While two of the NFL’s most popular teams in Philadelphia and Kansas City prepare to compete in Super Bowl LIX, the Dallas Cowboys will sit at home for the 29th year in a row. Long regarded as “America’s Team”, the Cowboys in recent years have surrendered that mantle amidst a lengthy Super Bowl drought that has seen Dallas fail even to reach an NFC Championship Game while rivals like the Eagles, the Detroit Lions, the Washington Commanders, and the San Francisco 49ers have succeeded in recent years with a more “modern” organizational infrastructure.
In Dallas, it has been the same story since 1989 – team owner Jerry Jones also serves as the general manager and his family (specifically his son Stephen) makes all of the major choices for the franchise. That includes the Cowboys’ shocking recent hire of offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as the 10th head coach in franchise history, a decision that has prompted near-universal backlash amid Dallas’ dwindling hopes of winning a Super Bowl with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons all on the roster together.
Jerry Jones made it clear that he is more than aware of said criticism when he met with the media on Monday to introduce Schottenheimer as Mike McCarthy’s replacement on the Dallas sideline. In a combative press conference, the 82-year-old disputed the notion that he will not hire outside of his “comfort zone”, which many believed to be the case after Jones balked at paying Colorado head coach Deion Sanders’ $10 million buyout clause at the university.
“This is as big a risk as you can take,” Jones said of hiring Schottenheimer. “(He has) no head coaching experience.”
Schottenheimer served as McCarthy’s offensive coordinator in 2023 and in 2024, overseeing Dallas’ #1 scoring offense in 2023. But Dallas regressed this season, finishing 7-10 and missing the playoffs amid injuries to Prescott and Lamb – as well as an ineffective running game. Still, Jones believes in the 51-year-old Schottenheimer’s credentials and wealth of experience as an assistant, in both the NFL and the NCAA.
Neither Jerry nor Stephen Jones appear to be taking the criticism too seriously, as the younger Jones mocked takes about the Cowboys’ Super Bowl drought with a viral use of “air quotes” during Monday’s presser. As the Eagles and Commanders gain strength in the NFC East after meeting in this season’s conference championship game, Dallas fans may have been looking for an acknowledgement that the Cowboys can no longer win on their brand identity alone.
