Stephen Jones: Cowboys ‘Absolutely’ Believe In HC Brian Schottenheimer

Dallas ranked second in scoring offense in 2025, but a last-place defensive finish held the team back. This season, the Cowboys are not producing on the same level offensively. They sit a respectable (but still disappointing, all things considered) 13th in scoring. Dallas is eighth in EPA per play on that side of the ball despite having its starters fully available following Tyler Smith’s Week 5 IR activation.

Schottenheimer is the team’s play-caller, but the losses to the Buccaneers and Packers have not brought a move to the hot seat for the second-generation NFL head coach. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said the team “absolutely” believes in its second-year HC.

“There’s not any question in (Jerry Jones’) and my mind,” Stephen Jones said during his latest 105.3 The Fan appearance (via The Athletic’s Jon Machota). “He has the team. There’s no question they want to go out there and execute and make things happen. Feel really good about our coaching staff. We just got to have it continue to evolve and get to a point to where we can win these football games.”

While a 2-4 start would bring understandable panic for most teams, the Cowboys are part of a mediocre NFC East this season. The Eagles’ availability issues — most notably Jalen Hurts’ — threaten to derail their season, while the Giants are not likely to have Jaxson Dart return in 2026. Washington is 1-3-1 ahead of a matchup with the unbeaten 49ers tonight. The Cowboys being healthy and 2-4 brings concern, but their rivals’ issues may be more glaring by comparison.

Adam La Rose’s most recent PFR mailbag discussed possible trade avenues for the team, as this NFC East suddenly resembles the historically down 2020 season’s outlook. Dak Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury coupled with the Doug Pederson–Carson Wentz era’s implosion helped a sub-.500 team reach the playoffs from the NFC East that year. It is too early to project another division champ with a losing record, but it is certainly in play the NFC South’s champion will not be the conference’s No. 4 seed in this year’s playoff bracket.

Dallas ranks 31st in rushing offense this season, and Prescott struggled in a two-score loss in Green Bay on Sunday. DC Christian Parker’s unit has struggled in his first set of games in the role, ranking 30th in yardage allowed and 31st in EPA per play despite a host of investments going to that side of the ball this offseason. The Cowboys also re-signed Javonte Williams (three years, $24MM) but have not seen the former second-round pick match his 2025 form yet.

The Cowboys have given their HCs extensive time over the past 15 years. Mike McCarthy coached through a five-year contract, while Jason Garrett lasted almost 10 seasons (counting his first run as interim HC, after the team fired Wade Phillips in his fourth campaign). The Cowboys have not had a two-and-done head coach since Chan Gailey in the late 1990s; even the overmatched Dave Campo received three years (2000-02). Though, Schottenheimer has a much better quarterback option in Prescott by comparison.

Prescott sits as the NFL’s second-highest-paid player, while the team also has Smith and CeeDee Lamb tied to upper-crust deals at their respective positions. Franchise-tagged WR George Pickens is also off to a slow start. The Cowboys’ schedule suddenly looks favorable, given the Eagles’ spate of issues, moving forward. Two Eagles games accompany matchups with the Cardinals, Colts and Titans over the next six weeks (a 49ers matchup also looms in that span).

“Really like the personnel on this team,” Stephen Jones said. “Like our coaching staff. But for some reason right now, and we’ve got to get to the bottom of it, we’re not getting the job done to where we can win football games.”

Schottenheimer, 53, began his NFL tenure in 1997 and made his coordinator debut with the Jets in 2006. The veteran staffer carried 13 years of OC experience into his HC opportunity in Dallas. Considerable criticism came the Joneses’ way for hiring Schottenheimer, considering no other team had him on the HC radar in more than a decade, and the 2025 squad finished 7-9-1 following the Micah Parsons trade. An opportunity exists here for this year’s Cowboys, however, due to the NFC East’s collective issues. But Schottenheimer is certainly not off to a good start in Year 2.