Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams during Organized Team Activities at The Star in Frisco, Texas, June 4, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
FRISCO — Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams hasn’t been in his role for long. If things keep progressing, it won’t be long before he’s in his next role.
Adams was one of 16 coaches selected for the NFL’s coaching accelerator program, which took place during league meetings in May. The program was initially started in 2022 with an eye on increasing opportunities for diverse candidates. It was paused in 2024 so it could be “reimagined,” according to an ESPN report. It was then re-established this year with an expanded focus at “qualified senior candidates of all backgrounds,” according to a memo obtained by ESPN.
For Adams, 43, participating in the program is the surest sign of his potential coaching rise — because the league believes it.
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“I think the NFL does a great job with that, of getting the right people there. And Klayton certainly deserves it,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday. “You can’t watch him run an offensive unit meeting and not be impressed with his leadership, his personality.”
That part of Adams’ coaching career has been constant. He started his coaching career at his alma mater, Boise State, as a graduate assistant in 2005. He’s coached offensive line — a specialty for the former college offensive lineman — tight ends and even a stint as a co-offensive coordinator at Colorado in 2018. He’s been in a lot of football meeting rooms. Schottenheimer said the respect players have for Adams is “unmatched.”
Cowboys right guard Tyler Booker added credence to that claim.
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“You just know characteristics of a man who could lead other men,” Booker said, “and he definitely has all those. So I’m very excited to go out and score points with him this season.”
The Cowboys offense did a lot of that in Adams’ first season as an offensive coordinator. Dallas scored the fifth-most points in the NFL during the regular season. The running game — where Adams’ fingerprints were most left during his first season with the Cowboys — was sixth in terms of average yards per carry as a team (4.6). Starting running back Javonte Williams had a career-best year that netted him a new three-year deal, but other running backs had success when called upon, too. Veteran Malik Davis, for example, went from a late training camp signing to averaging 4.8 yards per attempt for the Cowboys. He even had an 100-yard rushing game for the first time.
With a lot of returners, the Cowboys hope to take the next step as an offense. They hope to evolve. That means an evolution for Adams, too.
“It’s been fun for me to watch him do the passing install. I think if you would ask him last year that he was going to do the pass install, he probably would have maybe thrown up in his mouth a little bit,” said Schottenheimer, who plans to always be the full-time play caller as long as he’s head coach in Dallas. “But he’s up there, just ripping it, and it’s been really cool to see.”
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams (left) share a laugh during practice at The Star in Frisco, November 14, 2025.
Tom Fox/Staff Photographer
Schottenheimer said he’s also been challenging Adams this offseason. He said it’s similar to how Pete Carroll challenged him when Schottenheimer was Carroll’s offensive coordinator in Seattle. The crux of the challenge, according to Schottenheimer: “What do you believe in?”
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Right now, Adams’ beliefs — and his motivations — lie where his feet are located.
“I try to think of it as, all right, now I need to double down and dig in harder on what I’m doing, because I always want to keep both eyes on my job,” Adams told the NFL Network during the accelerator program last month when asked about his increased coaching interest. “I don’t think you get the next opportunity until you’ve mastered the opportunity you’re in. I just look at all the stuff we’ve done the last year in Dallas. You see a lot of holes and things we want to get better at, so that’s been my primary focus.”
At one point during that NFL Network interview Adams was asked about how he personally handles his rising coaching career. After an initial deflection, Adams was asked if he gets recognized in Dallas. Adams deflected that, too.
“I am a pretty average looking normal dude,” Adams said. “I don’t wear a whole bunch of Cowboys stuff. Try not to get yelled at by my wife. Just stay in my zone.”
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It’s worked for him so far. It could help him become a head coach soon, too.
“One thousand percent, I could definitely see him being a head coach,” Booker said.