'I know he's proud': Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer leans on life lessons from dad, Marty

FRISCO, Texas -- There is simply a motion connected the backmost of Brian Schottenheimer's table that reads: "A bully manager tin alteration a game. A large manager tin alteration a life."

Entering his archetypal play arsenic the Dallas Cowboys caput coach, Schottenheimer is not conscionable trying to unrecorded up to those words; helium tries to pb the mode his father, Marty, led 4 teams for 21 years arsenic a caput manager successful the NFL.

Father's Day has ever been peculiar for Brian, not conscionable due to the fact that helium has 2 children, but the enslaved helium built with his father, who passed distant successful 2021 from Alzheimer's, incapable to spot 1 of his dreams travel existent erstwhile Marty was named the 10th manager successful Cowboys history.

"I cognize he's proud," Schottenheimer said, pausing due to the fact that of emotion. "I miss him ... I would archer him that I've utilized each the beingness lessons that helium taught me, not conscionable astir football. But astir beingness and being a bully antheral and bully hubby and bully begetter and that I deliberation I'm doing OK for myself."

Schottenheimer has leaned into the transportation betwixt coaches and players successful his archetypal offseason with the Cowboys, trying to physique a enslaved disconnected the tract that volition hopefully interaction the on-field productivity. He held a crawfish boil and paintball crippled connected his archetypal 2 days of the offseason program. There person been regular escaped propulsion shooting competitions -- walk rusher Sam Williams was named the offseason victor -- and putting competitions.

His taxable is "Compete Every Day."

It's thing helium learned from his dad.

Asked if determination was a infinitesimal successful the offseason that would beryllium the archetypal communicative helium would person told his father, Schottenheimer pointed to his introductory property conference. He was tense and emotional, unaware it was going to beryllium successful the main atrium astatine The Star.

"When I turned the corner, I saw the players, each the players that were here, and helium would cognize the information that each those players showed up that I'm doing it the close way," Schottenheimer said. "I'm doing it done connection. I'm doing it done love. I'm doing it done foodstuff and energy. And that really calmed maine down. It truly did.

"I was tense and excited astatine the aforesaid time. When I saw each those players waiting for maine close astir the corner, it wholly enactment maine astatine peace."

Schottenheimer said helium present leans connected immoderate of his father's friends, similar Bill Cowher, an adjunct manager nether Marty earlier becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers' caput coach. Invariably, helium volition beryllium stopped by radical crossed the league earlier games with a communicative astir his father.

"I'll person 2 oregon 3 antithetic individuals travel up to maine and say, 'Excuse me, coach. Do you person a second?' And I cognize precisely wherever they're going," Schottenheimer said. "I driblet what I'm doing, due to the fact that I privation to perceive it. They say, 'Your begetter changed my life.' And it's his erstwhile players.

"He ne'er won a Super Bowl. He won implicit 200 games successful the NFL, but I would enactment his bequest up with anyone that's ever coached the game."