FRISCO — Professional sports franchises preach culture to foster new ways of life for a first-year coach or as a reason for continued success.
You can look at the New England Patriots, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs. The then-Oakland Athletics (remember the movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt?).
The Oklahoma City Thunder have their own winning culture.
The Philadelphia 76ers had “The Process.”
Cowboys
In his first year as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Brian Schottenheimer is trying to establish a winning culture that can help end a 30-year Super Bowl drought.
Late Sunday afternoon after the Cowboys play the New York Giants in a regular-season finale in East Rutherford, N.J., the review of this 2025 season will begin.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer celebrates with quarterback Dak Prescott (4) after a 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL football game at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
This is where The Culture of Schotty comes into play.
Every coach has a way of going about their business. Schottenheimer, 52, has helped the Cowboys get through an emotional season that started with the hold-in and eventual trade of their best defensive player; the season-long struggles of the defense; a trade for an elite defensive tackle; the sudden death of teammate Marshawn Kneeland by suicide; and fines and benching of star players.
Schottenheimer navigated it with the culture he set when he was hired in January 2025.
A strong culture alone cannot win games — talented players do — but having standards for your organization helps when difficult times occur.
“I think the culture is made up of the people,” Schottenheimer said. “I think we have the right people. When you have the right people, you have someone like myself that can kind of direct the vision of what you want. I think the buy-in is pretty good, but you’d have to ask them.”
‘He’s brought us together’
At the start of the 2025 offseason, star pass rusher Micah Parsons was seeking a new contract, but talks with the Cowboys had stalled. Under previous coach Mike McCarthy, Parsons was an infrequent participant in the offseason program. McCarthy had pushed Parsons to become more of a leader.
In Schottenheimer’s first year on the job, he asked Parsons to attend at least the first day of the offseason program. The new head coach understood Parsons wanted a new deal and supported him. When training camp started, Parsons conducted a hold-in and Schottenheimer had one request: wear a jersey on the practice field. Parsons complied for all but one day of camp.
Schottenheimer never wavered, and Parsons respected that, but the team traded Parsons a week before the start of the season, pushing Schottenheimer into his first crisis as coach. He went into the season without one of the top players in the NFL.
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Regardless of who the Cowboys had or didn’t have on the roster, Schottenheimer preached the same thing: compete.
A pingpong table was installed in the middle of the locker room, where players had daily games. In the team room, players had a basketball goal. In Schottenheimer’s office, there was a putting green.
The team kept score on who won and lost.
On the practice field, certain days had themes: Competition Wednesday; No Turnover Thursday; Focus Friday.
“It’s structure,” tight end Jake Ferguson said. “You call it No Turnover Thursday, but at the same time, it’s telling your body clock this is what you need to be, in my eyes.”
Tackle/guard Tyler Smith said the appointed days “inspire competition on a deeper level, just to keep us in it.”
Schottenheimer also pushed the importance of the locker room.
“He has an understanding of the most important room in this building, and it’s the locker room,” Smith said. “He’s brought us together in a variety of ways. He just fires us [up] to compete in many different ways throughout the year. Compete through all the ups and downs and the adversity we’ve been through. I really enjoy that part of the journey, establish that culture in some of the things we wanted to build upon as our team and family unit.”
Handling adversity
How a rookie head coach handles adversity can show plenty about who he is and if the team will follow. The Cowboys fined now-released cornerback Trevon Diggs numerous times this season for being late to various team functions — meetings and rehab sessions. Schottenheimer wanted Diggs to practice harder and within the scheme before he would be cleared from injured reserve.
Diggs was cleared to return from his injuries Dec. 20, but when he refused to get on the team plane back to Texas after a win at the Washington Commanders on Christmas Day, club officials released him five days later.
Even before the release of Diggs, Schottenheimer had benched star receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens for violating team rules — Lamb for missing curfew and Pickens for missing curfew and the team bus before a Nov. 17 road game at Las Vegas.
“Our ability to be a professional, he holds us to a high standard and obviously discipline is necessary,” Lamb said. “And when [we] acted out of pocket, for him, it was more of just proclaiming his dominance, establishing a culture here and what he expects out of each and every one of us and I feel like he is very clear with that this season, and we just got to finish out this game.”
Both players took the discipline in stride and following a touchdown during the game Schottenheimer hugged them.
“I don’t change who I am,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, it’s like when I discipline with my kids, you know, they don’t want to talk to me for a while. But then, after a while, I’m like, ‘Come on now, hey, dad is being like …’ you know? And I mean, I’m very approachable, and I don’t shy away from them. Like, you know, when you saw my reaction in Vegas — I love these guys. I really do.”
It’s fair to say Schottenheimer has shown tough love for his star players. But it also extends to rookie running back Jaydon Blue, who has been inactive for 12 games as the team pushes him to improve in various ways on the field. In early October, Schottenheimer told the media that Blue had to change his Louis Vuitton cleats during a practice because it gave him blisters.
“Yesterday a little questionable decision,” Schottenheimer said at the time.
It wasn’t meant to call out Blue — though some could perceive it that way —but an example that Schottenheimer wanted the rookie to come prepared to practice with the right footwear.
“Guys mess up,” tackle Terence Steele said. “They own up to their actions and really it’s supposed to stay in the group, in the locker room. Guys want to be responsible, obviously they mess up and we’re human. We’re not going to be perfect. You own up to the mistakes and they learn from it.”
Schottenheimer’s most difficult moments in his first year as head coach came on Nov. 6.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer wears a Marshawn Kneeland shirt before an NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Las Vegas.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland committed suicide near the team practice facility at The Star. It devastated the Cowboys as they entered a bye week.
The NFL and the Cowboys provided grief counselors for the players, and a prayer vigil was held at The Ford Center with the coaches and their families. Dallas pastor Dr. Tony Evans, a former team chaplain, returned for support.
“Schotty’s been key,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “First and foremost, just genuine and real and raw through it all, whether it be the trades earlier, whether losing Marshawn, showing his emotions, being vulnerable but also like holding those conversations, being accountable to the time of him adding Brotherhood Breakfast, and him just being conscious of giving us more time to have meaningful conversations with substance. They’ve been a key to keeping things together.”
The Brotherhood Breakfast, started by McCarthy, has become even more focused as players gather to talk about not just football, but life issues as well.
“The culture gets tested a lot, like with obviously with Marshawn,” long snapper Trent Sieg said. “That is so much pressure put on the team and so many guys had a relationship and love for him and just mourning in their own way, and I think [Schottenheimer] did a great job of handling that, which no coach wants to handle that, along as a first-year coach. That, I do think a losing streak, reveals culture.”
Can’t question the culture
The Cowboys started the season 3-5-1 before a deal at the trade deadline to acquire defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. A three-game winning streak put the team in playoff contention before a 44-30 loss at Detroit started a three-game losing streak.
As the season comes to a close, Schottenheimer has stated that every game matters. He admits it “sucks” not being eligible for the postseason, but he believes his culture is working.
It’s easier to talk about building a successful culture when you’re winning, but after what the Cowboys have gone through this season, there’s no questioning what Schottenheimer has accomplished in Year 1.
“I appreciate it a lot,” Prescott said of the rookie head coach. “You say young coach, but the more time you spend around Schotty you don’t get that feel of a young coach. You get the feel of a guy whose been in it his whole life.”
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