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Troy Aikman brings up an important detail behind Brian Schottenheimer's hire as Cowboys head coach that can't be overlooked

Originally posted on A to Z Sports
By Mauricio Rodriguez | Last updated May 29, 2025 2:44 PM ET

Dallas Cowboys fans might be quickly forgetting about it but when Brian Schottenheimer was named head coach in January, it was as controversial a hire as you could imagine.

Schottenheimer wasn't a head coach candidate for any other NFL team and he wasn't perceived as an up-and-coming coach either. What's more, the Cowboys only interviewed three other candidates for the job.

Naturally, it wasn't a move that inspired confidence at first. And while Schottenheimer still has a long way to go to change any of that, Cowboys legend Troy Aikman brought up an important detail behind the hire that can't and shouldn't be overlooked by fans.

"I'm pulling for him. I think he's obviously high energy, very positive," Aikman told reporters. "Sounds like everyone in the building really was hoping that he would be named the head coach."

It's no secret Schottenheimer is well-liked but for Aikman to say everyone in the building was pulling for him, it suggests Brian was standing out behind closed doors in the first place.

It's one thing to be encouraged from the outside by how the new Cowboys HC handles a press conference and a very different one to see what goes on in the building behind the scenes.

Aikman admitted he likes Schottenheimer and that he believes he's a good football coach.

"I've known Brian a long time," Aikman said. "First interaction with him, I guess, was going back to when he was with the Chargers. Hudson Houck, the offensive line coach there at the time, had been with the Cowboys for a number of years, and Brian was reaching out about some things that we did back when I played and kind of talking to him about some of the coaching points of it."

However, Aikman adds Schottenheimer will be judged as a head coach by the same question everyone is in his line of work: Can he win ballgames?

We'll find out about that in due time. But for now, the team is happy about the culture being implemented and Schottenheimer had the support of the building. That has to count for something.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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