FRISCO — Many initially questioned the Dallas Cowboys' decision to hire Brian Schottenheimer as the team's next head coach. Schottenheimer suddenly appeared in the coaching search last Monday and by the end of the week, the job was his.
That choice came with heavy backlash given his inexperience as a head coach and his lacking involvement calling a play caller in his short tenure with the Cowboys. Nonetheless, the Cowboys are firm in their belief that they found their guy.
Jerry and Stephen Jones at least presented that case at Schottenheimer's introductory press conference Monday. However, the opinions of the players will correlate more directly to how well this move lands.
Fortunately for all sides, it seems that will not be an issue. Quarterback Dak Prescott voiced his support for Schottenheimer earlier this week, alleviating at least some concern given Prescott will be working closely with his head coach on a day-to-day basis.
But what about the feelings of the less heralded faces of the franchise or those not expected to deliver a politician's response on the big picture questions?
While DeMarvion Overshown had an outstanding campaign for the time he was on the field this season, he still fits the mold of the average player around The Star. Nonetheless, the linebacker shared a glowing 4-word evaluation of his new head coach.
"He's always the coach you can go to and get some type of motivation… when you get a guy a team is gonna play hard for, all 11 guys on the field are gonna play hard every single snap for him, then you've got your coach. I feel like that's what we've got in Schotty," he said.
"Football is his passion. … I can just see it in his face how badly he wants it. … When a coach shows me that side of him, it makes me want to go out there and give 100 percent on every play."
"Football is his passion''? That's a good place to start.
Unfortunately for Overshown, his severe knee injury will keep him off the field for an extended period of time. But based on his comments, it seems Dallas' budding defensive star has already bought into the new regime.
But if that same energy permeates throughout the locker room, perhaps the Cowboys' culture could start to see a turnaround.
