Brian Schottenheimer - Offensive Coordinator, cowboys Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-11 | Full transcript (primary source).
On September 11, 2026, Brian Schottenheimer addressed the media in a press conference for the Dallas Cowboys, discussing the team's preparation and expectations as they head into the opening week of the NFL season. Schottenheimer highlighted the development of key players and emphasized the importance of teamwork and culture within the organization.
Transcript
Schottenheimer: So well deserved. You talk about two guys that literally carry the flag for what we're about. They came in, like you mentioned, without a lot of hoopla. And they've just grown into incredible players, great teammates. They play the game the right way. And I think it's an awesome acknowledgment to those two guys are what we're about. They're the epitome of what we're trying to build here toughness, play style, all about the team, team first mentality. And I couldn't be more excited for them.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, again, I think it shows you that, you know, they're really good football players that we're finding even more roles for them. You talk about those guys and it's not just what they do on offense, it's what they do on special teams as well. It makes them invaluable. And again, when you can take these players that care, Minnesota and, you know, small school for flow, it's like, golly, to develop them and see them grow up in the confidence that they're playing the game with now is just, it's really awesome.
Schottenheimer: I think it's excitement, you know, Clarence, I think, these guys have worked incredibly hard, you know. You know, we have big goals, we have high expectations, but I'm excited to watch these guys go play football in front of the nation. Are there things that are going to go wrong? Of course, it's week one. You can't watch these first two games of the season and know that things aren't going to go perfect, but that's where the culture comes in, that's where the brotherhood comes in. But I'm just really excited and it's week one on the National Football League and we're playing the Giants on prime time. You know, it's an exciting time. Thank you.
Schottenheimer: You know, I think I'm more confident, Todd. I think that's part of the process of being in my second year, but part of the confidence I have is in the fact of the team, the type of young men we have, the roster and how we flipped it. I think the world of the coaching staff that we've brought in and developed and seeing Clayton Adams in year two has been incredible for me. Seeing Conner Riley in year two, Steve Shimko, all these guys year two under this offense has been great. Then again, everyone likes to talk about Christian, which I can talk about C.P. all day, but I'm really confident just because of the type of men that are going to be in the locker room with us on Sunday night and a chance for us to showcase what we're all about.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, well, first of all, this is about honoring and remembering those that died. It's about the heroes that ran towards the danger. I was in Washington when the Pentagon was hit. I'll never forget I was doing my quarterback boards and crazy, actually, my now wife was working on the marketing side and she came over into the quarterback room and she just said, hey, a plane just hit the World Trade Center. And it was a very emotional time. And then a couple days later, they canceled the games that week and we went down to, my dad was a head coach in Washington and we went down to Arlington National Cemetery and coming out, we took a detour that turned different and it was all of a sudden we pulled up and everybody started getting off the buses and, excuse me for being emotional, but everybody started getting off and we kind of walked up a little hill, the entire team, basically, and you could see the Pentagon and you could see the families and you could see the tents for people that were waiting to see if their loved ones would come out. And so, and obviously being in New York, I was in Garden Cities where I lived with the Jets when we were in Hofstra and that was where a number of people lost their lives. So it's a very emotional time.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I guess Adam Pacifica just comes to work these couple weeks a year, you know? No, I just think that we identify these guys, we watch the development of them. We started talking about this with Flo and Brev and a number of other guys leading through the off-season. Hey, man, really, we see the development, we see the upside, we see where they're going, we see what they're made of, we see the mindset and the makeup and it's just a time where, as you're getting ready to start the season, where you're able to get a deal done and the thing that I'll speak to is that I'm happy about it, because these guys want to be here. They see what we're building. They see how it's all coming together and so some guys are like, hey, I want to wait and test the market, but these guys both believe in what we're building here as a championship football team.
Schottenheimer: We weren't surprised by the Jets game. I think the world was and certainly the Dallas fans were and you guys probably were, but we saw it every day in practice but I do think that doing that, it helped his confidence grow. You know, I do feel that Nick and Brev's been the same way the entire time from the time he's got here. I mean, he's an enforcer, his play style is incredible and you just see his development in route running and stuff like that. So I think the world or, you know, they see it later than we do, but we were aware of it.
Schottenheimer: You know, Tommy, I'm glad you said that. I think it speaks to the entire personnel department. You know, I can't say enough great things about Will. You know, we talk about, it's from the top down with Jerry and Steven, but like one of my, you know, best friends in the building is Will McClay. I mean, he and I have, you know, just constant conversations and he's like a brother to me, you know, cause we have hard conversations. We disagree, you know, and he and the staff that he's put together both on the pro side to college side to go find these guys and just keep adding and changing faces to me is a testament to the work ethic and the desire that Will and his staff have to bring a championship here.
Schottenheimer: No, I mean, I'll still do that process. I've been doing that for a long time. You know, over 15 years as a coordinator, I've kind of always done that, just kind of helps me make mistakes before you go and do it live where it counts and also get a sense of how the game flows in my mind. So I make a bunch of notes, but not really. You know, again, I think the flow of how I handle the game and being more hands on in certain areas, I'm excited about that, but make no mistakes. You know, the main thing that I can do on game day is call a great game and let our players go play.
Schottenheimer: Well, I mean, he and I have always had, you know, very similar football values and we look at the personnel, you know, the same way. What I love about Will, Nick, is he's a former coach. You know, he gets it, he understands. He sits, he looks at it from our point of view. He understands why there's certain things that we feel better or stronger about than maybe some guys that have never been coaches, you know, and they just get caught up in the, okay, these are the traits, the size, the weight, the height, the speed, all that stuff. But it started, I think, pretty early. I think when I was here as a consultant, he and I would have a number of just conversations about different things. He was very curious. I'm a very curious person, so he'd pick my brain about, hey, tell me about your stops in Seattle. Tell me about your stops with the Jets. And we just kind of talked about different things and we became very, very close. And part of being close is you can have hard conversations. And we worked through our disagreements and I always leave there or when he leaves my office, I always feel like, hey, we're aligned. And I think that's critical.
Schottenheimer: Not a whole lot. I was told by a lot of people how talented he was and that was very obvious the minute you walked in the door and you heard his command in the draft room and just in some of the personnel discussions. But I didn't know much.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I mean, June is number one, he's built an incredible room. The culture in that room is really cool. There's some rooms that they have a couple of elite players and it doesn't function as well because there's jealousy and things like that. We don't have that in our room. Both GP and CD are great competitors, but they wanna win. I think I love that, but you talked about flow. I'm gonna talk about Cavante Turpin. I mean, here's a guy that a couple of years ago wasn't a very good route runner. So Junior's a guy that to me has built a culture where he can coach those guys and gets the most out of them and I think that's really important.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, well, I mean, I think just it can affect a game. I mean, it can affect a play call or it can affect the quarterback, you know? But, you know, there's not really a great way to handle it. And so that's why we're so fortunate Todd because our guys, look, they both want the ball. They both want to score touchdowns. They both want to celebrate, but I love how excited they get when the other guy gets it or even Ryan Florinoy, Fergie, their excitement because they love playing the game and they love this locker room that we've built.
Schottenheimer: Good. All right, see you out there.
