Cowboys' Jerry Jones: Brian Schottenheimer Hire 'is as Big a Risk as You Can Take'

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones acknowledged he ventured off the beaten path a bit when he tabbed Brian Schottenheimer as the team's next head coach.

"This is as big a risk you could take," Jones told reporters Monday during Schottenheimer's introductory press conference. "No head coaching experience. But he's had 25 years of experience."

The owner also believes being the son of a legendary NFL coach has aided Schottenheimer in his coaching career:

Hiring Schottenheimer has been met with a lot of skepticism, to put it kindly.

The 51-year-old boasts a lot of experience, having started his coaching career in 1997. But, as Jones noted, he hasn't been a head coach before and his performance as an offensive coordinator doesn't blow you away.

Monday's press conference was an opportunity for Jones to lay out a clear vision for why he was won over by Schottenheimer's pitch despite the obvious question marks. Instead, the 82-year-old probably just confirmed the worst fears of fans who believe the Cowboys' Super Bowl drought will extend indefinitely.

RJ Ochoa of Blogging the Boys transcribed a portion of the press conference when Jones received a question about Schottenheimer and proceeded to talk up his own résumé.

Taking a risk isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially after Dallas opted for a relatively safe hire when it chose Mike McCarthy in 2020. Firing Tom Landry and hiring Jimmy Johnson was an even bigger gamble and look how that worked out.

But Schottenheimer feels like an NFL coaching retread without him having worked in this job before. Surely another team would've made him a head coach by now if he gave the impression he was suited for the role.

The idea that having a famous coaching father helps isn't really backed up by history, either.

Don Shula is one of the winningest coaches in NFL history. He had two sons, Dave and Mike, who followed in his footsteps, and neither has enjoyed a distinguished career. Rex Ryan, Wade Phillips and Jim Mora Jr. all had fathers who were NFL coaches and none excelled for an extended period of time, either.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is the exception rather than the norm.

If this all works, then Jones will look like a genius. The last 30 years of the Cowboys' history points to a much different outcome with the Schottenheimer experiment.