Cowboys Hiring Schottenheimer Over Deion Is Stephen Jones' Idea

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys head coaching search, if we can even call it that, seems to have them zeroing in on an in-house candidate in Brian Schottenheiemer.

And a source is now revealing to CowboysCountry.com that while Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been getting top billing for being a singular orchestrator in the "search'' - with Robert Saleh, Kellen Moore and Leslie Frazier all getting interviews - is it son Stephen who is serving as the driving force to hire Brian Schottenheimer for the job.

Indeed, it is being suggested to us that whatever attraction Jerry might have to Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who visited by phone on Monday January 13 - the same day the franchise chose to "part ways'' with Mike McCarthy - is now back-burner compared to Stephen's in-house push for "Schotty.''

Schottenheimer, 52, a credentialed offensive coordinator who has never been a head coach, is the only one of the candidates to get a second interview. And again, Colorado coach Sanders, amid all the promotional pomp, still hasn't gotten that first interview.

That could change, of course. But the leaked-from-The-Star idea that "Jerry is on a "solo mission'' is baloney.

Schottenheimer, a success as a coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks who is very much cut from the same coaching cloth as McCarthy - Mike's mentor was Brian's dad, the late Marty Schottenheimer -  is looming as a very serious candidate to be "Big Mike's'' successor.

So much about this "search" seems like a mad scramble from the start, maybe because the Joneses were not fully prepared for McCarthy, here for five years before the two sides failed to agree on an extension, to walk out that door.

If Schottenheimer is to be the head coach? Dallas can claim to stress continuity for Dak Prescott and an offense that, to be fair to all involved, clicked well in 2023 with Prescott healthy, McCarthy calling plays and Schottenheimer helping to oversee the offense.

But this would not be a hire that will mark change here inside The Star, and as we read the temperature of the Cowboys Nation room, it would not be a hire that inspires the audience, either.

Can Dallas circle back and interview others, including Deion (who happens to have endorsements from everybody from Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin to Nick Saban)? Can there still be another interview with another candidate? Even a "surprise'' of sorts?

Of course ... though our sense is that Stephen clearly favors Schottenheimer over Sanders (and likely the others) - by a large margin.

However this goes down, Cowboys Nation can choose to be accepting and excited ... or can rightfully feel upset, angry, disillusioned, and furious at a coaching search that we've labeled "unserious.''

But as you make your choice and as the Cowboys make theirs, recognize this: Brian Schottenheimer will not be the guy because Jerry flew a "solo mission.''

Brian Schottenheimer will be the guy because co-pilot Stephen Jones grabbed the steering wheel.