FRISCO, Texas 鈥 "Culture" and "energy" have been the two most commonly used words to describe the approach new Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his staff are taking in their first months on the job.
From the players to the front office, it seems to be resonating, and a new audience was introduced to Schottenheimer's style last week when Cowboys legends like Michael Irvin, Drew Pearson, Randy White and others visited the Star in Frisco to observe practice and even join the team in meeting rooms, all things that Schottenheimer believes are important.
"It's a chance to bring them back, watch them be celebrated, but to begin to develop the relationship," Schottenheimer said. "I want those guys to know they're always welcome and there's a place for them to celebrate the tradition."
It's also a chance for the front office to reconnect with players that brought the Cowboys so much success in their playing days, and Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones is looking forward to continuing to invite the former players back to their old stomping grounds.
"A lot of those guys have had a lot of success wearing the Cowboys star, so it was great to see them out here," Jones said. "I think they really enjoyed what coach Schottenheimer is doing with these players, and I really thought it was a great event and we're going to do it again."
Ever since he took the job in January, Schottenheimer has been very clear that his goal is to bring a Super Bowl back to Dallas. By bringing back former players who have been there and done that for the organization, Schottenheimer wants his team now to see and hear that winning it all isn't something that can just happen overnight.
"I think the more those guys are around, the more we see their Super Bowl rings, which they wear very proudly. I think that's great for our guys because that's why we do it, we don't hide from that. I talk a lot about that, it doesn't mean there's not a process. There's a process that goes into winning a world championship鈥" Schottenheimer said.
"I think it's meaningless to set an arbitrary goal by 'Hey, we want to win ten games, we want to do this,' you know? We want to win a Super Bowl, and we don't hide from that."
Of course, winning the Super Bowl and having good team cohesion is every team's goal in going into every year. It's easy to say in the offseason when there's no games to be won or lost. But from Jones' perspective, Schottenheimer's approach feels different, and he's done more than the Cowboys expected to try and set the building blocks for success.
"The biggest thing of all is between him and his staff, it's authentic. You see the energy, it's natural, it's rubbing off on the players鈥" Jones said. "That's the thing about this game. People start playing this game because they loved it, and you want to make it fun, you want the energy levels high, and I think coach Schottenheimer is getting that done, and is getting it done in a way that the players embrace it and want to be a part of it."
None of this is to say that the Cowboys haven't had good cultures and cohesion in the past, but every once in a while, Jones thinks change is a good thing that benefits everyone.
"We're always looking for ways to be better, we're always talking about culture and everybody wants a winning culture, but I think changing it up is a good thing," Jones said. "I have nothing but respect for coach McCarthy and coach Garrett and what they've brought in the past, but we're always looking for a way to get better because we've got to take this thing to the next level."
And if that next level is winning the Cowboys a Super Bowl for the first time since 1996, then Jones is more than willing to do what it takes and is confident in the organization's choice of Schottenheimer to try and lead them to that point.
"If bringing a different culture helps us get there, then I'm 110% for it, and I think at the end of the day that's why unfortunately whether it's high school, college, pro, that's why people make changes at the top鈥" Jones said. "It was a tough call that we had to make last year, and we feel really good about our choice."
