Stephen Jones defends Brian Schottenheimer hire with bizarre Andy Reid comparison

The Dallas Cowboys are headed into a new era under Brian Schottenheimer, formally introduced Monday as the team’s head coach.

No, Schottenheimer wasn’t a hot name this hiring cycle, nor has he ever been a head coach. But he’s spent the last two seasons as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator under former head coach Mike McCarthy. But it was McCarthy who called plays, not Schottenheimer. The last time Schottenheimer called plays was 2020 with the Seattle Seahawks but in the end, that didn’t matter much to ownership.

Dallas has confidence in Schottenheimer. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones explained why while speaking with Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports, making an interesting comparison to Andy Reid‘s time with the Philadelphia Eagles opposed to his current run as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

“All coaches, if you wanna stay up above, I mean, Andy Reid’s — wow, what a career. But you know he’s a guy who did it differently in Philadelphia and he’s evolved,” Jones said. “One of the things that we really saw that made us feel good is Schotty brought a combination of continuity in terms of our young line and not having to start from scratch and the things we’re doing with Dak [Prescott] and but also change. The continuity and the change, we want a combination.

“The more we sat there and talked about it, yeah, we want to freshen it up, we want change. But we also don’t wanna throw out all the good that went down. We’re not excuse makers, but we had some challenges from the injury standpoint. And I don’t ever wanna underestimate what Mike [McCarthy] did here.”

Dak Prescott reacts to Cowboys hiring Brian Schottenheimer as head coach

Many stops Schottenheimer has taken along the way to get to this moment. Now, he’s the head coach for most valuable franchise in the NFL. And for someone with no head coaching experience, team owner Jerry Jones said that makes hiring Brian Schottenheimer “as big a risk as you can take.”

“I know that Shotty is no stranger to these guys,” Jerry Jones said. “Know he’s no stranger to this building. I get my proverbial ass kicked over needing people in my comfort zone. Without this thing being about me in any way, if you don’t think I can’t operate out of my comfort zone, you’re so wrong it’s unbelievable.

Prescott, who attended Schottenheimer’s introductory presser, knows their relationship will be key to any success Dallas has in the coming years.

“I mean, Shotty means a lot to me,” Prescott said, per the Cowboys’ official website. “He’s been a consistent man. And I think that’s a part of why he’s gotten this job in his time being here. So, somebody that shows you the character that is consistent with what they do, that is supportive to me. Anything that has happened to me these three years on the field or off the field, I got a message or check-in on that.

“Yeah, just wanted to go support him. One, proud of him, proud of taking advantage of this opportunity. And two, I know the approach he’s going to have. I wanted to show him, hey, I’m going to be here with you and for you. Not only, what, he signs for four years? I got four years left on my contract. He’s tied directly to my future, so let’s go be the best that we can in these four years.”