It’s hard not to feel bad for new Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer.
A 51-year-old career assistant, he finally has the chance to lead his own team. But few if any fans of this team like him.
Which explains the timing of the news announcement.
It landed late on a Friday night, via a leak in NFL Media, partially owned and heavily influenced by the Cowboys. posted at 9:43 p.m. ET. The team only announced it two minutes later.
Owner Jerry Jones wants his team to be convincing. During the Sunday Ticket antitrust trial, Jones explained the importance of generating interest.
“What’s so important is that you’re substantial, that you’re interesting,” Jones said on the witness stand. “The facts are that probably more than half of NFL fans don’t like the Cowboys and want to throw our ‘you know what’ every time we go there. And I say this out of respect for everyone here. But that’s how it is because they don’t like me, and they probably don’t like me to some extent if they’re paying this much attention. But what makes it interesting for us is that it’s a lot more than a score or a lot more than a tackle. It’s an expression of interest, something to support“.
There’s not much to root for in the Cowboys’ latest coaching hire, and the timing of the news confirms the Cowboys’ awareness of that fact.
If the Cowboys knew Schottenheimer’s promotion from offensive coordinator to head coach would have garnered a positive reaction, it would have been leaked and announced Sunday morning, sucking the oxygen out of preparing for conference championship games. (For example: News of Dak Prescott’s new deal came the morning of the first Sunday of the 2024 regular season.) Or maybe the Cowboys would have tried to win the NFC Championship, between two of their division rivals. (Case in point: News that Jason Garrett wouldn’t return as coach was leaked during a Seahawks-Eagles playoff game five years ago, and news of Jones’ discussions with Colorado coach Deion Sanders emerged during the Vikings-Rams playoff game 12 days ago.)
Jones knows when and how blow up an M-80. Based on Friday night’s development, he also knows when and how to light the fuse of a lady’s finger and run.
This is what happened Friday evening. In making perhaps the most uninspired head coaching hire in team history (Dave Campo might have a contrary case), Jerry knew better than to knock on the front door but sneak through a basement window.