DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys say offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has agreed to a deal to become the storied franchise’s next coach.
The somewhat surprising choice announced Friday night is familiar to star quarterback Dak Prescott, who worked closely with Schottenheimer the past two seasons when former coach Mike McCarthy was the play-caller.
Prescott publicly supported the return of McCarthy, whose initial five-year contract with Dallas expired, but McCarthy and the Cowboys mutually parted ways last week.
Schottenheimer is the ninth coach hired by owner Jerry Jones since he bought the team in 1989 and fired the only coach the Cowboys had for their first 29 seasons, Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Landry.
Schottenheimer is the seventh hire for Jones since the last time the Cowboys advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs in 1995, when the club won its fifth Super Bowl title.
Jones hired McCarthy, a Super Bowl winner with Green Bay in 2010, in hopes of ending what is now the longest stretch of any NFC team without reaching a conference championship game.
Dallas made three consecutive postseason trips from 2021 to 2023 but won just one playoff game.
The 51-year-old Schottenheimer, son of the late NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, has 25 years of NFL coaching experience — including 14 as an offensive coordinator — but none as a head coach.
Schottenheimer joined the Cowboys as a consultant in 2022 and moved into the offensive coordinator role when McCarthy took over play-calling duties a year later.
Prescott had one of the best years of his career in the first season with that arrangement, finishing as the runner-up in NFL MVP voting, but the Cowboys stumbled late before a shocking home wild-card loss to Green Bay.
The Dallas offense played a big role in a 27-0 first-half deficit, and the Cowboys trailed by 32 points in the fourth quarter of that 48-32 defeat.
Schottenheimer’s second season with Prescott was a struggle almost from the start, even before Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury. The Cowboys were 7-10, ending a three-year run of 12-5 finishes.
McCarthy, who got his NFL coaching start on Marty Schottenheimer’s Kansas City staff in 1993, brought in the younger Schottenheimer after one season as Jacksonville’s passing game coordinator.
Schottenheimer was Russell Wilson’s offensive coordinator in Seattle from 2018 to 2020, when the Seahawks finished in the top 10 in scoring offense all three years but stumbled in the playoffs each time.
Schottenheimer’s first stint as offensive coordinator lasted six seasons with the New York Jets from 2006 to 2011, followed by three years in the same role with the St. Louis Rams.
The Cowboys held a virtual interview with Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who was Prescott’s play-caller from 2019 to 2022. Moore’s Eagles host Washington in the NFC championship game Sunday (3 p.m., Fox29).
Dallas had in-person interviews with two former head coaches in Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier. Jones had informal talks with Colorado coach Deion Sanders. The Hall of Fame cornerback played five seasons for the Cowboys and helped them win their last Super Bowl.