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January 26, 2025

Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys settle for Brian Schottenheimer as new coach

If Jerry Jones’ primary objective was to avoid overshadowing the conference championship games, then mission accomplished. The Cowboys are going with Brian Schottenheimer (?) as their 10th head coach.

This hiring cycle has seen a couple of up-and-coming offensive minds, Ben Johnson and Liam Coen. The Patriots went with battle-tested Mike Vrabel. Schottenheimer falls well short of those guys. He was fired as Seattle’s offensive coordinator four years ago.

While his dad was a Hall of Fame coach, Schottenheimer doesn’t generate much of a buzz. And with the Cowboys becoming a lesser franchise with a meddling owner, I don’t think he’s going to be able to assemble a good cast of assistants. He’s getting a late start on that front, with Jones dragging his feet on Mike McCarthy.

With our primary focus being on offenses and scoring, it makes sense to look at Schottenheimer’s previous work. He’s spent the last two years as the offensive coordinator in Dallas, but in my eyes, he’s been the primary play caller and offensive designer 12 times at the NFL level – six under Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan in New York, three with the Rams, and three with the Seahawks.

I remember when Schottenheimer was hired in Seattle, he outlined an unusual “Magic Number” theory. I was able to dig that article out of the Seattle Times archives (August, 2018). At that time, his theory was that the key going into the games was to reach 53 combined pass completions and running plays. “Schottenheimer has found hitting that number … is one of the biggest predictors of victory,” Bob Condotta wrote.

“If you rushed the ball, say, 30 times and throw 23 completions, that was like the second determining factor of wins and losses after turnovers,’’ Schottenheimer said. “Some weeks, it’s going to be different and it’s going to be 33 completions and 20 rushing attempts. But we are always going to go in with the understanding that we should be able to run the ball, and believing and expecting we can do it at a high level.’’

It's a different way of looking at things, but I don’t sense that Schottenheimer is in the same league as some of the other offensive minds driving the game right now – Kevin O’Connell, Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay.

The Seahawks ranked in the top 10 in scoring in all three of Schottenheimer’s seasons there, but he was heavily criticized for his unimaginative offenses, getting fired after the 2020 season.

Only one of Schottenheimer’s other nine offenses ranked higher than 13th in scoring, and four ranked outside the top 20.

SCHOTTENHEIMER OFFENSES
Year	Team	Record	Points	Rank
2006	NY Jets	10-6	19.8	18th
2007	NY Jets	4-12	16.8	25th
2008	NY Jets	9-7	25.3	9th
2009	NY Jets	9-7	21.8	17th
2010	NY Jets	11-5	22.9	13th
2011	NY Jets	8-8	23.6	13th
2012	St. Louis	7-8-1	18.7	25th
2013	St. Louis	7-9	21.8	21st
2014	St. Louis	6-10	20.3	21st
2018	Seattle	10-6	26.8	6th
2019	Seattle	11-5	25.3	9th
2020	Seattle	12-4	28.7	8th

Schottenheimer is considered a run-heavy coach, but half of his 12 offenses have finished below-average in rushing (using a combination of rushing yards and rushing touchdowns – standard fantasy scoring).

SCHOTTENHEIMER, RUSHING
Year	Team	Yds/G	Yd/Att	TD	Points	Rk
2006	NY Jets	108.6	3.5	15	263.8	17
2007	NY Jets	106.3	3.8	6	206.1	26
2008	NY Jets	125.3	4.7	20	320.4	8
2009	NY Jets	172.3	4.5	21	401.6	1
2010	NY Jets	148.4	4.4	14	321.4	7
2011	NY Jets	105.8	3.8	14	253.2	18
2012	St. Louis	107.1	4.2	5	201.4	27
2013	St. Louis	109.5	4.1	10	235.2	20
2014	St. Louis	102.2	4.1	11	229.5	21
2018	Seattle	160.0	4.8	15	346.0	4
2019	Seattle	137.5	4.6	15	310.0	7
2020	Seattle	123.2	4.8	15	287.1	14

Schottenheimer isn’t considered much of a passing game guy. If we assume fantasy scoring of 6 points for touchdowns and 1 for every 10 yards, over half of his offenses have ranked below-average in passing production.

In 12 seasons, his teams have averaged 219 passing yards, with 24 touchdowns versus 15 interceptions. But in fairness, in his three seasons with Russell Wilson, the Seahawks put up 106 touchdown passes versus only 26 interceptions.

SCOTTENHEIMER, PASSING
Year	Team	Pct	Yds/G	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds
2006	NY Jets	64.1%	209.5	17	16	82.1	34	199
2007	NY Jets	60.5%	208.1	15	19	73.9	53	316
2008	NY Jets	65.6%	219.8	22	23	80.2	30	213
2009	NY Jets	53.4%	162.3	12	21	62.0	30	216
2010	NY Jets	54.9%	213.8	20	14	76.5	28	178
2011	NY Jets	56.7%	221.4	26	18	78.4	40	245
2012	St. Louis	59.6%	236.4	22	14	82.7	35	233
2013	St. Louis	59.5%	210.0	22	11	84.8	36	235
2014	St. Louis	63.5%	212.5	20	16	84.9	47	295
2018	Seattle	65.6%	215.5	35	7	110.9	51	355
2019	Seattle	66.0%	256.9	31	6	105.3	48	319
2020	Seattle	68.9%	265.3	40	13	105.0	48	304

Overall, it’s an awfully lackluster hire. The Eagles and Commanders are playing in the NFC Championship today, and I don’t think either is too worried about being overtaken by the Cowboys anytime soon.

—Ian Allan

Adding on, below see the rundown of the notable individual players from those 12 offenses:

SCHOTTENHEIMER'S QUARTERBACKS
Year	Player	St	Pct	Pass	TD	Int	Run	TDR	PPR	Rk
2017	Russell Wilson, Sea.	16	61.3%	3983	34	11	586	3	415.8	1
2019	Russell Wilson, Sea.	16	66.1%	4110	31	5	342	3	383.7	5
2020	Russell Wilson, Sea.	16	68.8%	4212	40	13	513	2	435.9	6
2011	Mark Sanchez, NYJ	16	56.7%	3474	26	18	103	6	324.0	10
2008	Brett Favre, NYJ	16	65.7%	3472	22	22	43	1	274.1	11
2018	Russell Wilson, Sea.	16	65.6%	3448	35	7	376	0	351.9	12
2006	Chad Pennington, NYJ	16	64.5%	3352	17	16	109	0	247.2	15
2012	Sam Bradford, St.L.	16	59.5%	3702	21	13	124	1	295.5	17
2010	Mark Sanchez, NYJ	16	54.8%	3291	17	13	105	3	263.1	18
2009	Mark Sanchez, NYJ	15	53.8%	2444	12	20	106	3	202.8	22
2007	Chad Pennington, NYJ	8	68.8%	1765	10	9	32	1	139.5	27
2014	Austin Davis, St.L.	8	63.4%	2001	12	9	36	0	151.7	30
2013	Kellen Clemens, St.L.	9	58.7%	1673	8	7	64	0	124.1	37
2007	Kellen Clemens, NYJ	8	52.0%	1529	5	10	111	1	113.6	32
2014	Shaun Hill, St.L.	8	63.3%	1657	8	7	10	1	122.9	34
2013	Sam Bradford, St.L.	7	60.7%	1687	14	4	31	0	145.5	34

SCHOTTENHEIMER RUNNING BACKS WITH TOP-50 STATS (PPR)
Year	Player	G	St	RunY	YPC	No	RecY	TotY	TD	PPR	Rk
2008	Thomas Jones, NYJ	16	14	1312	4.5	36	207	1519	15	277.9	5
2009	Thomas Jones, NYJ	16	16	1402	4.2	10	58	1460	14	240.0	9
2019	Chris Carson, Sea.	15	15	1230	4.4	37	266	1496	9	240.6	12
2010	LaDainian Tomlinson, NYJ	15	13	914	4.2	52	368	1282	6	216.2	15
2018	Chris Carson, Sea.	14	14	1151	4.7	20	163	1314	9	205.4	15
2012	Steven Jackson, St.L.	16	16	1045	4.1	38	321	1366	4	200.6	17
2011	Shonn Greene, NYJ	16	15	1054	4.2	30	211	1265	6	192.5	20
2020	Chris Carson, Sea.	12	12	681	4.8	37	287	968	9	187.8	20
2013	Zac Stacy, St.L.	14	12	973	3.9	26	141	1114	8	185.4	21
2007	Thomas Jones, NYJ	16	14	1119	3.6	28	217	1336	2	173.6	22
2008	Leon Washington, NYJ	16	1	448	5.9	47	355	803	9	183.3	25
2014	Tre Mason, St.L.	12	9	765	4.3	16	148	913	5	137.3	30
2014	Benny Cunningham, St.L.	16	2	246	3.7	45	352	598	4	128.8	32
2006	Leon Washington, NYJ	16	8	650	4.3	25	270	920	4	141.0	35
2007	Leon Washington, NYJ	16	4	353	5.0	36	213	566	6	132.4	35
2011	LaDainian Tomlinson, NYJ	14	1	280	3.7	42	449	729	3	132.9	35
2018	Mike Davis, Sea.	15	2	514	4.6	34	214	728	5	136.8	36
2010	Shonn Greene, NYJ	15	2	766	4.1	16	120	886	2	116.6	43
2012	Daryl Richardson, St.L.	16	0	475	4.9	24	163	638	0	89.8	46
2017	J.D. McKissic, Sea.	13	1	187	4.1	34	266	453	3	97.3	49

SCHOTTENHEIMER TIGHT ENDS WITH TOP 25 STATS (PPR)
Year	Player	G	No	Yds	Avg	TD	PPR	Rk
2017	Jimmy Graham, Sea.	16	57	520	9.1	10	171.0	7
2011	Dustin Keller, NYJ	16	65	815	12.5	5	176.5	10
2013	Jared Cook, St.L.	16	51	671	13.2	5	148.1	12
2010	Dustin Keller, NYJ	16	55	687	12.5	5	153.7	13
2008	Dustin Keller, NYJ	16	48	535	11.2	3	119.5	14
2014	Jared Cook, St.L.	16	52	634	12.2	3	133.4	17
2007	Chris Baker, NYJ	15	41	409	10.0	3	99.9	18
2006	Chris Baker, NYJ	16	31	300	9.7	4	85.0	19
2009	Dustin Keller, NYJ	16	45	522	11.6	2	111.9	19
2012	Lance Kendricks, St.L.	16	42	519	12.4	4	119.9	22
2019	Jacob Hollister, Sea.	11	41	349	8.5	3	93.9	23
2014	Lance Kendricks, St.L.	16	27	259	9.6	5	82.9	25

SCHOTTENHEIMER WIDE RECEIVERS WITH TOP 50 STATS (PPR)
Year	Player	G	No	Yds	Avg	TD	PPR	Rk
2020	DK Metcalf, Sea.	16	83	1303	15.7	10	273.3	7
2020	Tyler Lockett, Sea.	16	100	1054	10.5	10	265.4	8
2017	Doug Baldwin, Sea.	16	75	991	13.2	8	223.3	13
2019	Tyler Lockett, Sea.	16	82	1057	12.9	8	235.2	13
2006	Laveranues Coles, NYJ	16	91	1098	12.1	6	238.2	14
2018	Tyler Lockett, Sea.	16	57	965	16.9	10	222.4	16
2006	Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ	16	82	961	11.7	6	216.6	19
2007	Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ	15	82	1130	13.8	2	210.8	20
2008	Laveranues Coles, NYJ	16	70	850	12.1	7	197.9	24
2008	Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ	16	71	858	12.1	5	189.6	27
2010	Braylon Edwards, NYJ	16	53	904	17.1	7	187.8	27
2019	DK Metcalf, Sea.	16	58	900	15.5	7	193.1	29
2009	Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ	14	57	821	14.4	4	163.8	32
2011	Santonio Holmes, NYJ	16	51	654	12.8	8	167.1	33
2007	Laveranues Coles, NYJ	12	55	646	11.8	6	155.6	39
2010	Santonio Holmes, NYJ	12	52	746	14.4	6	164.3	39
2017	Paul Richardson, Sea.	16	44	703	16.0	6	150.3	39
2011	Plaxico Burress, NYJ	16	45	612	13.6	8	154.2	40
2012	Danny Amendola, St.L.	11	63	666	10.6	3	150.4	46
2018	Doug Baldwin, Sea.	13	50	618	12.4	5	141.8	46
2012	Brandon Gibson, St.L.	16	51	691	13.6	5	150.1	47

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