Who will be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys?
It’s one of the biggest questions in the world of Texas sports right now, and we may soon have an answer.
Multiple outlets report current Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer could be the lead candidate for the job.
It comes about two weeks after the announcement former head coach Mike McCarthy will not return in 2025. His contract expired this offseason after four years at the helm — the last of which ended with a disappointing 7-10 record that ended a streak of three straight playoff berths.
Now, Schottenheimer looks like he could be the frontrunner for the job after a second interview with the Cowboys on Wednesday.
Schottenheimer is the son of the late legendary NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, who won 200 career regular season games — the seventh-most wins in NFL history and the the most by a coach to never win a Super Bowl.
Brian Schottenheimer‘s never been a head coach in the NFL, but does have 26 years of coaching experience in the league, including 14 as an offensive coordinator. He's spent the last two years in that position in Dallas and previously served in the same role with the Jets for six years, as well as three years apiece with the Rams and the Seahawks. His 2023 Dallas offense ranked top five in the league for total yards and first in points scored.
However, Schottenheimer‘s not the only name on the list.
Most recently, the Dallas Morning News reported former Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll met with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones about the head coaching job.
Beyond that, two Cowboys legends appeared to be in the mix in recent days. University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders, who spent five of his 14 seasons as an NFL player in Dallas, had at least a preliminary conversation about the job. And legendary Cowboys tight end Jason Witten was rumored to be in consideration for the job. He's currently the head football coach at Argyle Liberty Christian School.
Other potential candidates include Kellen Moore — who’s the current Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator and formerly served as offensive coordinator for the Cowboys, and before that, was a backup quarterback for the franchise — and Leslie Frazier, who's assistant head coach with the Seattle Seahawks.
Robert Saleh, the former New York Jets head coach, also got an interview — but he’s reportedly headed to the San Francisco 49ers.
Whoever gets picked for the job will have some pretty high expectations. The big challenge for the last three decades has been getting the Cowboys back to the NFC championship game. They haven't been there since 1995, and this season saw a particular insult added to injury, as two NFC East rivals — the Eagles and the Washington Commanders — play this weekend for a chance to make it into the Super Bowl. In fact, Washington made it to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1986 — which now means the Cowboys have the longest NFC title game drought in the entire conference.
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