The 2025 season didn’t go the way the Dallas Cowboys hoped, but if you ask tight end Jake Ferguson, there’s still a strong belief in the man now steering the ship: head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
After stepping up from offensive coordinator to head coach following the departure of Mike McCarthy, Schottenheimer inherited a roster with talent, expectations, and pressure that comes with leading the most scrutinized franchise in football. The Cowboys showed flashes throughout the year, but ultimately stumbled to a 7-9-1 finish, falling short of a playoff berth.
That record sparked plenty of questions about Schottenheimer’s readiness to lead. But inside the locker room, Ferguson made it clear: the players are buying in.
“There's a sense of, ‘Oh, this guy might talk the talk, but does he walk it?’” Ferguson said during an appearance on Good Morning Football.
“What he's talking about, he's doing. He stays consistent, never gets complacent, and he means what he says.”
That kind of endorsement matters, especially coming from a player who had a breakout season of his own. Ferguson hauled in 82 catches for 600 yards and eight touchdowns across 17 games, becoming a reliable target and a key piece of the Cowboys’ offensive identity. His production helped power a unit that, despite the team’s struggles, was one of the league’s most explosive.
Let’s put it in perspective: the Cowboys led the NFL with 4,735 passing yards, ranked fifth with 31 passing touchdowns, and added a top-10 ground game with 2,136 rushing yards and 18 rushing scores. The offense wasn’t the problem - it was a group that could move the ball, score in bunches, and keep defenses on their heels.
And that’s where Schottenheimer’s fingerprints are all over this team. Even in a season that fell short of expectations, his offensive scheme delivered production. Now, the challenge is translating that into wins.
Ferguson also pointed to Schottenheimer’s football lineage - his father, Marty Schottenheimer, was one of the most respected coaches of his era - and said the younger Schottenheimer is living up to that legacy.
“He’s just another great player’s coach I’ve had,” Ferguson said. “To know that his legacy comes from great coaches throughout his family - his father was a great coach - and he’s just next in line.”
But Schottenheimer isn’t leaning on family name or offensive stats to justify the season. After a 34-17 loss to the Giants in the finale, he faced the music head-on.
“I did not think that we would be 7-9-1,” Schottenheimer said. “I didn’t think that we wouldn’t be in the playoffs.
I expected to be in the playoffs and competing for the Super Bowl. We did not do that.
That starts with me. And I understand that.”
That’s not coach-speak - it’s accountability. And it came with a promise.
“We’re gonna get to the bottom of it,” he said. “We’re gonna work our asses off to figure it out. We’re gonna adjust and make changes that we need to do to help us get there.”
The Cowboys have the offensive firepower. If they can shore up the defensive side of the ball and find more consistency overall, they’ll be back in the mix in a wide-open NFC.
The pieces are there. The belief, at least inside the building, is there too.
Now it’s about turning that belief into results.