The Dallas Cowboys brought sweeping changes to their offensive coaching staff, ousting offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier, running backs coach Skip Peete, and offensive line coach Joe Philbin. Those changes saw head coach Mike McCarthy assume the responsibilities of play-calling along with bringing in new faces.
One of those faces, which isn't so new, is offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. ... Who, despite being on the Cowboys staff in an "analyst'' role last year, will still be getting familiar with Dak Prescott and the players - and just as importantly, will be teaching the players how to get familiar with Dallas' new offense.
The son of the late Marty Schottenheimer - a mentor to McCarthy - will work closely with the head coach to insteall and then eventually run the offense. Holding the title of "coordinator" without holding the play sheet is new for Brian, yet they've hit the ground running.
"That's my job: to help prepare the guys and prepare the staff and be in a position where we feel like we can go out there every week and compete and stack a lot of wins together,'' he said. "I'm excited about the process, but it will [admittedly] be a little different because I've never done it."
Which "it'' is that? The one that has him as a coordinator who won't be the play-caller. Or even, one might say, the one that actually has McCarthy serving as his own coordinator, with trusted aide Schottenheimer by his side - both busy "teaching'' right now.
"I have not [been in this situation before], but I'm excited,'' Schottenheimer said. "There's no ego on my part. I just wanna win. I wanna help this team win for the players, first and foremost, and for this organization and the Jones family — [I have] all the respect in the world for Mike.''
Despite the change from Moore to McCarthy and Schottenheimer, it is important to recognize that while Cowboys are changing toward a West Coast Offense - this offseason so far has been more about the "Cowboys classroom'' than anything else - they aren't reinventing the wheel in terms of what wins.
"The system's not broken," Schottenheimer said. "It's not broken. They've won a lot of games here.''
And now maybe the elevation of Schottenheimer can "teach'' them to win even more.
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