FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys have requested an interview with Falcons tight ends coach Kevin Koger for their offensive coordinator position, but make no mistake: New head coach Brian Schottenheimer plans to be in charge of his own offense. Koger, 35, just finished up his first season with the Falcons. He previously served as the Chargers tight ends coach for three seasons and before that, he worked as a Packers quality control coach from 2019-20

That Green Bay background provides a tie between him and Mike McCarthy, the ousted Dallas head coach who mentored Schottenheimer. Koger, who will fulfill the Rooney Rule by virtue of his assumed visit, played his college ball at Michigan before moving into coaching. The Browns also interviewed Koger for the same role before hiring Tommy Rees as their new offensive coordinator.

In Dallas, the Cowboys promoted offensive coordinator Schottenheimer to head coach on Friday, and NFL Network’s Jane Slater is first to report that over the course of “Schotty’s” two days of interviews with owners Jerry and Stephen Jones, the coach made it clear that he strongly prefers to serve as his own play-caller.

That’s how it worked in the last two seasons here with McCarthy, who took the steering wheel as he elbowed Kellen Moore off the staff. And that’s how Schottenheimer will want it to work moving forward, whoever ends up being his top offensive aide.