Brian Schottenheimer - Offensive Coordinator, cowboys Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-16 | Full transcript (primary source).
On September 16, 2026, Brian Schottenheimer, Offensive Coordinator for the Cowboys, addressed the media in a press conference following the team's recent game. The focus of the discussion was on improving communication within the team, particularly between the offense and defense, after a performance that highlighted significant gaps in their coordination.
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Transcript
Unknown: Hey guys, Calvin, hi, Calvin Watkins, Dallas 20 News, we've talked a lot about communication with you with the defense and obviously we did it after the first game. How can you fix that?
Schottenheimer: Well you address it first and foremost. It was surprising to us that we didn't communicate very well. Spent quite a bit of time yesterday in the team meeting just going back through the keys to communication. First part is being decisive and loud. Second part, that's the person that's giving it and then the receiving is where we were off, you know, on a few things. Calls were being made, they have to be louder, they have to be more decisive, but they have to be received. And to co-sign that, you see us we signal all the time based on, you know, different things so you can't hear what they're saying on the film. So there should be hand signals that show information being received and, you know, we need to be better and it wasn't good enough. But we emphasize that we talked about it and they understand. Sometimes guys try to do a little bit too much in those situations, especially if they don't hear what they're supposed to hear.
Unknown: Yeah, there's a lot of moving parts the way the National Football League is right now is, you know, we're this way on offense, you know. You're trying to change the picture, you're trying to make things look different, you're trying to make people have to adjust on the run. Motion shifts, movements are an all-time high in this level. So if you don't communicate, when the numbers change and the picture changes, then you're gonna put yourself at a disadvantage. And that's what we did to ourselves the other night.
Unknown: Clarence Hill, the oldest Cowboys. Were there, after, you know, two days, any more injury issues or were everybody practicing just the same two guys?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, Hook had surgery, went well, doing good. He'll get into the rehab part of it and then DeMoe will start working with Britt. But overall, those were the two main things.
Unknown: Were there any changes with the lineup or anything this week?
Schottenheimer: No, I mean, you know, we have our different packages, but in terms of, you know, hey, this guy's been promoted, this guy's been demoted. Oh, absolutely not. And again, back to business. We started the day, we talked about attention to details with the team, you know, Clarence. And I think that's important part, you know, some of the things that we did, we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot. And so, small things matter. And whether it's receiver splits, you know, whether it's communication, whether it's body position on, on kickoff return, we got to be better with the little things.
Unknown: I'm assuming Barham is going to replace DeMoe. And you talked about communication, who's giving it, receiving it. Will Barham be the green dot? Or will there be somebody else?
Schottenheimer: I mean, he's a rookie. I mean, he'll take a lot of things in himself. As always, we have multiple guys that can do it. All the confidence in the world. And Jay Sean, you know, he is actually very loud when he communicates. Yeah, when he, no, yeah, when he communicates. But he, he would do fine in that. But we do have other things that we're looking at.
Unknown: Brian Todd Archer, the communication problems, is it inexperienced at the linebacker position, in terms of being the green dot and knowing all that or inexperience here with this system, things like that? How do you look at it?
Schottenheimer: I don't, yeah, no, yeah, I'm not going to put on one position. You know, that's, that's not fair. The ball gets dipped, thrown outside the singleton outside, and there's not a linebacker or somebody there. And everyone assumes it's the linebackers. It's not just the linebackers. Okay. So let me be very clear about that. Again, we have rules based off of splits and changes in number counts and things like that, Todd, that, you know, that are complicated. And so there's one time where a player assumed that it was going to be something, because that's how we've done it some. But it was not communicated from another player. And so therefore, that player has the trump card. There's a lot that goes into it. And I'm chalking it up to the fact that it was our first game. And again, like I said, we were making calls, we just weren't making them all the time and then receiving them all the time. And so that's why you saw some of the things where it looked like, you know, they got us on three different plays, those were actually three different calls, three different defensive calls. And so, you know, that's, that's us not being on the same page. And defense, team defense is about all 11 guys being on the same page. I mean, that's, I've never been around any good defense that if you don't have all 11 guys on the same page, it's usually not going to be very good.
Unknown: And another game with the new OC DC. And you might have that first couple weeks. Sure. What's the challenge there of having to deal with that when you don't have a lot of frame of reference with guys?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, it's a good point. It's real. You know, I think I said this to you guys, I think, you know, the Giants adjusted some things, you know, you, you've studied a lot of film and you look at, okay, hey, you know, this is, you know, in this case, this is going to be Minnesota's defense, or this is going to be, you know, David Blau, the coordinator on offense was there last year, but he's got ties to Ben Johnson. You know, Larry is a special teams coordinator, he's been there, you know, for a couple years with DQ. But at the end of the day, you know, you really don't know, you know, you don't know. So what do you do, you do things you're good at. And so that's what we're emphasizing it on. It goes back to that 8020 principle. And we don't know, you know, how David Blau and the offensive staff want to attack us. We don't know what Derontay Jones and DQ are going to come up with on defense. So let's do what we do well. And usually when we do that, we, we perform well.
Unknown: Jim, I'm sure with the athletic, when you look back on Caleb Downs first game as a professional athlete, just how would you assess how he did and what's the next step for him?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I thought he played really well. Obviously, everyone saw the strip sack fumble, the timing of it, you know, really good disguise. You know, Jackson, you know, Dart didn't know that he had a free runner coming, which was great. I thought he attacked the ball beautifully. Some of the coverage stuff and communication stuff was really good. You know, and then the last really kind of third down of the game. I mean, he was right there on likely and Jackson made a great throw and you know, Caleb was matched up on him and he tried to get the PBU and likely made a great, great catch and great throw by Jackson. But Caleb Downs is a tremendous football player.
Unknown: And then with George Pickens, some uncharacteristic drops from him. You say anything to him and then just how do you think he'll bounce back?
Schottenheimer: I don't say anything to George. George would be just fine. He's going to usually catch that ball going down the side line and probably pull through it, then jump over people and spin and then jump into the end zone. And so I don't worry about Georgia.
Unknown: Nick Harris, former star telegram Tyler Guyton had a strong night. How pleased are you guys to see that and then some other bright spots that you know?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I think, you know, Tyler has played the way Tyler's played Nick from the time we got to training camp and put the pads on. I think that's been really good. That goes through the joint practices and the other night, it's a really, you know, really good front. And we're gonna be challenged again this week, you know, with you know, away and chase on and those guys, it's good front around pain inside. But Tyler's playing really, really well. I thought that again, you know, on offense, some of the adjustments that we made at halftime are really, really good. I thought we did some really good things from a, you know, kickoff coverage, you know, I thought that was positive. But all in all, we're, we're excited to get back to work today. And we're excited to get another division opponent. And should be a great way of opening the season home.
Unknown: And with the debut of a first time play caller, Christian, in this case, there's typically an element of surprise that you know, you're looking forward to throwing out there. In retrospect, looking back in the game and Matt Nagy and Greg Roman understanding their experience in the league going up against Fangio disciples or Fangio himself. Do you think there was maybe a lack of element of surprise in that instance, looking back and Nagy and Roman will prepare these thoughts?
Schottenheimer: No, I don't think so. I think again, when you have, you know, two different potential offensive attacks, which the Giants have, you know, and you don't know, I think week five, week six, week seven, teams will have a better idea of what they're doing. I don't think so. I think at the end of the day, you know, we didn't do a great job on first down. You know, we talked a lot about the pass rush and, you know, why was there not more rush on the quarterback? Well, you know, when they're rushing for six yards of carry on first down and they're living in second and fours and things like that, you're not going to get many ops. And when you do, you've got an athletic quarterback that was getting the ball out of his hand fast. But, you know, all in all, I think, you know, the plan was fine, you know, we just, you know, we didn't execute the way that we needed to. And I know CP and I, you know, talked, I mean, shoot first play of the game, my, the first play call a year, I hated it. I thought it was terrible call by me. And they shoved it up our butt. That's the first time I haven't sworn in the last three days. But, you know, CP had a couple of calls he'd like to have back. But, you know, we're in this thing together, offense, defense, coaches, players, special teams, and we just didn't play to our standard.
Unknown: Tommy Arsh, dowscowitz.com. From his rookie year to now, where have you seen Jay Daniels grow the most as a quarterback?
Schottenheimer: Uh, it's a good question. He, you know, he's always been athletic. I think how quick he gets the ball of his hand. I think you see a quarterback's very decisive, you know, he's got a quick release and, you know, I think there's a processing speed that maybe he didn't have Tommy in the beginning where, you know, the game seems to have slowed down for him and he's got some weapons and, you know, they've done a nice job, you know, adding digs and, you know, Mclaurin's obviously very talented. They got Diami Brown back. They got the rookie that had a nice game last game. And, you know, so he's got, he's got weapons, but I would say the thing that jumps out at me is the ability to process and get the ball of his hand fast.
Unknown: And then second straight week, you're playing a former teammate of Caleb's with Sonny Stiles. Do you ask him anything or you, Christian, say, hey, what did you like about him just because he was such a central port for that defense in college?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, no, not really. I mean, I think, you know, we did a lot of research into Sonny and we know how his brain works. He's very bright, very smart, incredible young man. They got a good one with him. He played well last game, very physical blitzer, you know, had a great rush against Saquon. We kind of caught Saquon and bull rushed him over. That was a cool play by a young player against an elite back in the league. But you see the confidence of a guy like Sonny Stiles after one game. And it reminds me a lot of Caleb Downs.
Unknown: Joe. Joe Hoyt, Dallas Morning News. Some of the players say a lot of the things that happen are very fixable. How much do you kind of agree with that? And how much does that, I guess, maybe change your expectations for how quickly they can?
Schottenheimer: Oh, yeah, they're all fixable. You know, I mean, they're, they're all fixable. I mean, you know, communications, fixable pad levels, fixable contains fixable. Better play calls, fixable, you know, talked about, you know, me, you know, not turn the ball over. It's fixable. They're all fixable. And that's why again, it's one game, we played poorly, but excited, really excited to get back out there and play another championship opportunity.
Unknown: Something we talked about a lot last year, I remember simplifying with something that was one of the adjustments. Is that in game contingency you guys maybe go into this week, if they were having some coverage errors, we got to simplify it. Is that something that you consider?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I mean, you know, we're, we're, you know, aware for all contingency. I hope it's really loud. You know, our fans are listening. I know, you know, they give us a huge advantage. So, you know, crowd noise is a big thing. It becomes a lot of nonverbal. You know, I mean, that's, that's real. So I think it's more of that than simplifying. I don't think we went into the last game with an overly complicated plan. I just think at the end of the day, it was not our best day of operating and executing across the board. But in terms of simplifying, I don't think that that's necessary.
Unknown: Brad, Brad Sham, Cowboys Radio 105 3, the fan, most teams go into the year thinking, Oh, they're going to do this in week one, and then we're going to do this in week two that we're not going to show in week one. So you have more than one plan. Is it too early for teams to say, Oh, we're going to change what we were planning on doing based on what we saw happen to them last week?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, most teams have enough flexibility, Brad, in their system that they can get to certain things. But at the end of the day, I do think that, you know, the Giants had all year to study, certainly us offensively, and they had some nice things. And we actually had some, you know, really good answers for it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to use a lot of them because we didn't have the ball enough. So, you know, you're always adjusting. But again, I think, Dorante Jones, Dan Quinn, they're excellent coaches, they're going to have a good plan, they're going to have their plan of how they want to attack us, just like we have our plan of how we want to attack them. And then at the end of the day, it's going to come down to execution.
Unknown: Patrick. Hey, Coach Patrick, welcome to DallasCowboys.com. We talk a lot about TJ Vance having proven time and again his ability to step in on short notice and play at a high level. What did you see from him against the Giants? It looks like he graded out well in the run game, especially when Javante was running into that direction in the past game, didn't allow any sacks. So what did you see positively from him? But what also do you want to see him grow from as he comes up against the Commander's front? That's just as good.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, well, I mean, first off, you're right. It's another great challenge for us. Like I said, you know, you've got Ken Law and Payne inside and you know, the linebackers are very nosy, Lou Vu and Sonny Stiles. But no, I thought TJ played well, you know, we're not surprised by that. He's very his demeanor is just very calm. He's not a guy that you ever see get too high, never gets too low. He just competes and plays well. And I was proud of him.
Unknown: You guys brought in Tyler Goodson, new running back for the coach from the Falcons. What did you see from him that made you want to go ahead and make that move as potentially an upgrade?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, again, I think, you know, at the end of the day, when you look at we're, you know, rebuilding the room a little bit, the injury to Malik, you know, you know, was something that, you know, we hated to see happen. Tyler was a guy that we had some love for at the cut down spot. And we love the veteran presence that he brings, but also the change of pace and the special teams value. So, you know, we talk a little bit in here about, you know, you got to have more than one role. So here's a guy that we think number one's got some speed, some juice, some change of pace ability, but he's also got special teams value, which makes it easier to get guys like that active.
Unknown: What did you like about the Raunte Jones? You had him in here for an interview.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, very bright, very smart. He's been exposed to a lot of different things. I mean, he's not just, you know, Brian Flores, disciple, when you talk to people, I mean, he was a big part of tying, you know, flows, system of pressures and stuff like that together with the back half, you know, you got to tie the front seven with the back half. And that's obviously Durante's strength, but I love his personality too, you know, real down to earth, easy going guy. And, you know, he's going to do a heck of a job for them and they're going to play good defense there for a long time.
Unknown: And obviously, you went another direction. Does it, you think there's ever a, I'll show you kind of thing when the guy comes in and faces you for?
Schottenheimer: I mean, yeah, there's always, we always have egos and things like that. But you know, when I called Durante and informed him, we were going a different direction. He was very understanding, appreciative of the opportunity, but I'd be lying if I said we're all not a little bit competitive and things like that certainly sting for a minute. And then you get past it.
Unknown: We've been talking about communication since Christian showed up. I mean, he and Jerry talked about his ability to communicate in, in young training camp. And I remember when we talked about the defense meeting room, how loud it was, they over communicated, over communicated. How surprised and disappointed that first game, poor communication. The thing says to begin.
Schottenheimer: Yeah, I mean, you know, say it again. I mean, disappointed. Yeah, I mean, we were disappointed. But am I sitting here saying we're going to compete, communicate poorly this week? No, we're going to compute, communicate better this week. And so, you know, did I see it coming? No, absolutely not. Do I think some of it was, like I said, you know, guys getting caught not sharing enough information or being loud enough and things like that? Absolutely. But in terms of did I sleep last night because I'm worried about communication? No, I will be very surprised if we don't communicate at a much higher level in this game. But again, there will be challenges to it, Clarence, because we are playing at home with the noise and the fans cheering their heads off.
Unknown: Here, here at CVS sports, Brian, you talked about having answers, but not having enough time to get to the ball. And last year, he said, you know, I've got a whole sheet of plays cheating, like a whole sheet of plays. Do you almost want to hit some of your quote unquote, better plays that you might otherwise want to set up earlier in a game knowing that teams are probably going to try and play keep away against you like the Giants did?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, you know, Garrett, you never know how the game's going to unfold. You know, I didn't anticipate us going three and out the first drive. But, you know, anytime I get a ball to George and CD, I'd like to do that. It'd be good. It's a big sheet with a lot of a lot of their numbers on there. So, you know, it'd be great if we could maybe push the game to five quarters and we could have a few more ops to get him the ball. But at the end of the day, you know, you never know, you know, you just got to adjust. And so that's what we did. We adjusted in the second half. And like I said, I really, really, really would have loved to have seen if we would have got the ball back. What would have transpired?
Unknown: And for you, you know, facing Dan Quinn, I know, years ago, since you saw him in practice, but how much of that can you still lean on facing his defense?
Schottenheimer: I don't know if you said there on days in the ball this time around. Yeah, I mean, I can see, you know, I can see DQ's influence. It's certainly Durante's defense. You know that you see all the shell coverage and things that, you know, they did in Minnesota and the, the, the trouble fronts, you know, all the mug fronts and things like that. They do a nice job with that. But knowing DQ as well as I do, I see his fingerprints all over that defense and I see the play style and the physicality and the way they run to the ball. And you can see that again, he's got the culture and the brotherhood right on that team as always.
Unknown: Middle linebacker, how delicate is it to have a young guy there and a veteran? I mean, I know you got different packages, but I don't know if you say we have bar him with a vet or, you know, you know, saying like, how hard is it to say I got to really trust him?
Schottenheimer: Yeah, well, I mean, again, we're not going to put guys out there that we don't trust one. Um, just because a player makes a mistake doesn't mean we don't trust them. Uh, just like me calling a bad play first play the game deck didn't lose trust. In my ability to call plays. I'm pretty good at, um, but at the end of the day, I think, you know, Jason Barr hands are really smart. He's a really good football player. Do you play his best football ever? Nope. Did not just like I probably didn't call my best game ever, but I have zero doubts that he will play really well in this game, whether he's next to the winners, whether he's next to Shamar James, whether he's on the sidelines watching. Uh, I think whenever he's in there, he will play really, really well, just like Malachi Lawrence and just like Donovan as a rock who did. And, you know, all the, the young players are gaining valuable, valuable experience that again, I think will help them settle down as the season progresses and make them more and more confident in what we're, what we're doing and then what they're doing.
Unknown: Good. Thanks guys.
