Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer hasn't done a bad job in a nutshell in his first year as the head coach. He's handled business on his side of the ball, play-calling for a top-five offense that's put up some gaudy point totals.
It was Jerry Jones' decision to give Schottenheimer the title while jumping at the chance to hire Matt Eberflus as his defensive coordinator. That organizational structure has done the franchise in so far in 2025, with the Cowboys sitting at 3-5-1 heading into Week 11. Eberflus's defense is an easy scapegoat for what has been a disastrous effort on the point-prevention side of the ball.
Simply put, Eberflus's group doesn't prevent points. They better prevent those points now, though. Jones went all in at the trade deadline, landing linebacker Logan Wilson from the Cincinnati Bengals and bringing on defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets. There were long-term sacrifices made to dig the team out of their current hole. Too much money is being burned on a subpar product. If that continues to be the case? Questions need to be asked about leadership in the offseason.
And to think, it could've been so simple.
Jerry Jones Should Regret Not Hiring Mike Vrabel
Mike Vrabel is looking like the destiny hire in Foxborough, Massachusetts, amid the New England Patriots' 9-2 start. The defense is doing its part, while Drake Maye is blossoming in his first season with Josh McDaniels. Eliot Wolf and Robert Kraft did well to build that staff.
Jones could've had Vrabel's leadership and defensive chops, which could've helped bring Pats defensive coordinator Terrell Williams to Dallas, while keeping Schottenheimer on the coaching staff. Then, perhaps, he could've been the one enjoying a hot start.
Instead, Jones has to live with the fact that the coaching staff he ended up with is aggressively not good enough. Not without significant trade deadline tweaks to give them additional defenders, anyway.
Jones wanted Vrabel but couldn't get an interview. Perhaps that's the downside of wearing so many hats and not delegating responsibilities to someone who can hone in on the small things. Perhaps there's a lesson in the Patriots' hot start, juxtaposed with a disappointing campaign for the Cowboys.
Probably not, though. These kinds of things are par for the course in Dallas. It's Jerry's world, and we're all just living in it.
Well, up in New England, Vrabel is thriving away from it.