FRISCO, Texas — Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon placed Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer in the Warm tier of his early hot seat check on Friday. The list came five days after the New York Giants beat Dallas 28-20 at MetLife Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
Gagnon sorted all 32 NFL head coaches into five tiers, running from Ice Cold to Burning Hot, and Warm is the fourth. Schottenheimer is one of five coaches Gagnon put there. Three more are in Burning Hot.
In 2025, his first season as an NFL head coach, Schottenheimer went 7-9-1 and Dallas missed the playoffs.
“The Joneses have actually given head coaches long leashes dating back to the end of the Dave Campo era,” Gagnon wrote. “Jerry might be losing patience, though. They could blow it all up if Schottenheimer posts a second straight losing season in 2026.”
In the opener, New York outgained Dallas 394 yards to 244 and held the ball for 36:40 to the Cowboys’ 23:20. The Giants ran for 165 yards. Dallas ran for 69. Jaxson Dart went 23-of-29 for 230 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Cam Skattebo carried 18 times for 81 yards and 1 touchdown.
Dak Prescott was 22-of-34 for 175 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. The interception came on third-and-5 from the Dallas 36 with 58 seconds left in the first half, with the game tied 7-7. New York scored touchdowns on its next three possessions. Dallas had the ball twice after halftime and scored touchdowns on both drives.
Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ co-owner and chief operating officer, went back to that sequence Monday on 105.3 The Fan.
“I think that was the real turning point in the game,” Jones said.
The Giants hired John Harbaugh on Jan. 20 after 18 seasons in Baltimore. Sunday was his first game in charge of New York.
“Hat’s off to them. They made the plays to win the game, and we’ve got to be better,” Jones explained. “Harbaugh is a hell of a coach. They’ve got really good players, and he’s got them playing well.”
Christian Parker called plays for the first time Sunday as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. On Thursday, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton listed the Dallas defense among the biggest concerns in the NFL entering Week 2.
Schottenheimer said after the game that the Giants were the more physical team and pushed Dallas around up front.
“This is a humbling business,” Schottenheimer said. “We got humbled tonight, and that’s what I told the guys. And we lost mile one of a 17-mile marathon, and we have to be better, and we will be better. The only way to do that is get back to work.”
Dallas Cowboys Coaching Records Since Dave Campo
Jerry Jones has owned the Cowboys since 1989. Campo went 5-11 in each of his three seasons as head coach, from 2000 to 2002. Bill Parcells coached the next four seasons.
Wade Phillips went 13-3 in 2007, his first season. Jerry Jones fired him on Nov. 8, 2010, with Dallas at 1-7.
Jason Garrett finished that season as the interim coach and kept the job through 2019. He went 85-67 in the regular season. Four of his seasons ended 8-8, and Dallas made the playoffs three times under him.
Mike McCarthy took over in 2020 and went 49-35 across five seasons. Three of them ended 12-5. The other two were losing seasons, 6-10 in 2020 and 7-10 in 2024. Dallas and McCarthy parted ways in January 2025, and Schottenheimer, McCarthy’s offensive coordinator the previous two seasons, was promoted to replace him.
McCarthy now coaches the Pittsburgh Steelers. Gagnon put him in the First-Year Cool tier, the same tier as Harbaugh.
Last season opened with a loss too, 24-20 at Philadelphia. The Cowboys ranked second in the NFL in total yards. Prescott threw for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns. On defense, Dallas allowed 30.1 points per game, a franchise record, and 511 points in all.
The 2025 season ended Jan. 4 with a 34-17 loss at MetLife Stadium that snapped Dallas’ nine-game winning streak against the Giants. Dallas finished second in the NFC East and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
“I’m disappointed, yeah, of course. Absolutely,” Schottenheimer explained. “The question is why. We need to look and figure out why. I did not think that we would be 7-9-1. I didn’t think that we wouldn’t be in the playoffs. I expected to be in the playoffs and competing for the Super Bowl.”
“We did not do that. That starts with me. And I understand that,” Schottenheimer continued.
Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys Host Washington Commanders
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders on Sunday at AT&T Stadium in its home opener. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX, with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady on the call.
Washington lost 24-22 at Philadelphia in Week 1. The Commanders went 5-12 last season. Gagnon put Commanders coach Dan Quinn in the Cool tier.
Dallas swept the series in 2025, winning 44-22 in Arlington in October and 30-23 on Christmas Day at Northwest Stadium. The Cowboys have won eight of the last 10 meetings.
After the home opener, Dallas plays the Baltimore Ravens at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sept. 27, with kickoff set for 3:25 p.m. CT. It will be the first NFL game played in Rio de Janeiro.
