Brian Schottenheimer will be taking on a much larger role in his second season with the Dallas Cowboys.
After the Cowboys parted ways with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore this offseason, they selected Schottenheimer as his replacement. Schottenheimer spent the 2022 season as an analyst with the Cowboys and was previously the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets (2006-11), St. Louis Rams (2012-2014) and Seattle Seahawks (2018-20).
Schottenheimer won't call plays, with that honor instead going to head coach Mike McCarthy, but he will still have a huge say in the offense's identity. On Tuesday, the 49-year-old shared what he envisions that identity being.
"We wanna play physical, fast and to make everyone cover the entire field," Schottenheimer said. "I want us to be able to play fast."
Some of Dallas' offseason acquisitions should help in that goal. Most notable is receiver Brandin Cooks, one of the fastest in the league at his position. With him in the fold, the Cowboys should be able to stretch the field much more than before.
Moore certainly left big shoes for Schottenheimer to fill. The Cowboys were in the top half of the league in total offense in each of Moore's four seasons as offensive coordinator, ranking first in 2019 and 2021. As such, Schottenheimer won't have to reinvent the wheel as he takes over the offense.
"As you guys know, the system's not broken," Schottenheimer said. "It's not broken. They've won a lot of games here. Mike's been around for that.
"They've scored a ton of points and I have a ton of respect for [departed coaches] Kellen [Moore] and [Doug Nussmeier], and Skip [Peete] and [Joe] Philbin — I've coached with most of those guys before. In terms of the process, we're getting organized for OTAs. We've had a lot of discussions."
In his previous stints as an offensive coordinator, Schottenheimer was always the one calling the shots. Even though he's not the play-caller this time, he's still ready to help the Cowboys win in any way he can.
"And 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," Schottenheimer said. "I'm excited about the process, but it will [admittedly] be a little different because I've never done it."
You can find Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News
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