Brian Schottenheimer Reflects on Where He Stands With Dak Prescott as Dallas Cowboys’ QB1

The Dallas Cowboys trotted out Brian Schottenheimer for the first official time as their head coach on Monday for his introductory presser—and the NFL lifer came in hot. He spoke extremely well, touching on things like putting “relationships” and people over x’s and o’s and hammering home the importance of work ethic and love for the game. However, the most notable bits predictably stemmed from his discussion about Dak Prescott and his offensive scheme.

Prescott nearly won the MVP in 2023 in his first season under Schottenheimer’s tutelage. However, that progress was stifled in 2024 by the QB’s ailments. Despite that—and the fact that Prescott has consistently failed to maintain his high level of play in the postseason—Schottenheimer was extremely bullish about the prospects for the duo of himself and Dak.

“He’s gonna play elite level football. He’s gonna lead us to championships. We got the right guy. We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win a championship.”

Schottenheimer is the son of legendary coach Marty Schottenheimer, who coached in the NFL from 1975 to 2006 and has the most wins (200) by any coach without a Super Bowl ring. Brian has been coaching in the NFL since 2001 and has been with the Cowboys staff since 2022, when he came on as a coaching analyst. He was quickly promoted to offensive coordinator, where he helmed the No. 1 scoring offense in football in 2023.

Results were more mixed in 2024. However, they will hope that much of it can be attributed to Dallas’ lack of a starting QB, with Prescott missing the final nine games of the year after undergoing hamstring surgery. The thing is, despite those encouraging results in 2023, Schottenheimer and Prescott still faltered during those playoffs, as the Cowboys have been known to do for the last three decades.

Fans don’t believe that Dak Prescott can lead them to a Super Bowl

When you look at the big picture and consider that both Dak Prescott and Brian Schottenheimer have been key pieces in the Cowboys’ playoff failures over the last few years, it’s hard to see what is giving Dallas’ new head coach Super Bowl aspirations.

Perhaps it’s the fact that he intends to do an overhaul of his offensive scheme, incorporating elements like motion and tempo to bring it up to speed when compared with the schemes of the likes of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan.

That sounds encouraging, but Prescott’s playoff history certainly isn’t. His quality of play goes down across the board when he gets under those bright postseason lights. His completion percentage drops from 66.8 in the regular season to 64.5 in the postseason, his INT rate jumps from 2.0 to 2.5, his yards per attempt falls from 7.8 to 7.1, and his passer rating freefalls from 98.1 to 91.8.

Cowboys fans were predictably skeptical about Brian Schottenheimer’s positive attitude toward Prescott and the team as a whole.

Since 1996, the year after their last Super Bowl win, the Cowboys have just five playoff victories, which is tied for 24th in the league over that span. Even the Houston Texans, who were only founded in 2002 and didn’t reach the postseason until 2011, have had more, with six. Their 13 playoff losses during that time are the 9th-most as well.

Perhaps the most damning stat is their .278 playoff winning percentage, which is the 4th-worst in the league over that 29-year span. That’s ahead of only Detroit, Cleveland, and Miami.

The hiring of Brian Schottenheimer was an uncharacteristically shrewd move by Jerry Jones and company. The continuity it brings will be great for Prescott and the rest of the offense. However, will it be enough to knock off the Cowboy Curse?