‘It Takes A Ton Of Time’: Brian Schottenheimer Details How He Builds Dallas Cowboys’ Game-Day Play Sheet
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer goes back through the entire week of practice every Saturday before he settles on the play sheet he calls from on Sunday, he said Friday at The Star.
Schottenheimer is in his second season as the Cowboys’ head coach and calls the offense. He was the New York Jets’ offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2011, and the process has changed since then.
Brian Schottenheimer’s Play Sheet Starts With First- And Second-Down Calls
Schottenheimer said chief of staff Tyler Boyles moves the first- and second-down list onto the sheet later in the week, before the third-down and short-yardage calls go on.
“It takes a ton of time,” Schottenheimer said. “We do it basically based on section. So when we do first, second down, run, and pass, we kind of build a list. It’s a list on a sheet of paper kind of like this that the players can get and follow through.”
“That gets moved over by Tyler Boyles, my chief of staff, later in the week. Then when you do third down, short yardage, goal line, those get added on there as well. And then as soon as I get done with practice today, I’ll start tweaking and moving things. And hey, these are things I like,” Schottenheimer continued.
“Then there’s conversations with the coaches and conversations with Dak. I know they do the same thing on defense. Hey, how do we want to get certain guys going on both sides of the line of scrimmage? And then you kind of come up with the final product, usually Saturday night, or with some of the primetime games, it’s usually done the day of,” Schottenheimer added.
Boyles is in his second season as the Cowboys’ chief of staff. He played basketball at Shawnee State, coached on the Middle Tennessee State football staff, and was hired by the Indianapolis Colts in 2020 as an assistant to the head coach.
Dallas has played three straight prime-time games: a 24-16 home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night, Oct. 8, a 23-13 loss at the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, Oct. 18, and Monday’s 38-21 win at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Schottenheimer Rewatches The Whole Week Of Practice Every Saturday
The coordinators get a lot of Schottenheimer’s time before the sheet is done, with conversations about how the game will go and what the adjustments are in all three phases.
“It’s definitely different. I think the biggest change, I would say, is technology has changed a lot. The overall process of you go through the week of practice,” Schottenheimer explained. “My big thing is on Saturday I like to go back through the week and watch the entire week of practice again and get refreshed about why I might like certain runs on first and second down that you haven’t seen since Wednesday. I think that’s important.”
“And then just a lot of conversation with the coordinators. How do you think the game’s going to go? What are your thoughts early? What are the adjustments? Really in all three phases. The more we’re together with CP, I think that’s a really good thing,” Schottenheimer continued.
Klayton Adams is in his second season as offensive coordinator, and Nick Sorensen is in his second season running special teams. Christian Parker, the “CP” Schottenheimer mentioned, is in his first season as defensive coordinator, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this month that Parker would call the defense from the coaches’ booth.
In Philadelphia, Dak Prescott went 15-of-27 for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Dallas ran 38 times for 204 yards. Javonte Williams carried 25 times for a career-high 155 yards and a touchdown.
Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals is the Cowboys’ first outside prime time since a 34-30 win at the Houston Texans on Oct. 4. Kickoff at AT&T Stadium is set for noon CT on FOX.
