ARLINGTON, Texas 鈥 After nearly three decades of waiting for his turn to be an NFL head coach, Brian Schottenheimer now has his first win as one with the 抖阴视频 following a 40-37 victory Sunday afternoon over the New York Giants.
Overcome with emotions, Schottenheimer was presented the game ball in the locker room following the game by Dak Prescott and Jerry Jones.
"I was really good coming off the field. And then when Dak presented me, he and Jerry presented me with the game ball, that was pretty special for me," Schottenheimer said.
"Cool way to win your first game. You know, you'll remember it forever, but the words that Dak and the players said to me after the game is why it's so special. It's, I expect the first of many, but I'll remember this one forever because of the fight in these guys."
For as long as the wait was for Schottenheimer to become an NFL head coach, the week leading up to his first win seemed much longer. Schottenheimer's 82-year-old mother, Pat, fell at the airport on Friday and broke her arm, which ended up making her unable to make the game. Furthermore, Schottenheimer's dogs both suffered snake bite injuries, which resulted in a big vet bill.
"I figured something had to flip into good because this has been a crazy week," Schottenheimer said. "But man, I just again, I'm such a blessed man, my family, but those guys in the locker room, that is my family too, and I love those guys and I'm so proud of them."
Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones knew he was taking a gamble when he hired Schottenheimer as the franchise's head coach earlier this year. Schottenheimer's first win as a head man showed Jones that he can find a way to prevail in any scenario.
"Seen a lot of victories in his lifetime, his father's lifetime, that was his first one out there and what a way to get it," Schottenheimer said. "If Brian can get one like that, then he's got the belief, he knows he can win them at any time, any place. Proud for everybody in there, it was a big win."
Jones wasn't the only one in the locker room who believed in Schottenheimer. He's got the backing of the locker room, especially Prescott, who gave his head coach the game ball after leading the 24th game winning drive of his career in Dallas.
"Told him how much we all appreciated him," Prescott said of the moment. "Told him that game was the epitome of him and his coaching style, just the resiliency he has and the way he carries himself, the way he coaches. The standard is the standard, and at the end of the day that's winning鈥"
"He deserved that first win. Tough one to get, fun one to get, very fun one to get, and I know he'll never forget it. I won't forget it, I'm sure every guy in that locker room won't forget this one."
The one aspect of the game that Schottenheimer won't forget the most is the fact that he had Brandon Aubrey on the sideline. Aubrey hit all four of his field goal attempts from 44, 46, 51 and 64 yards including a game-tying make as the fourth quarter ended and game-winning field goal in overtime. Schottenheimer was comfortable with Aubrey kicking from 70-yards down the stretch, and his kicker showed him why.
"He's incredible and just unshakable," Schottenheimer said. We see it every day from him. But I mean, those big kicks man, you guys have a better vantage point than I do. I kind of can tell whether they're going in or not, but I think most of them are right dead down the center. The operation was great too鈥 what a weapon."
It's games like these aren't fun to look back and create the "after-action reports" for, because there will be plenty of notes. The positive that Schottenheimer takes away from it is that the next time Dallas faces a situation like this, they'll have experience in how to handle it.
"We're going to be in this situation again," Schottenheimer said. "We're going to be in a situation where we're in overtime or we're down and we give up a big play to go back down. So you draw strength from that. You draw experience from that. Hey, we've been here before."
Schottenheimer will stick to his father Marty's midnight rule, which allows him to celebrate the victory until midnight before moving on and getting ready for his Week 3 matchup against the Chicago Bears. In a night that will include a few of his signature "Schotty" cocktails, Dallas' head coach can go to sleep for the first time as a winner.
"Learning to win is important in this league, and our guys learned how to win tonight," Schottenheimer said. "They found a way, and that's what matters."
