"Schottenheimer came cheaper" - Mike Florio blasts Cowboys for prioritizing cost over championship-caliber HC following firing of Mike McCarthy

The Dallas Cowboys decided to move on from Mike McCarthy in January and then promoted offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to the head coach role. With that move, the team essentially replaced a Super Bowl-winning coach with a coach who has never managed a team before.

Since then, a number of NFL analysts have predicted that Schottenheimer won't stay with the Cowboys for more than a season, even though owner Jerry Jones has never fired a head coach after just one season.

In a post published on Saturday, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk listed the coaches he believes are on the hot seat heading into the 2025 season. Schottenheimer was surprisingly placed at No. 4 on the list.

"Usually, head coaches enjoy at least three years of guarantees. But there’s nothing usual about the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer," Florio wrote.

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"He was on exactly zero teams’ short lists during the latest hiring cycle. For the Cowboys, who wanted to have offensive continuity for quarterback Dak Prescott, it was either Schottenheimer or Eagles offensive coordinator (new Saints coach) Kellen Moore. Schottenheimer came cheaper. How cheap? So cheap that there would be no buyout if he’s fired after one year? "If so, Schottenheimer could need to do enough in 2025 to earn his employment for 2026," Florio said.

The Cowboys turned away from candidates with far more coaching experience than Schottenheimer, like Robert Saleh, Leslie Frazier, Kellen Moore, and even Deion Sanders, by opting to hire Schottenheimer in January.

Florio seems to believe that the Cowboys' decision to hire Schottenheimer indicates that the franchise has no real desire to contend with the league's top teams.

Maybe it will turn out to be a brilliant move for Jerry Jones, who is eager to win his fourth Lombardi Trophy, to promote Schottenheimer to head coach. However, Jones and the Cowboys have been criticized by both NFL pundits and fans for that decision.

There are huge expectations for the Cowboys in Brian Schottenheimer's first season

Securing postseason football and winning one playoff game this year would be considered a successful year by many Dallas Cowboys fans, who saw the team win just seven games in 2024. However, some NFL analysts have higher expectations for the team's defense and offense going into the 2025 season.

Domonique Foxworth of ESPN, during a recent appearance on "Get Up", has created lofty goals for Schottenheimer's team in 2025.

"I think it's the NFC championship game at least," Foxworth said.

According to Foxworth, a team like the Cowboys should always aim to make it to the NFC championship game. He added that injuries were a big factor in the Cowboys' collapse in 2024, and now that key players are healthy again, Dallas should continue to carry high expectations.

The Cowboys had three straight seasons with 12 wins from 2021 to 2023. The barrage of injuries they sustained, particularly to important players, may have contributed to their poor performances last season.

These factors make it reasonable that some have high hopes for the team as it enters a new season under a new coach.

Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.