‘Growing Pains’: Jerry Jones Says Brian Schottenheimer’s Early Struggles As Dallas Cowboys Coach Are ‘No Surprise’
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday that the struggles of coach Brian Schottenheimer, a first-time head coach, are no surprise. Jones said on 105.3 The Fan’s “Shan & RJ” that the team expected growing pains when it hired him.
Schottenheimer is 10-14-1 in his second season. Dallas went 7-9-1 in his first year and is 3-5 after Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Jones didn’t think the team had overestimated Schottenheimer.
“Not at all. It’s no surprise to me that when you’re in your early years of coaching that you have things every game that you could do better,” Jones said. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
Jerry Jones On Choosing First-Time Head Coach Over Experience
Before Schottenheimer, Dallas had Mike McCarthy, who coached the Cowboys from 2020 to 2024 and won 12 games in three straight seasons from 2021 to 2023. Jones said both routes have tradeoffs.
“And like I say, we have certainly gone the route of having an experienced head coach in here. And that has its pluses and has its minuses,” Jones explained. “But anytime, whether it’s coaching or whatever, anytime you come into a situation and you haven’t done it before, then there are growing pains that are associated with it.”
Schottenheimer was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024 before Dallas promoted him in January 2025. Jones said the team weighed that when it hired him.
“We completely analyzed and thought about that when Brian became the coach. And we knew that was going to be the case,” Jones continued. “You just don’t do something that you haven’t done before without having some growing pain. What we’ve seen him do internally is experience it, adjust it, do it better.”
Schottenheimer Says ‘The Standard Is Not Being Met’
Jones said after Sunday’s game that a coaching change was “not in my mind at this time.” Schottenheimer said Monday that the team needs to get better.
“At the end of the day, as I look at this, we’re all in this thing together,” Schottenheimer said. “And we understand we need to play better. We need to win games. The standard is not being met now, and we need to get better.”
Dallas visits the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.
