“I think [Brian is] a good football coach. [But] you never know exactly what someone’s going to be when they’re a head coach. We’ll see how it works out.” While Cowboys legend Troy Aikman favored new HC Brian Schottenheimer, he’d also flashed some major concerns. As Aikman had noted, the bar for Schotty is set at the same height as everyone else in the league. And his success will only be determined by “Whether he can win games or not.” And for him leading Dallas to glory, insiders believe he might already be working on a clock.

Back when the move became public, Jerry Jones had talked about the risk, as well as the opportunity Brian Schottenheimer brings to the Cowboys. As Jones had put it, “This is as big a risk as you can take. No head-coaching experience. – But how often do you have someone who has 25 years of experience working through the human relationship? … I like his baggage. I like that experience.” Starting from way back in 1997, Schotty has had a lot of roles in the NFL. But when he took the helm with the Cowboys, the initial reaction was more worry than excitement. While things have certainly turned in his favor this offseason, is it clear skies straight ahead for the new HC?

On a recent edition of 105.3 The Fan’s Below the Belt, Shan and RJ discussed how much time Brian Schottenheimer could need to turn things around in Dallas. The worry around Schotty is, “We talked about how he’s won the offseason and how he’s got goodwill built up at this point. If they start Week 1 or they’re three weeks into the season, they’re 1 and 2, or 0 and 3. There’s gonna be a lot of people turning pretty quickly.” The Cowboys are coming off 3rd in the NFC West with their 7 – 10 record from last season. And there will be a lot of pressure on Schotty to turn things around for the team. And even if it’s his first year as an HC, he already has a deadline, and Jerry Jones might not let him go overtime.

The deadline? As Shan and RJ discussed it, for Brian Schottenheimer, it would be 3 years at the most. As they put it, “Three years makes sense because year one is culture shock. It’s ‘I’m making my changes’ and there’s gonna be things that don’t work out right away. – Year 2, we start seeing some of it take shape, and there are some growing pains. Year 3, you need to be competitive, and year three, you need to show that this can work.” Schottenheimer notably has a 4 year contract with Dallas, and while the first year will be a major adjustment period, years two and three are all going to be about delivering results. And if by that time there are no notable results on the board, time might be running out for Schottenheimer.

If the Cowboys can pull off an explosive season this year, that would silence the doubts around Brian Schottenheimer once and for all. But for Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, will things be smooth sailing from here on out? His future, for one, may be a bigger question mark than his new HC’s.

Is Dak Prescott slipping through the cracks?

Just a couple of weeks ago, Dak Prescott had made a bold claim to the pressers. “I wanna win a championship. Be damned if it’s just for my legacy, for this team, for my personal being, for my sanity – the legacy will take care of itself.” But people around the league are very much worried about the numbers he can post after coming back from an injury that sidelined his 2024 campaign. For a while, back in 2023, it looked like Prescott was ready to lead the Cowboys into the sunset. With 4,516 yards and 36 TDs, he led Dallas to a 12-5 season. But last year? It wasn’t great.

Prescott played just 8 games before an injury sidelined him. During that time, he threw for 1,978 yards and 11 TDs, along with 8 picks. The passer rating that was 105.9 in 2023 (career-best) quickly dropped to a career-worst 86.0. Joe Milton, meanwhile, has garnered quite a lot of attention himself this offseason. With Prescott soon to turn 32, there might be a change under center if the 2025 numbers don’t work in his favor. On the podcast, when a listener asked, “Is the core running out of time for the Cowboys or is it Dak that’s running out of time?” The answer was a crisp, “No, it’s Dak.” There’s also the possibility of Dallas getting a new QB from the stacked talent pool in next year’s draft.

For now, the present is Dak Prescott’s focus. As he notably said, “I have to stay where my feet are.” And the current roster does look like a superhero lineup. With CeeDee Lamb and the latest addition of George Pickens, Prescott has two primed weapons to throw the defenses into chaos. Is this the return of an explosive Dak Prescott under a new regime? Or will it be complete chaos for the Cowboys? We’ll only know for sure when September rolls around.