Jerry Jones’s hire for the Dallas Cowboys’ new head coach has been met with backlash, and it appears the owner himself feels he’s taking a gamble.
The Cowboys announced a surprising choice to replace Mike McCarthy Friday night when it was revealed that offensive coordinator Brian ScH๏τtenheimer had agreed to take the reins at the storied franchise.
The controversial appointment was met with fury from Dallas’s fanbase, including the likes of Skip Bayless, over ScH๏τtenheimer’s lack of head coaching impact.
And Jones, who also acts as the franchise’s general manager, acknowledged that he had strayed considerably from beaten path in his latest search for a head coach to lead his beloved Cowboys.
‘If you don’t think I can operate outside my comfort zone, you are so wrong it’s unbelievable,’ Jones told reporters at ScH๏τtenheimer’s unveiling Monday. ‘This (hiring ScH๏τtenheimer) is as big a risk as you can take. No head coaching experience
‘Let me share something with you. With all of that, you’ve just heard him reference his osmosis, his family. If anybody in this room doesn’t believe that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, has missed it somewhere down the road. Especially if there was an effort to make it that way. And there was an effort.
Jerry Jones (left) has admitting his hiring of Brian ScH๏τtenheimer (right) is a risk
‘But then you go around to the countless number of head coaches that ScH๏τty has staffed with and been around, the countless players, how often do you have someone who has 25 or 26 years of working through the human relationships, aspiring to learn, having eyes wide open looking for techniques and things that make coaches better?’
Jones was referencing ScH๏τtenheimer’s legendary NFL coach father, Marty ScH๏τtenheimer, whom the new head coach credited for his knowledge.
ScH๏τtenheimer is the ninth coach hired by owner Jerry Jones since Jones bought the team in 1989 and fired the only coach the Cowboys had for their first 29 seasons, Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Landry.
ScH๏τtenheimer is the seventh hire for Jones since the last time the Cowboys advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs in 1995, when the club won its fifth Super Bowl тιтle. An introductory news conference is planned for Monday.
Jones hired McCarthy, a Super Bowl winner with Green Bay in 2010, in hopes of ending what is now the longest stretch of any NFC team without reaching a conference championship game.
Dallas made three consecutive postseason trips in 2021 to 2023, but won just one playoff game.
ScH๏τtenheimer joined the Cowboys as a consultant in 2022 and moved into the offensive coordinator role when McCarthy took over play-calling duties a year later.
Prescott had one of the best years of his career in the first season with that arrangement, finishing as the runner-up in NFL MVP voting, but the Cowboys stumbled late before a shocking home wild-card loss to Green Bay.
ScH๏τtenheimer has been in charge of the offense led by Dak Prescott in recent seasons
Read More Angry Cowboys fans vow to ‘boycott’ team and slam Jerry Jones over Brian ScH๏τtenheimer decision
ScH๏τtenheimer´s second season with Prescott was a struggle almost from the start, even before Prescott´s season-ending hamstring injury. The Cowboys were 7-10, ending a three-year run of 12-5 finishes.
McCarthy, who got his NFL coaching start on Marty ScH๏τtenheimer´s Kansas City staff in 1993, brought in the younger ScH๏τtenheimer after one season as Jacksonville’s pᴀssing game coordinator.
Meanwhile, Jones may have another hire to defend soon after it was reported that former Bears head coach Eberflus is going to become the new offensive coordinator, signaling a return to the franchise for the 54-year-old.
Eberflus was previously the team’s linebackers coach from 2011 to 2015 under Jason Garrett before taking over pᴀssing game coordinator duties until 2017.
He was then hired by the Colts as their defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021, before he got his first – and so far, only – head coaching job in Chicago.
