How do you feel about the staff Brian Schottenheimer has put together for the Dallas Cowboys?
The Dallas Cowboys will have a new coaching staff in 2025, led by first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer. The former offensive coordinator’s staff is now complete, giving Dallas a clear direction heading into key player acquisition phases like the NFL draft and free agency. These coaching changes have been the response to Dallas dropping from a consistent 12-win team to 7-10 and out of the playoffs in 2024.
As optimistic as some Cowboys fans have been about different hires like Klayton Adams as OC, Matt Eberflus as DC, or even Conor Riley and Aaron Whitecotton as OL and DL coaches respectively, this is a fanbase that should understand that players and on-field talent win games more than anything. Two former Cowboys coaches squared off in the NFC Championship Game in Dan Quinn and Kellen Moore, doing so with divisional teams that greatly surpassed the Cowboys in talent this year. The Eagles won and went on to win the Super Bowl in dominant fashion before Moore accepted his own first head coaching gig with the New Orleans Saints. Players matter.
Without any indication yet that the Cowboys plan on backing up their willingness to shake up the coaching staff with the same intensity towards the roster, these coaching moves will still serve as the catalyst for discussing how this team may look different under Schottenheimer. One coach to strongly keep in mind here, although he won’t serve as a coordinator or play-caller, is pass game specialist Ken Dorsey.
Dorsey’s 12 years of NFL experience is the second most of any of the new offensive hires, only behind tight ends coach Lunda Wells who was retained from Mike McCarthy’s staff and has been coaching in Dallas since 2020. At the time of his hire, the Cowboys had a vacancy at quarterback coach, which seemed like a natural fit for Dorsey.
The former 49ers and Browns quarterback got his start in NFL coaching as the Carolina Panthers QB coach from 2013-17, and then held the same role for the Buffalo Bills from 2019-21 before being promoted to offensive coordinator. Most recently, Dorsey served as offensive coordinator for the Browns in 2024.
Shortly after hiring Dorsey, the Cowboys decided to keep their QB coach hire closer to the vest and promoted in-house assistant Steve Shimko. Dallas favors familiarity and a tight circle around Dak Prescott in the QB room, but Dorsey has been a very well known name in the coaching circle for a while now and figures to play into the coaching of the Cowboys quarterbacks in Schottenheimer’s scheme as well as the offense as a whole.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Let’s just get this out of the way. There is nothing anyone can do about the fact a large percentage of Cowboys fans will not give this team any chance on Sundays going forward because of the Schottenheimer hire alone. No matter what they do underneath the first-time head coach but lifelong assistant, this hire is understandably still a strange one and didn’t exactly rally the fanbase that things are going to get much better anytime soon. Putting that aside to take a closer look at who Schottenheimer will actually be working with on a staff he quickly and impressively pulled together, the Ken Dorsey hire should be near the top of the list of ones Schotty needs to get right.
Without a ton of relevant experience when it comes to what qualified Schottenheimer to be the next head coach of the Cowboys, the three years he was on staff previously can be looked at even closer under the microscope. Schottenheimer was a non-play calling offensive coordinator the past two seasons under Mike McCarthy. This is a unique role in today’s game, and Schottenheimer had to hire for the same role right away as he will now serve as play-caller moving forward. The early reviews on Klayton Adams as OC point to Schottenheimer hitting a home run here, particularly when it comes to Dallas backing their talk of wanting to be strong and athletic in the trenches with an efficient run game.
In his one year prior to being the Cowboys OC though, Schottenheimer was merely an assistant coach like Dorsey is now. If there is a spot on Schottenheimer’s coaching staff that most closely resembles the position he started in to eventually rise to head coach, it may be pass game specialist with Dorsey. Dorsey also served as a non-play calling OC in Cleveland last season, as HC Kevin Stefanski called the offense.
Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
The Cowboys have a young staff in place around Schottenheimer, which should help create a culture of competitiveness in replacement of some of the complacency that’s plagued this team for too long. The proof will be right in front of these coaches daily that good work even behind the scenes at The Star can be rewarding, with Schottenheimer now in the big chair for the first time after starting as a NFL coach in 1997. There’s an argument to be made that no coach will chase this worm on the end of the line more than Dorsey, who interviewed last offseason for the Panthers head coach opening.
Dorsey is a well-respected coach that’s worked with the likes of Sean McDermott and Kevin Stefanski, as well as Joe Brady who was the Bills QB coach after Dorsey became OC. This is a coach Schottenheimer could lean on more than his title alone would suggest, and his track record of getting consistently good quarterback play in schemes similar to what Schottenheimer is desiring also suggest that could be a good thing.
So much of the Cowboys plans towards turning their fortunes around and contending within their own division again hinge on the health and play of Dak Prescott. He will be the straw that stirs this drink more than any coach possibly can, but surrounding him with coaches that can take a fresh look at his skill set following the disaster that was the final season of McCarthy’s scheme is a good change until proven otherwise.
What the Cowboys were doing on offense with Prescott a year ago, even in a very limited sample size, was simply not working. The fact they were willing to admit that and revamp nearly the entire offensive coaching staff starting with a new play-calling head coach may be seen as a baby step, but could also be the first step towards remembering Prescott played at a MVP level just one season prior in 2023.
BTB’s resident coaching expert David Howman also sees how Dorsey could play a big role here:
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.
Prescott’s success in 2025 and beyond will ultimately come down to the support the Cowboys front office gives him on the field, not just having an assistant coach that worked closely with prime Cam Newton and current MVP Josh Allen. With Schottenheimer’s staff fully in place well before the draft though, this team has every reason to think they can get back to being a strong drafting organization and jump start this “rebuild” with the players these new coaches desire. Literally every single position around Prescott at QB can be seen as a need on offense, giving the Cowboys plenty of directions they can go if they’re looking to simply take the best overall player on this side of the ball at 12th overall.
As things like this draft process and free agency ramp up and the Cowboys coaching hires are less in the spotlight, don’t forget about Ken Dorsey being on staff going into year one of the Schottenheimer era.