Ken Dorsey is another piece of an impressive Cowboys coaching staff

Brian Schottenheimer has put together quite the staff so far.

The Dallas Cowboys are getting closer to finalizing their coaching staff in Year 1 under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer, and it’s shaping up to be a great group of coaches. Schottenheimer may have added his best one yet, though, agreeing on Monday to bring in Ken Dorsey in an analyst role.

The Cowboys’ interest in Dorsey extends a few weeks back, as he had originally been listed as a potential candidate for offensive coordinator, though no interview ever actually took place. Now, Dorsey comes on in a role that sounds similar to Schottenheimer’s initial role with the Cowboys.

Dorsey has had a winding career trajectory up to this point. He was a star quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes at the turn of the century, winning a national championship and twice being a Heisman finalist. He had a brief NFL career, mostly playing as a backup for the 49ers and Browns.

Not long after retiring, Dorsey got started as a pro scout for the Panthers in 2011. Two years later, he moved to quarterbacks coach, and was a key part of Cam Newton’s 2015 MVP season that saw the Panthers reach the Super Bowl. Dorsey was let go following the 2017 season, a corresponding move to the firing of Carolina’s offensive coordinator and signaling a distinct change in offensive philosophy under head coach Ron Rivera.

Dorsey spent the 2018 season assisting with the Florida International University athletics department, but left after one year to coach Josh Allen with the Bills. Allen was coming off his rookie season and had not looked great: Allen’s 52.8% completion rate was worst among starters and his 3.8% interception rate was second highest among starters.

Dorsey’s first two years in Buffalo saw rapid improvements from Allen, as he went from being talked about as a bust to being heralded as the top quarterback from his draft class. The Bills took note, and added pass game coordinator duties to Dorsey’s title, grooming him to succeed Brian Daboll whenever their offensive coordinator eventually left for a head coaching job.

That happened one year later, and Dorsey was promptly promoted to offensive coordinator. He kept things humming right along, as the Bills finished 2022 second in both EPA/play and offensive success rate, behind only the Chiefs. The next year brought adversity, though, as Allen became a turnover machine. This ultimately led to Dorsey being fired midway through the year, and Allen’s play stabilized once Joe Brady took over the reins from Dorsey.

This led to a narrative that Dorsey was some awful coach and that Brady was a massive upgrade. While there’s no doubting Brady’s offensive prowess, this narrative doesn’t really hold up to the actual results. Compare the 2023 Bills offense from when Dorsey called plays to when Brady called plays:

In all three categories, the Bills offense actually got worse under Brady, not better. Of course, Buffalo was still a top five offense with the numbers under Brady, but things were statistically better with Dorsey in charge. The only thing that got better was the result of the games: Buffalo was 5-5 at the time they fired Dorsey, but finished 6-1 without him.

Dorsey then joined the Browns for the 2024 season as their offensive coordinator, though head coach Kevin Stefanski called plays. Stefanski would turn play-calling over to Dorsey after Week 7, at which point the Browns were a dismal 1-6 and had just lost Deshaun Watson for the year with an injury. Dorsey failed to turn the offense around, though it’s hard to fault him for that given what he was working with.

Of course, Dorsey is not going to be calling plays in Dallas anyway, as Schottenheimer will do that. But what Dorsey does bring is yet another unique offensive background.

The Cowboys hired Klayton Adams as offensive coordinator, whose experience in diverse run schemes hails from Stefanski and the Browns. They added Conor Riley as offensive line coach, whose lengthy experience in college football brings fresh perspectives on blocking schemes. And they also welcomed Junior Adams as wide receivers coach, who’s been around some of the brightest offensive minds in college football over the past decade.

Dorsey is essentially the NFL equivalent of all of that. The Panthers were a run-heavy team when he was there, mixing in a lot of creative quarterback run concepts to take advantage of Newton’s unique skills. Dorsey sprinkled some of that into the Bills offense, given Allen’s similar profile, but Dorsey also made extensive use of RPO’s to unlock Allen as well.

In the two seasons Dorsey called the plays in Buffalo, the Bills were top five in RPO usage, and they led the league in yards off RPO plays in 2023. By comparison, the Cowboys were outside the Top 14 in each of the last two years in both usage and yards.

Perhaps most importantly, though, is Dorsey’s track record with quarterback development. Newton won an MVP under his watch, and Allen became a superstar under him as well. Dak Prescott is already a proven commodity in the NFL – and it doesn’t sound like Dorsey will be working directly with the position much anyway – but having someone with that background is always welcome.