worked well together and the belief was that their offense could pick up where it left off with McCarthy. That has been true for the most part, but as we saw during their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, that offense has a tendency to come out flat. They've also been guilty of allowing their opponents to dictate the pace, which happened in their Week 1 loss to the New York Giants as well.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer before the game at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer before the game at AT&T Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Fingers have been pointed to the defensive side of the ball, and while the defense is terrible, both Garrett and McCarthy found ways to overcome various defensive struggles when Prescott was on the field. For Schottenheimer, that hasn't been the case.

He now enters Week 6 with a record of 1-10 when the offense scores less than 30 points. That shows that the head coach hasn't been able to adapt when the defense struggles, which is why he's been one of the worst hires in recent memory.

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Randy Gurzi
RANDY GURZI

Randy Gurzi is a graduate of Arizona State and has focused on NFL coverage since 2014.