The AT&T Stadium will be bustling with intensity during the Week 15 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. But for some fans, maybe it will be a reminder of the long association of head coaches Brian Schottenheimer and Kevin O’Connell, more than anything… the opponents who once planned together. The story goes 15 seasons back and involves the GOAT, Tom Brady.

“Whenever we played the Patriots, Rex Ryan and the defensive staff took Kevin for that entire week to not only be the scout team quarterback, but because he knew Tom Brady’s mannerisms and calls and checks, he literally helped come up with blitzes and blitz packages,” Schottenheimer revealed on the December 12 episode of the Cowboys Huddle show with Will McClay. “I’ll never forget playing in Foxborough one game. We had a free runner for a sack on Tom.”

The story begins in 2008 with Kevin O’Connell as a quarterback and Brian Schottenheimer as the Jets’ offensive coordinator. The New England Patriots drafted O’Connell in the third round (94th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft as Brady’s backup. But he failed to seize the right opportunities and couldn’t impress Bill Belichick. As a result, they waived him in 2009, and the Detroit Lions grabbed the Vikes HC. They traded him to the Jets before the 2009 season for a seventh-round 2011 draft pick. That’s when both met for the first time.

The Jets had drafted Mark Sanchez in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2009 Draft. While he was the starter, O’Connell took on the scouting report duties as the third quarterback on their depth chart. However, then-Jets head coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine wanted some insider knowledge on Brady & co. from the Vikes HC, who spent the entire 2008 season there.

Then-Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum also observed that O’Connell was great at designing attacks and offensive protection. The regular meetings helped the Jets come up with a blitz in one game that led to Brady’s sack. In his three seasons with the Jets, he helped his team go 3-4 against the Pats, even winning the divisional round game in 2010.

However, there was one moment that made the Cowboys’ head coach realize that the Vikes HC would be a better coach than a player.

Brian Schottenheimer reveals the moment his stance changed on Kevin O’Connell

The Vikes head coach always sat on the Jets’ sidelines fully dressed up. He often had animated reactions whenever they were up against the Pats. When the Cowboys’ HC saw him once, he could see the qualities needed to become a head coach.

“Kevin’s over there with his gear on, his uniform and everything, just going crazy, and at that point, I was like, ‘Yep, this guy’s got the bug; this guy’s going to be a coach, and he’ll be a damn good coach,’ which he certainly is,” Schottenheimer recalled.

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By 2012, the Cowboys’ HC even called his Week 15 opponent Coach O’Connell. In March that year, Rex Ryan called O’Connell to inform him about the team’s decision to let him go, but he didn’t answer the call. Ryan left a voicemail and also tried to find out if Vikes HC was interested in transitioning from player to coach. Kevin O’Connell still has that voicemail saved on his phone. And the rest is history.

As the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2015, Pettine gave O’Connell his first coaching assignment as QB coach. A decade later, Pettine is the Vikings’ assistant head coach. The Week 15 game will be emotional for the coaches who once planned plays to win. But don’t mistake anyone for going easy on their rivals.

Both teams are in playoff contention. It means the intensity will be crazier than the bright sunlight, which comes through those gigantic windows at AT&T and has blinded receiver CeeDee Lamb occasionally.