In terms of NFL opinions — opinions in general — it’s never smart to see “everyone” or “no one” likes or dislikes a particular thing. It just doesn’t make sense because it’s impossible either way.
Except in the case of the Dallas Cowboys hiring offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as head coach in January. Because everyone outside the organization hated it and no one wanted him as head coach.
Just 10 months later, people are singing a different tune with the Cowboys at 6-5-1 and one of the NFL’s hottest teams headed into a massive Week 14 road game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football.
That tune sounds like several NFL insiders beginning to tout Schottenheimer as NFL Coach of the Year.
“Brian Schottenheimer should be in every coach of the year conversation … no coach has shown more leadership than (Schotteneheimer) no coach has had their best player shipped off, no coach has dealt with a tragedy like he did with Marshawn Kneeland … no one has led like Schottenheimer,” ESPN and analyst and former Super Bowl champion defensive back Ryan Clark said on “Get Up” on November 28. “He deserves a ton of credit. People questioned his hire this offseason. ”
Former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan agreed with his TV teammate.
“How is Brian Schottenheimer not the favorite for NFL Coach of the Year right now?” Ryan asked on November 30. “No one has had to deal with what he has this year and now he’s winning games when this team seemed totally out of it. It’s been incredible to watch. He’s doing such an amazing job.”
Cowboys Have Faced Unbelievable Challenges
The storms that Schottenheimer has been forced to endure in his first season as head coach have been hard to comprehend — both on and off the field.
After the entire universe seemed to hate the Cowboys hiring Schottenheimer, he had to deal with owner Jerry Jones trading away a future Hall of Famer in his prime when he sent edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers right before the season started following an offseason in which Jones and Parsons went to war over his contract extension.
Losing Parsons, one of just 2 players in NFL history with at least 12.0 sacks in their first 5 seasons, understandably gutted the defense and the Cowboys stumbled to a 3-5-1 start.
Right as Jones made several deals at the NFL trade deadline for talent to help the defense, the Cowboys were hit with a real life tragedy no one could have anticipated.
Kneeland’s Suicide Leaves Cowboys Reeling
Schottenheimer’s defining moment of his first season came on November 6 when Kneeland, a 24-year-old defensive end, took his own life after a brief automobile chase with the police.
It was Schottenheimer, along with quarterback Dak Prescott, who kept the Cowboys from not coming apart at the seams. Instead, the tragedy seems to have brought the team close together.
Schottenheimer’s father, the late Marty Schottenheimer, won NFL Coach of the Year honors with the San Diego Chargers in 2004.
“If you don’t love Brian Schottenheimer‘s postgame locker room speech …..you don’t have a pulse,” former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel wrote on his official X account after the Cowboys defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day. “He doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the job he’s done this year.”
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