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Jerry Jones Makes Definitive Statement on Cowboys' Offensive Coordinator Role

Jones already knows who he wants calling plays.

Josh Wilson

Jones decided to promote Schottenheimer from offensive coordinator to head coach of the Cowboys this offseason
Jones decided to promote Schottenheimer from offensive coordinator to head coach of the Cowboys this offseason / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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After reportedly agreeing to terms with Brian Schottenheimer to become the 10th coach in Dallas Cowboys' franchise history on Friday, the organization formally introduced the new coach—who has been the team's offensive coordinator since 2023—on Monday.

In what was an interesting and rather emotional press conference, owner/general manager Jerry Jones and the new head coach hit on a number of topics over the course of about an hour. One of which was the now vacant offensive coordinator role, and how the team sees the offense running moving forward.

Jones said he wants Schottenheimer to call offensive plays, which would mean the to-be-determined offensive coordinator would presumably be responsible for preparing and organizing personnel throughout the week, refining the details of the offensive system that are laid out in general by Schottenheimer.

It's a very similar setup to how the Cowboys operated last year. Head coach Mike McCarthy called plays, not Schottenheimer. It will be Schottenheimer's first time calling plays for an NFL team if Dallas goes through with Jones's wishes.

It would give the Cowboys some continuity to have a familiar face running the overall show and calling the plays when they matter most, but the downside is that as Schottenheimer is getting his feet wet in a very important new role, this is one big thing added to his plate.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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