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Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer Makes Anxious Admission Before NFL Debut

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashutosh Kadam | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 3:07 PM ET

After months of waiting, the new NFL season is here. We are just one day away from witnessing the season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday. The Eagles are going into the season with a strong backing of a silver beauty — the Lombardi trophy. The Cowboys are pulling up their socks to make a strong start, seeking to wipe out the tag of mediocrity.

To make this happen, all eyes are on Dallas' new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer. Even after the Micah Parsons trade, Schottenheimer has hopes the Cowboys will be rocking Lincoln Financial Field in Week 1. But while being ready for the 2025 season, Schottenheimer made one of his biggest admissions.

Schottenheimer recently appeared on 105.3 The Fan, where he was asked about his potential nerves going into his first NFL season as head coach. And his reply was, “Nah. At the end of the day, I’m anxious before every game. I don’t think that’s gonna change in this situation. I don’t think it’s gonna change five weeks from now, 10 weeks from now.” The head coach added, “I don’t think it’s gonna change when we’re getting ready to play a Super Bowl.”

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer on @1053thefan on potential nerves going into his first game as head coach:

“Nah. At the end of the day, I’m anxious before every game. I don’t think that’s gonna change in this situation. I don’t think it’s gonna change 5 weeks from now, 10…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 3, 2025

The Cowboys haven't won the Super Bowl since 1995. Since then, America's team has never returned to the Super Bowl. But Schottenheimer is OK with taking up the Super Bowl hopes on his shoulders. Talking about his first year in the NFL, he said to NFL.com on Aug. 30, “We get excited about the pieces that we're adding. I don't sit around and think about, 'Man, this is my first year as the head coach.' This is part of the business. I'm comfortable with that.” Meanwhile, the Cowboys face major concerns going into Week 1 of the 2025 season.

Schottenheimer's Cowboys Face Concerning Disadvantages Ahead of Eagles Game

Eagles reporter Eliot Shorr-Parks, explained Tuesday that the Eagles are in more advantageous positions than the Cowboys. He gave his take on X, saying the Cowboys took a backward step on defense after trading Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. This puts pressure on defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who could get stymied by the experienced Eagles’ offensive line, featuring players like Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.

The offensive line of the Cowboys also has holes. Per Shorr-Parks, “They had one of the worst sets of starting tackles in the NFL last season in Terrence Steele and Tyler Guyton .” Per ESPN's 2024 NFL team offense rankings, Schottenheimer's (who was then the offensive coordinator) offense ranked 16th. And the worst part about their competition against the Eagles is, last season, the Cowboys were fifth-to-last in defense rankings compared to the Eagles, who were first under coordinator Vic Fangio's solid coaching.

So, as the Cowboys are going head-to-head against their rivals in Week 1, the first and foremost thing Schottenheimer could do to give the Cowboys fans a strong Super Bowl hope is winning this game. Let's see how the Cowboys are going to stop the Eagles from scoring big.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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