Raiders’ Pete Carroll ‘glad’ to aid Cowboys’ Jerry Jones process in hiring Brian Schottenheimer as head coach

The Dallas Cowboys’ hiring process for new head coach Brian Schottenheimer was different than the way the rest of the NFL went about their coaching searches this offseason. 

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones called hiring Schottenheimer “as big a risk as you could take” because the 25-year NFL assistant had never been a head coach before. That’s despite Schottenheimer working for Dallas as Mike McCarthy’s offensive coordinator in each of the last two seasons and him being the son of late, longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer. However, he didn’t call the offensive plays in that role with McCarthy hanging on to that responsibility, so Jones dialed up Schottenheimer’s boss from his last stop as a play-calling OC: longtime Seattle Seahawks head coach and new Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll. Schottenheimer worked under Carroll as his Seahawks offensive coordinator from 2018-2020, years in which his offense piloted by quarterback Russell Wilson produced the sixth-highest scoring attack (26.9 points per game) in the league. 

“I got a good chance to really refresh my memory of his [Carroll’s] philosophy and his approach to coaching. So I know that Schotty takes a lot from his approach to coaching,” Jones said at Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference. … “So to a degree every time Pete would be a proponent of this or that, you know that Schotty’s got some of that.”

Jones also directly asked Carroll directly why he fired Schottenheimer as his OC after the 2020 season.

“We [Jones and Carroll] got into that real good because Schotty has been effusive about the impact of not only his father but Pete and the people that have shaped him along the way,” Jones said. “It’s kind of interesting. … I like our shine with Schotty.”

Carroll, who returned to the NFL Scouting Combine as the new head coach of the Raiders, explained what he told Jones and how he was excited that he was able to help his former pupil secure his first NFL head-coaching job. 

“He is ready. He’s been waiting for this opportunity for a number of years,” Carroll said, via transcript, on Tuesday. “He’s been ready for some time. I just told him all of the positive stuff about Brian. The stuff we’ve been through together and the confidence I had in him. Trying to reassure him. It sounded like he was really in a good position to get that job. I was trying to help Jerry feel good about it, too. He was starting to get ready for it. I was glad I had a chance to help him.”

Schottenheimer himself expanded on how Carroll challenged and pushed him to expand his offensive playbook to keep up with NFC West rivals like Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan back when he worked for the Super Bowl champion head coach. 

“Going to Seattle was, I would say was critical to my development as a coach. Pete Carroll challenged me in a number of ways,” Schottenheimer said at his introductory press conference. “He challenged me to be authentic, to continue to dive into the relationships that matter, which is your coaches, your players, ownership. He challenged me offensively to be honest with you. … The [Sean] McVay-[Kyle] Shanahan style was taking off, and in Seattle we were competing against Sean and Kyle. So he was pressing me. I just really feel like things changed for me when I went with Pete. I learned a ton from my dad and all the coaches [I’ve worked with]: Mike [McCarthy], Steve Spurrier, all those guys, but Pete Carroll sharpened my edge and sharpened my view on what I want.”  

What he wants is to get Dallas back to a place where the run game is prioritized. Schottenheimer’s offenses led the NFL in rushing yards twice, once with the New York Jets in 2009 and another time in 2018 with the Seahawks. That success allowed to get creative with play-action and bootlegs with Wilson the last time time Schottenheimer had offensive play-calling responsibilities. 

“Yeah again, I got back to my days with Pete. I think if you go back and look at some of the things we did in Seattle,” Schottenheimer said. “Obviously the starting point for me would be things that our players do well. You’re always going to start with that. If your system isn’t flexible enough to do what your players do well, then you’re probably in the wrong business. I’m a big believer in cut splits. I’m a big believer in shifts, in motions to distort things. We’re going to do a great job of marrying our runs and our passes and make those look the same. I’m proud to say that two different times in my career as a coordinator, we led the league in rushing, and they go hand-in-hand, the running game and the action passing game go hand-in-hand.”    

Cowboys offense last two seasons, NFL ranks

* Per NFL Pro/NFL’s Next Gen Stats

** Out of 36 qualified QBs in 2024 for Prescott’s advanced metrics

*** Out of 32 qualified QBs in 2023 for Prescott’s advanced metrics 

When people watch the Cowboys in 2025, they can thank Carroll, for better or worse, for his influence on their new head coach and the process that led to his hiring.