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NFL folks are always talking about coaching trees. Much like musicians, early influences and coaching mentors play a key part role in the style, strategies and ultimate goals of developing coaches. Bill Walsh’s coaching tree was extensive throughout the late 1980s, Mike Holmgren’s coaching tree spread wide in the 1990s, and today it’s Kyle Shanahan’s coaching tree that dominates the league.
Brian Schottenheimer, one of the top coaching candidates to land the Dallas Cowboys’ head coaching job, doesn’t come from such an inspiring tree. While the name Schottenheimer sounds of NFL royalty, his list of coaching mentors aged about as well as an avocado. It’s a notorious list of coaches for all the wrong reasons and a cause for concern from an already dejected Cowboys fanbase.
Brian Schottenheimer, son of Marty Schottenheimer, was born to an NFL family. His father, famous for a brand of football dubbed “Marty-ball”, was the antithesis of progressiveness during his day. When the rest of the NFL was embracing some form of West Coast offense or Air Coryell offense, Marty Schottenheimer was authoring an attack that focused on the running game, essentially using the passing game only as an extension of the running game. It was controversial and archaic even then because it moved opposite of trends and in a direction the NFL as a whole has abandoned even to this day.
Brian Schottenheimer got his NFL start as offensive coordinator working under Eric Mangini in New York. He then stayed on after Mangini was fired to work under Rex Ryan. In all he coached the Jets for six years. He leaned on a run-heavy approach that saw some success, but bucked NFL trends.
After the Jets he moved to St. Louis to work for Jeff Fisher. While he again enjoyed moderate success, he generally coached a conservative offense. Eventually he landed in Seattle to coach under Pete Carroll. The Seahawks were a highly efficient offense during his time there but again, it was a team that was built around the defense and ran a throwback style offense. It’s worth noting there were rumors it was Russell Wilson who nudged him out of town, presumably because of the offense that was being run.
His last stop before the Cowboys was that infamous 2021 season under Urban Meyer in Jacksonville. Things were extremely dysfunctional so it’s difficult to read anything into his time there.
Running through his list of coaching mentors, a list that features Mangini, Ryan, Fisher, Carroll and Meyer, is truly a cause for concern to many Cowboys fans. All of his coaching mentors have name recognition and various reputations but none of them are known for their offensive acumen in the NFL. It’s very likely the best and most creative offensive mind Schottenheimer worked for in the NFL was McCarthy in Dallas. And McCarthy isn’t exactly known for his creativity or grasp of the modern game these days.
The idea of Schottenheimer leading a list of head coaching candidates for the Cowboys is curious to put it kindly. He comes from a notorious family and has worked under an uninspiring list of coaches, many of which have fallen on the wrong side of history.
Schottenheimer worked mostly in the background with the Cowboys so it’s possible he’s developed under the radar. But his coaching tree of mentors is worrisome and the Cowboys’ interest, in what has been historically his style of football, is head scratching.