CeeDee Lamb #88 and head coach Brian Schottenheimer of the Dallas Cowboys
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CeeDee Lamb #88 and head coach Brian Schottenheimer of the Dallas Cowboys
It was just over a year ago that the Dallas Cowboys took something of a blind leap, firing coach Mike McCarthy after a mostly successful tenure in which he went 49-35 in five seasons. McCarthy, though, saw his teams struggle in the playoffs and when they stumbled to a 7-10 mark in 2024, that was the end of the line of him. And there was skepticism when the team turned to untested offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as his replacement.
The skepticism was well-founded–Schottenheimer had never been a head coach before, despite having been an OC for 15 seasons. Even star receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had been working with Schottenheimer as the Cowboys’ coordinator wasn’t so sure about the new guy.
But then Schottenheimer began reaching out to players and talking to the one-on-one. And by the time he called together the first team meeting, he was ready to put his stamp on the group.
CeeDee Lamb: Brian Schottenheimer ‘Won Us Over in the First Meeting’
It was then, Lamb recalled, that Schottenheimer took control of the Cowboys as his team.
“He won us over in the first team meeting,” Lamb said on “The Rich Eisen Show” last week. “When the news had broke, he reached out to everyone on the team, obviously the leaders. I was in Miami when the news had broken. He had called me. We had a brief conversation as to what we expect out of our offense and out of our team. Obviously, we fell short of our goal.”
Indeed, the Cowboys were just 7-9-1 this year, though the group put together an impressive offensive showing. The defense was among the worst in the NFL, though, and the offense just was not good enough to carry them through. The Cowboys were, after Thanksgiving, 6-5-1 and harboring hopes at the playoffs.
But they lost four of their last five games and fizzled out.
Cowboys Rebuilding Coaching Staff
Still, Lamb said he feels good about Schottenheimer’s leadership going forward for the Cowboys. Dallas has been making alterations to the staff, most notably replacing defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus with up-and-coming Eagles coach Christian Parker.
The Cowboys will need changes in their personnel, too, but Schottenheimer appears to have done his part in getting the staff right, which did not surprise Lamb.
“It was just how assertive it was,” he said. “He won the team over immediately. I feel like the thing that a lot of people lack in this league is confidence. And I feel like, once he got into that meeting room, he took over the reins, understanding the situation and the shoes that he had to fill.”
Schottenheimer has done well to keep the Cowboys’ focus on the task at hand each week, despite a rocky year that included the suicide of defensive lineman Marshawn Kneeland. Lamb said Schottenheimer has a knack for getting Dallas back into a positive mindset.
“Just winning—having your guys believe that each and every week,” he said. “How can you control that, how can you control the room? It’s easy to do when you’re winning, but when you’re losing, how can you help us get back on the right track?”