Potential fits for Brian Schottenheimer’s first Cowboys staff

Here are some potential names that could join Brian Schottenheimer’s Dallas Cowboys staff.

Well, the Cowboys’ search for a head coach is over, and the name they settled on is practically the last name anyone expected when the job first opened up. Jerry Jones has decided to promote offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, son of the legendary Marty Schottenheimer, to head coach for the first time in his career.

Schottenheimer enters his new job with arguably the highest level of skepticism that any Cowboys head coach has ever had, and he’ll face a steep hill in earning the respect of the fan base. First things first is building out a staff to help him do just that, and we’ve got several names to watch as potential hires.

Offense

The first question that must be answered is whether or not Schottenheimer will seek to call plays as a head coach, as that will impact his pool of candidates for the coordinator job. Jane Slater had reported earlier that Schottenheimer intends to call plays in whatever role he holds next year, likely giving us the answer already.

Assuming that Schottenheimer will, indeed, be a play-calling head coach, that limits some of the names that could fill his offensive coordinator spot. Schottenheimer could seek to promote one of the position coaches already on staff.

Offensive line coach Mike Solari has a long history with Schottenheimer, and has been an offensive coordinator twice before in his career; Schottenheimer could promote him to coordinator and fill the same role Schottenheimer just did for McCarthy. Tight ends coach Lunda Wells is seen by many as a rising star, though he could also be reassigned to the offensive line if Solari is named coordinator.

Other names that Schottenheimer might seek to retain from the current staff, though not necessarily for a coordinator role, include offensive assistants Steve Shimko and Evan Harrington. Shimko has worked with Schottenheimer in two other spots before Dallas, while Harrington was a de facto assistant running backs coach.

Looking outside the team, Schottenheimer has several names he could seek to reconnect with from previous jobs. Commanders run game coordinator Anthony Lynn is a Texas native who overlapped with Schottenheimer on Rex Ryan’s Jets and has prior head coaching experience. Chargers wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal was also part of the Rex Ryan Jets and overlapped with Schottenheimer in Seattle and Jacksonville.

Will Harriger is the Panthers quarterbacks coach, but worked with Schottenheimer in Seattle, Jacksonville, and Dallas last year. Frank Cignetti Jr. is another piece of NFL royalty who worked as Schottenheimer’s quarterbacks coach with the Rams and has held coordinator roles at both the college and pro levels. And Rob Chudzinski, currently the associate head coach at Boston College, has shared a staff with Schottenheimer three times and also has prior head coaching experience.

As far as position coaches go, Schottenheimer has previous ties to quarterbacks coaches Austin Davis and Kerry Joseph, as well as running backs coach Quinton Ganther. He also worked with John DeFilippo, once believed to be the next Sean McVay, though DeFilippo hasn’t coached in the NFL in three years now, instead coaching in the UFL each of the last two seasons.

Of course, there are several names that have already been floated as well, namely Jason Witten. It remains to be seen what role Witten might have, but it sounds like a done deal that he’ll be part of the staff in some capacity. Two former Cowboys running backs in DeMarco Murray and Tashard Choice, both coaching in the college ranks right now, have also been floated as potential assistants.

Defense

UPDATE: Ed Werder has corrected his tweet below so the Matt Eberflus hire is not official yet.

The Cowboys were quick on the draw, agreeing to hire Matt Eberflus as their defensive coordinator about an hour after announcing Schottenheimer’s hire. The former Cowboys coach and recently fired Bears head coach has no connection to Schottenheimer, but does have familiarity with the organization.

While this pretty much means the end for Mike Zimmer in Dallas, the Cowboys could still look to bring back Jeff Zgonina and Greg Ellis as the defensive line coaches; both have drawn rave reviews from players in their one year on staff.

Other defensive coaches that Schottenheimer has ties to from previous coaching stops include Ryan Nielsen, a longtime defensive line coach with unsuccessful stints as a coordinator for the Falcons and Jaguars. Ted Monachino, a longtime defensive line and outside linebackers coach, also has familiarity. And Jerome Henderson, a former Cowboys defensive backs coach, just parted ways with the Giants after five seasons as their pass game coordinator and worked alongside Schottenheimer with the Jets.

Special teams

John Fassel likely would’ve been retained by Schottenheimer but the Titans stole him away before the Cowboys had made their decision. Now, Schottenheimer will be tasked with finding a new special teams coordinator, and there are a couple he knows from previous coaching stints.

Brian Schneider was the Seahawks special teams coordinator for 11 seasons, overlapping with Schottenheimer and getting fired at the same time Schottenheimer did. Schneider then followed Schottenheimer to the Jaguars, and has been the 49ers special teams coordinator the last three years before being let go.

Speaking of the 49ers, Nick Sorensen was just let go as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator. A longtime Seahawks assistant under Pete Carroll, Sorensen has coached both defense and special teams. His most recent special teams role was also on the Jaguars staff that Schottenheimer and Schneider were part of, and the 49ers initially hoped to reassign Sorensen to special teams coordinator in the wake of Schneider’s firing.

Current Raiders special teams coordinator Tom McMahon has been a top name for some time, and he ran the Colts special teams during Schottenheimer’s time there. He’s been with the Raiders the past three years, but could be on the market with a total regime change in Las Vegas.

The Cowboys could also look to bring back Carlos Polk in an assistant role. Polk assisted Keith O’Quinn (still with the Cowboys in their scouting department) in 2019, played for Marty Schottenheimer’s Chargers, and coached alongside Brian Schottenheimer in Jacksonville.