Brian Schottenheimer’s ‘special’ draft: His first pick, long hours and disagreements

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When Brian Schottenheimer was hired as the 10th head coach in Dallas Cowboys history, he promised Jerry Jones that no one would outwork him.

Schottenheimer mentioned that Saturday night about an hour after his first NFL Draft as a head coach had ended.

From putting together his coaching staff, to adding 13 players through trades and free agency, to their nine-man draft class and nine-man undrafted rookie free agent group, Schottenheimer feels his work has backed up what he told Jones in January.

“It took us a lot of long hours and long, hard conversations,” Schottenheimer said of their draft. “And the beauty of it was all that hard work came together because I really felt like when we got into the draft process, we trusted the process and we trusted the board. I think it just proves that rolling up your sleeves and going to work and having the hard conversations before the weekend hits (pays off).

“When the weekend hits, there’s emotion and there’s things going on. But I thought the leadership of (Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Will McClay) allowed us to stay true to the conversations that we had almost ad nauseam at times. Setting the board, but getting it set right, that allowed us to do that.”

What grade do you give the Dallas Cowboys draft class?

RG Tyler Booker
DE Donovan Ezeiruaku
CB Shavon Revel Jr.
RB Jaydon Blue
LB Shemar James
OL Ajani Cornelius
DT Jay Toia
RB Phil Mafah
DT Tommy Akingbesote

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) April 26, 2025

In the pre-draft news conference, Schottenheimer, who will also be calling the team’s offensive plays, downplayed the significance of the first pick of his head coaching career. Many notable players in Cowboys history have been matched as their head coach’s first pick. From Bob Lilly with Tom Landry and Troy Aikman with Jimmy Johnson to Tyron Smith with Jason Garrett and CeeDee Lamb with Mike McCarthy. Dallas’ first pick this year was Alabama offensive guard Tyler Booker. The Cowboys then used their next eight picks on five defensive players and three offensive players.

Much like with the team’s process in free agency, the draft wasn’t about just upgrading the side of the ball Schottenheimer will be working with the most.

Jerry Jones praised the coach’s knowledge of all the players in this draft class.

“At any point in the draft, someone might mention a player, (and) we hadn’t been sitting there studying and looking in his computer to see,” Jones recalled. “Without even blinking, he knew (the) player. … (He) just knew him as well as anybody in the room. He had obviously given that kind of effort to learn these players.

“I’ll tell you this right now, I don’t know if he’s ever had the opportunity or been in a position of where he could show that in a draft room, but as head coach he can sure show it in this draft room, and does. So, my hat’s off to Schotty. You’ve really done your homework.”

Contrary to popular belief, Jerry Jones allows his head coaches to be heavily involved in the franchise’s draft decisions. Schottenheimer called the owner and general manager’s words “an incredible compliment.”

“It’s the way it should be,” he added. “This is important. We’re building a team. We’re truly building a team. We’re not just collecting talent. And so, to know these guys backwards and forwards and to be able to speak. Look, my input, my decision wasn’t always exactly how maybe it played out. But I feel humbled that he would say that. Again, it’s not about me. It’s about the process and the guys that work together. Whether it’s (national scout) Klein Kubiak, (director of college scouting Mitch LaPoint), (assistant director of college scouting) Chris Vaughn — I mean just all the guys that were involved, it made it really special for me and I’ll remember this first one for a long time.”

Cowboys first-round pick Tyler Booker pic.twitter.com/OevjOpZb0S

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) April 25, 2025

There have been some picks in recent years where it felt like the Cowboys were drafting more for need than the best player available in the early rounds. It seemed to have happened with defensive tackle Trysten Hill in 2019, cornerback Kelvin Joseph in 2021 and defensive tackle Mazi Smith and tight end Luke Schoonmaker in 2023.

This year’s draft didn’t have that feel. Picking Booker in the first round and defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku in the second was certainly not filling their biggest needs, which were No. 2 wide receiver, running back, cornerback and defensive tackle. They addressed three of those four later. Wide receiver No. 2 remains the only glaring need.

When the Cowboys have drafted the best player available, it has led to their best results, most notably Lamb and Micah Parsons.

“I knew going in that, obviously, there’s some incredible minds that have been doing this a long, long, long time at a high level,” Schottenheimer said, “but I was made to feel very comfortable that this would be an organizational decision.

“The disagreements we had two and three weeks ago that we worked out and decided: ‘OK, well, let’s maybe go do a little bit more work on this guy. Hey, let’s throw the film on with the scouts and a couple of the coaches.’ Those things made it to where it was very, very easy. And so, when we debated and had some of these conversations, I feel like we gave Jerry and Stephen the ideas and our thoughts, and they were convicted. They were able to make the decisions, ultimately.

“That doesn’t happen without all the hours of work and disagreements and discussions that happened during the draft readings that we did for three to four weeks.”

Schottenheimer, 51, was an NFL assistant for 25 years. In his first time as a head coach and play caller, no one can say for sure what the results will be on Sundays. But over the last three months, all the signs suggest that his effort won’t be in question.

“When I took the job, I promised Jerry that no one would outwork me in this role,” Schottenheimer said. “So that’s something I’ve really taken to heart and tried to believe in.”

(Photo: Richard Rodriguez / Getty Images)

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