FRISCO, Texas -- After the Cowboys made the decision to promote offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to be the franchise's 10th head coach, he made an emotional phone call to his mother, Pat, with a clear goal in mind.
"Mama, I'm going to get a chance to get what Daddy didn't get, a Super Bowl, if it kills me. And the first one will be for him."
It's not easy to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father Marty Schottenheimer, but instead of trying to be like his late dad, the younger Schottenheimer made a promise to himself when he took the job that he would heed some advice that Marty passed down to him: Don't change who you are.
"I will always be authentic," Schottenheimer said. "I'm never going to stand up here and pretend to be something I'm not. I think that's a recipe for disaster in this business. I've seen it. I've seen it fail. I think I shared with you what my dad said, 'If you ever get a shot to be a head coach, one thing you should never do is change. Just be yourself.'"
So far, all signs show that Schottenheimer has done just that. From passing out Whataburger to every employee at The Star in Frisco to taking players out for dinner to free throw shooting competitions in the team meeting room, Schottenheimer believes at his core that the camaraderie built now will lead to the success the Cowboys have been longing for.
"I was taught at a young age by my father that you can outwork people in this business. You don't belong in this organization if you don't value relationships," Schottenheimer said.
"This business has never been about Xs and Os. It's about people, and when I thought about it, I can't imagine sitting up here with a better group of people, a better family to do this with. So I thank you guys for that opportunity."
Aside from leading the Cowboys to a Super Bowl, Schottenheimer also has another goal in mind: Build the greatest culture in professional sports. It's something he has emphasized since his introductory press conference, and although he knows it won't happen overnight, Schottenheimer trusts the process he's begun to construct and that his players will come to trust it too.
"There's a standard. The standard is we want to be the best. Will we be the best culture? I don't know, but we're going to try," Schottenheimer said. "And will we make mistakes along with it? Absolutely. We'll make mistakes and then we'll fix things."
"The culture that we're building here is something that I truly believe in and that most of these players that we have, they believe in it. Or if they don't believe in it yet, hopefully then seeing my conviction makes them buy it."
Having a good culture is something that every coach, regardless of the sport, wants. It's a typical buzzword used in the offseason to spur hope for the upcoming year and serves as a positive talking point amongst coaches and players alike.
Culture and energy are good things to have, but will they translate to wins? What happens when times get tough?
Schottenheimer has checked every box he's needed to before playing a game, and he knows that at the end of the day, the job he and his staff do will be judged by wins and losses. But in his mind, the relationships the coaches are building with their players, and that the players build with one another, are indeed intentional because that cohesive atmosphere can be the difference maker during difficult periods.
"For them to share their stories with their teammates allows them when they're out there on the field having a tough day, and it's hot and they're pushing through a padded practice in Oxnard, they're able to truly pull together and work together," Schottenheimer said. "I think that's going to help us finish games, finish practices.
"When you have a tough moment, you have a tough stretch in the season, you work through those problems because they believe in one another, and more importantly, they love one another."
That support doesn't just exist between the 100 yards of grass on the Cowboys' practice field or the turf at AT&T Stadium. For Schottenheimer, there's so much more to football than what happens on the gridiron. He wants to ensure his players know he understands their jobs operate as a two-way street.
"I'm going to support them and talk to them and, 'Hey, what do you need from me? What can I be doing for you? Hey, I'd love to have you here for this. If you can't be here, I get it. It's all voluntary.' I think people do well with very clear, bright lines," Schottenheimer said.
"If I'm calling a player and begging him to come, but yet I don't take the time to go and support him at a foundation event or go take him to dinner, then do I really have what's in their best interest? If our players ever say I don't have their best interest, then I'm not doing my job, and I'm not being authentic to myself."
While some may shrug off the importance of relationship building and making the effort to connect with players, it's clearly working. And doing so has helped Schottenheimer not only get to this point in his career but has also allowed him to surround himself with an inaugural coaching staff that he can lean on across the board. His process started with calling his connections and doing due diligence on coaches across the league.
"I literally call guys in the business that I know and that I trust, and I'm like, 'Hey, tell me about somebody that maybe you think the world of, but that I've never heard of.' And it's such a close-knit fraternity that guys are happy to share good people with other good people," Schottenheimer said.
"I think there are three guys that I've worked with before that weren't carryover guys. When the staff was going to come together, did I think that would be the case? Probably not. But again, the guys that came in, I think we found great teachers. We found guys who were incredible people and have a real big belief in fundamentals."
After an offseason that saw a mostly new staff come to town, it's time for the playbook portion of Schottenheimer's plan to come together. The dinners that he has with his players are one thing to get to know them, but after seeing them on the practice field, he wants to find ways to capitalize on their individual strengths and build his offense around them that way.
"I go back to my days with Pete [Carroll]," Schottenheimer said. "I think if you go back and you look at some of the things we did in Seattle, 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 is not flexible enough to do what your players do well, then you're probably in the wrong business."
Schottenheimer has done everything necessary this offseason to prove that he's in the right business. All his actions, from taking the players to a paintball field to moving players' lockers around in the locker room, has thought behind it. The overarching message? Schottenheimer's mantra is etched on walls and shirts alike inside The Star to remind every player on the roster of their goal throughout the year: Compete every day.
"What makes Dak Prescott better? Joe Milton. What makes CeeDee Lamb better? George Pickens. What makes Jaydon Blue better? Having Javonte Williams," Schottenheimer said. "So when you look at what we're doing, Jerry and Stephen [Jones] and Will [McClay] have done an incredible job of creating that competition across the board at multiple spots.
"You'll see guys who are taking first-team reps. Are they the starters? No. They're just taking first-team reps today. Do we change it up? Of course, we do. Because we're all about creating competition."
The long wait is over for Schottenheimer, and he's got his shot to not only make a statement as an NFL head coach, but to prove that he was meant to be here his whole life. His father made Marty Ball famous, and in a few months, the Cowboys will be introduced to a new philosophy:
Schotty Ball.
"I'm honored and privileged to be the next head coach of the 抖阴视频," Schottenheimer said in his inaugural press conference.
"I'm ready now. I know what I want. I know what it looks like."
