The Dallas Cowboys have their new head coach and he already has the fanbase giving up on next season. Dallas promoted offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to head coach on Friday night after deciding to part ways with Mike McCarthy.

As things stand, it looks as though the Cowboys should have just run it back in terms of the head coach based on this selection.

The Schottenheimer hire is clearly Jerry Jones getting a new head coach in there who he can control and did not cost a lot of money to hire.

If last offseason was any indication of how cheap the Joneses are, the latest head coaching hire completely backs that up. The Cowboys did interview four other head coaching candidates after parting ways with McCarthy, but opted not to go with any of them. To make matters worse, they missed out on interviewing other candidates by waiting to decide McCarthy’s fate.

4 head coaches the Cowboys should have hired over Brian Schottenheimer

4. Robert Saleh

Robert Saleh was one of the four external candidates the Cowboys interviewed. He most recently was the head coach of the New York Jets before being fired midway through last season. With that being his first head coaching job and being in a big market like New York, there were plenty of struggles.

The Jets only won four games his first year, but in 2022 things began to turn around. Thanks in part to Saleh being a former defensive coordinator in San Francisco, the Jets improved to 7-10 thanks to their defense. They finished fourth in points and yardage given up. However, the offense struggled with several different quarterbacks taking snaps.

The next year was when the team lost Aaron Rodgers in week one. The Jets’ defense was still respectable, but they failed to improve. Even with a healthy Rodgers in 2024, the defense played worse leading to Saleh being fired. Despite that, he was one of the hottest candidates on the market.

Hiring Saleh would have been a good move in Dallas. This team needs to get their defense back to the form they had under Dan Quinn in order for Dak Prescott and this offense to be successful. Last year without him leading the unit, Dallas struggled early leading to a well-below .500 mark by November. Saleh would have also had a better quarterback in Dallas than he did in New York. Rodgers may be a future Hall of Famer, but his best days are behind him. Prescott still has years left in him.

3. Pete Carroll

Earlier in the week, traction was picking up that Pete Carroll could be a candidate to come to Dallas. What the Joneses likely actually called him about was Schottenheimer as he coached under him in Seattle. Still Carroll is another coach the Cowboys should have at least tried to interview. Instead the Las Vegas Raiders snatched him.

Carroll’s candidacy almost mirrored McCarthy’s scituation in 2020. Carroll was actually out of coaching football in 2024 even though the Seahawks still wanted him around as a consultant. McCarthy also was in 2020 after Green Bay let him go. Another similarity is that Carroll has a Super Bowl ring from leading the Seahawks to a title in 2013.

After the 2014 season, which is remembered largely for how it ended in the Super Bowl, Carroll and the Seahawks were never the same, but still continued to make the playoffs. Seattle only missed the postseason three times in Carroll’s next nine seasons as head coach. Carroll also had one of the longest tenures in modern history coaching Seattle 14 seasons.

The experience he has and Super Bowl credentials would have made him a good candidate to turn things around in Dallas. He has a good reputation as a players’ coach and despite his age plenty of enthusiasm to go along with it. An experienced coach like Carroll would have mirrored what Dallas did when they brought in McCarthy.

2. Kellen Moore

Kellen Moore was one of the most common names brought up during the coaching search. While Dallas did interview him, all be it over zoom, there are rumors he turned down the Joneses’ offer. Of course with the Eagles still playing, Moore’s availability is limited. Still this was someone many thought would be the next head coach.

The move would have made complete sense. Moore played in Dallas as a quarterback then became the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator under Jason Garrett before being retained on McCarthy’s staff. While it was clear the Joneses told McCarthy he had to keep Moore, the move paid off.

The Cowboys’ offense was one of the best in the league in 2021 and 2022. They finished in the top five both seasons in points per game. However, McCarthy seemed to clash with Moore at times on how to run the offense and the team opted to part ways with Moore after the 2022 season.

Moore moved on to be the offensive coordinator in Los Angeles with the Chargers, but after Brandon Staley was fired, he moved on. The division rival Eagles have enjoyed immediate success with him calling plays in 2024. By now it seems Moore has matured having several seasons of coaching under his belt.

Based on how well the Eagles are doing this season and Moore’s relationship with the Cowboys’ organization and several players, him coming to Dallas almost seemed inevitable. With Prescott being 32, he does not want to have to learn a new system. Moore’s scheme might have a few differences, but the two know each other well.

Hiring Moore could have taken the Cowboys’ offense to new heights. With McCarthy calling plays the last two seasons, this offense was very predicable. It did not matter whether it was Prescott or Cooper Rush. Many teams were able to figure it out and limit their production, especially when they played good teams. Moore could have given this offense more wrinkles and if the front office gave him a solid defensive coordinator, optimism would be higher in Dallas

1. Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson was the hottest name on the coaching market even during the middle of the season. He was pursued by teams last offseason but opted to stay in Detriot as offensive coordinator. After the Lions’ shocking defeat against the Commanders in the divisional round, Johnson was officially on the market. However, the Cowboys missed the opporunity to get a leg up on hiring him.

If a team is in the playoffs but on a bye week, there is a window for teams to start talking to coaches. Unfortunately, the Cowboys did not decide McCarthy’s fate until after that window closed. While the rest of the league was interviewing coaches left and right, Jerry Jones was taking his sweet time trying to work out a new contract with McCarthy. By the time they let his contract expire, Johnson had to get back to preparing for a game.

After the playoff loss, reports began surfacing the Cowboys were interested in talking to Johnson, but they never got a chance. The Bears pounced on the opportunity first, taking a candidate off the market who could have changed life in Dallas.

The Lions’ offense improved every season under Johnson being the offensive coordinator. In 2024 they finished first in the league in points per game, averaging 33.2. Detroit looked like a Super Bowl contender most of the season and even though they lost in the divisional round, Johnson proved he deserved a chance to be a head coach.

Yes the Joneses do not like to hire coaches outside of their comfortable circle, but Jerry should have been willing to take that risk this year. This offense and really this whole team need to get a new self image in that locker room to be contenders again. Even if Johnson struggled at first, if the players liked him there would have been more hope for the future.

Missing out on Ben Johnson shows everything the Dallas Cowboys are about right now. When a team is looking for a new head coach and they do not make an attempt early to hire the hottest candidate on the market, it means they are not committed to winning. Johnson has to be at the top of the list of head coaches this team should have hired this offseason.