Jerry Jones and Cowboys aren't the only ones fooled by Brian Schottenheimer

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced he'd hired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as the team's new head coach in January, bringing the disappointing tenure of Mike McCarthy to an end.

But while plenty in Dallas were just fine with seeing McCarthy head for the door, the choice of Schottenheimer to replace him was a hard one for fans and pundits to wrap their heads around. He's the son of longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, but besides that, his credentials aren't all that impressive.

This will be his first time leading an NFL team, something Jones rarely sees as a qualifying factor in his hiring process. But perhaps that was the appeal: Maybe Jones wanted Dallas to have a fresh start with someone who can build something from the ground up.

Except, if that was the case, why promote the guy who led McCarthy's anemic offenses for the last two seasons? But if you ask outside observers with well-respected reputations within the league, they seem open to Jones' experiment.

Anonymous NFL coaches and executives find Brian Schottenheimer 'underrated'

According to a survey conducted by The Athletic, Schottenheimer came in as the least exciting hire as voted on by 10 anonymous NFL coaches and executives. While that makes perfect sense, being the most exciting hire in a class of big names doesn't necessarily translate to the best hire.

"He’s underrated,” one executive said. “He has the ability to be a better head coach than coordinator. He’s confident. He has a vision for who he wants to be and how he wants to play, and he’ll be able to communicate that across the team."

"He’s a good coach,” a coach said. “The team will improve."

Well, that's certainly one way to put it. Improving on 7-10 probably won't be that hard to do, but there's always the real possibility (even the likelihood) that Schottenheimer's Cowboys actually regress in 2025. Quarterback Dak Prescott will be recovering from hamstring surgery, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb's expensive contract will be hanging over the team and star pass rusher Micah Parsons appears to be one more tough loss away from demanding a trade.

Schottenheimer will need to perform a miracle in his first season at the helm in Arlington. He'll need to keep the locker room happy while also trying to win with relatively the same tools McCarthy struggled with in 2024. Maybe Jones set him up to fail so he can hire someone else later? We'll never know (at least for now).