The Dallas Cowboys front office has been quieter than a halftime locker room during a losing streak. Whispers of change swirled, but Jerry Jones kept his cards close. He then went on a “solo mission” and promoted Brian Schottenheimer to HC. Now, the curtain’s finally lifting—and the plot twists are juicier than a Texas brisket.

On Friday, the Cowboys unveiled their 2025 coaching staff, headlined by new HC Brian Schottenheimer, hired on January 25 after Mike McCarthy’s exit. Meanwhile, Schottenheimer’s staff blends fresh faces and seasoned minds.

Ex-Bears HC Matt Eberflus will run the defense, while Klayton Adams, former Cardinals OL coach, takes the offensive reins. But the real story? Schottenheimer ignored the NFL’s buddy system.

Only five hires have prior ties to him. Instead, he and Jerry Jones poached rising talents like Ken Dorsey (pass game specialist) and Junior Adams (WRs coach), prioritizing innovation over nepotism. Schottenheimer’s crew faces skepticism, but there’s logic here. Eberflus’s defense—a four-man rush, no-frills scheme—could stabilize a unit that over-relied on blitzes under Dan Quinn. On offense, Adams’s gap-scheme expertise might revive a dormant run game.

The Staff:

Head Coach: Brian Schottenheimer

Offensive Coaches

Defensive Coaches

Special Teams Coaches

Strength & Conditioning/Administrative Staff

Schottenheimer and Jones are building a “team of rivals,” David Howman noted, referencing Lincoln’s cabinet. Translation: Dallas is betting on clash-of-ideas creativity. Meanwhile, rivals like Detroit and New Orleans stacked staffs with familiar names. Bold? Absolutely. Desperate? Maybe. But after three straight playoff flops, bold beats boring. But not everyone’s cheering.

Emmitt Smith isn’t buying Jones’s restructuring

Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith blasted Jerry Jones’s loyalty to old habits. “Next subject,” Smith scoffed on ESPN Radio when asked about Schottenheimer. “I’m willing to give him a chance, an opportunity to turn things around. However, if we don’t align our vision and commitment to that vision, I think we’re going to get a lot of things that we’ve seen in the past, and that doesn’t feel good.” Smith also doubled down on Dallas’ shaky identity.

“We’ve gotten so far away from what we all know as the Cowboys’ great teams. You don’t see that balance anymore. You see one way, and that’s disappointing,” Smith added. His gripe?

The team’s neglect of the run game. “There’s nothing wrong with our running game when there’s a commitment to the running game,” he stressed, slamming the front office’s “one-way” approach. Even Schottenheimer’s staff shake-up didn’t sway him. Smith also roasted Jones for snubbing Deion Sanders: “It is kind of disappointing that, from an opportunity standpoint, he [Deion] wasn’t considered high enough to do it.”

Dak Prescott is cautiously optimistic: “He [Schottenheimer] enjoys the work in it, kind of old-fashioned. Looking forward to the grind and some things that we’re gonna do and he’s gonna add. Excited for him. I know he’s ready for it.” But Smith’s warnings linger: Dallas went 7-10 last year, and Prescott’s health remains a question mark. Free agency and the draft loom large.

Schottenheimer’s hires are a departure from Dallas’ usual script. No yes-men. No nostalgia plays. Just a mosaic of voices tasked with fixing a broken culture. But as Smith warned, staff don’t win games—visions do. If Jones meddles or the run game stalls, this experiment collapses.

As the dust settles, one quote sums it up: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” — Henry Ford. For Schottenheimer, talking season’s over. Time to prove critics wrong.