LIVE: Brian Schottenheimer Press Conference | 6/03/25 | Dallas Cowboys 2025

LIVE: Brian Schottenheimer Press Conference | 6/03/25 | Dallas Cowboys 2025

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Go cowboys. [Music] Go [Music] Cowboys. Heat. Heat. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Go cowboys. [Music] Go [Music] Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Go cowboys. [Music] [Music] Go [Music] Cowboys. Heat. Heat. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Go [Music] Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Go [Music] Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Go cowboys. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Go cowboys. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News. Uh we haven’t seen much of uh Trayvon Digs. So, how’s his rehab going? Yeah, it’s going good. Uh talked to Trayvon last week. Uh he’s down in Miami doing some training and um you know, no timeline for the return, but he had to come back a couple weeks ago to get checked out by the dock and uh all signs are uh positive. I guess things have changed from years ago when guys were always in the facility every almost every day when they’re rehabbing. Considering his the severity of his injury, would you like to see more of him in the building? I think everybody now has their own people that they use. Um it’s kind of the day and age of football. Um but again, it’s all voluntary. He’s been in great communication. Uh we’ve been in contact with his doctors, his rehab people down there, but uh the game has changed. I mean, it’s uh interesting. These guys have been forced to in a lot of ways have to go out and have O line coaches, quarterback coaches, receiver coaches, DB coaches because of the limitations that the league has, you know, rightfully so with the PA negotiated. And um I think um it’s the day in era of football and where we’re at. Brian Todd Art with ESPN uh with Micah. Any assurances that he’ll be here next week for the I would assume. Mike and I talked uh a couple days ago. Um again, he’s doing a little bit of traveling. Uh but again, everything that uh he and I have talked about, I expect that he will be here and uh like I said, I I say it each and every week, Mike and I have had great communication. Everything I’ve asked him to do and vice versa, um he’s followed through on. So, um I would expect to see him. And then, uh last week he brought in former players to be be around everybody meetings. What was the genesis of that idea? What do you think he got? What did you get out of it? Players got out of it? Uh, well, number one, it was one of my favorite days of the offseason. You know, there’s such great tradition and history here with the Cowboys. And you talk about not just the the Super Bowl, you know, trophies, but some of the great players. I mean, to have a chance, I think we had over 25 guys uh that came and attended. Uh, we wanted to open up the team meeting for them. We wanted them to uh kind of see our energy and and and our juice. um the way we like to operate. I think that when you you know talk about these guys paved the way for the guys that sit in those chairs today and to celebrate those guys and to make them feel welcome is too easy. I mean they’re part of our family, you know. Um it’s like having a you know a uncle or a grandfather in some cases uh that you can use as a sounding board, you can use as a mentor. You know, are they going to be friends? Hell, I hope so. But if they’re not, there’s experiences that they can garner from the likes of Randy White, Bob Lily, Michael Irvin, Dat Win. I mean, go round and round about the guys that were here. Um, and I think that’s important. It’s important for our players to see guys that have not only gone out and been incredible football players, whether they’re Ring of Honor, whether they’re um, you know, all pro, all decade team like some of those guys, or whether they’ve gone on to do incredible things in life. And there’s guys that have gone on and have had even more success as entrepreneurs and businessmen. That’s important for our players. You know, football’s going to end for our players at some point. But, uh, more than anything, it was a chance to bring them back. Um, watch them be celebrated, but to begin to develop the relationship, and I want those guys to know they’re always welcome. And, um, there’s a place for them to celebrate the tradition. And um I’d be lying if I said that uh you know Brady James is the only one that might not have had a good day because he lost to Joe Looney in a basketball shooting competition and uh offense wins again. Is is there can this team’s past ever be burdensome with with the Super Bowls and the expectations and all that? Do you ever think that weighs on guys? Uh I don’t think so. Not when the head coach sits up here and talks about the ultimate goal is to win a world championship. Um you know I I think it’s to be celebrated. you know, you you’ve got an incredible organization, incredible team. Um, but the history speaks to what we’re about. And so, I think some people might view it as being burdensome. I don’t. I think it’s awesome. I I think the more those guys are around, the more we see their Super Bowl rings, you know, which they uh wear very proudly. I think that’s great for our guys because that’s why we do it, you know, and we don’t we don’t hide from that. And again, you know, I talk a lot about that like doesn’t mean there’s not a process, right? There’s a process that goes into winning a world championship. You know, it just doesn’t, you know, you talk about the steps to help you get there and we do that quite a bit. You know, you have to, you know, you have to win games at home, you have to win games you’re supposed to win, you have to get into the playoffs and all those things, but um I think it’s uh meaningless to set an arbitrary goal about, hey, we want to win 10 games or we want to do this, you know, we want to win a Super Bowl and uh we don’t hide from that. John Sh with the Athletic. Uh Michael Urban obviously was in the building. He talked about how he liked the competition in the even the meeting rooms talking about how like having a wide receiver on each dry erase board kind of going over plays and things like that. Is that left up to the assistant coaches like each room’s different or is that something top down where you’re like, “Hey, we got to find more ways to make this more interactive.” Michael was talking about like you didn’t see one guy on a phone, you know, and obviously that in the phone era that we’re in, it’s probably difficult. Did you uh Well, I think it shows you that coaches and players have just understood the uh the central theme of the program and that is to compete every day and you know we this is not a random Tuesday for us. We are trying to throw the best practice in the NFL to date today. And can we do that? I don’t know. We’ll see. But um the coaches individually when they break up into the rooms uh kind of the plan for that day was we wanted to have the legends uh I’ll refer to them as legends because they all are uh sit in the room and you know it’s fun for those guys that watch film. They miss it. I mean you can’t not miss it. I mean Babe would speak to that. You know you miss sitting in meeting rooms. You miss the corrections. You miss the the jibing. You know the the fun stuff. But, um, each coach is going to find a way to, uh, we do a lot of trivia, a lot of questions. Uh, and, uh, we we like to compete and there’s always going to be a winner and a loser. And then when we were out there last week, uh, you know, Sam Williams working out of the side, I mean, it looks like he’s doing a lot. What What’s kind of the update with him? When do you expect him to maybe be able to work back in with the team? Yeah, biceps look huge. Uh, I mean, his arms, no, he’s uh, he’s doing great. And again, I think Britt Brown does an incredible job with all those guys. The guys are rehabbing and he looks great. Um, again, no timetable, but again, you guys see him moving and the size and the speed and athleticism. Uh, I run down there and check on those guys a lot just to see how they’re doing. Um, and uh, he and Donno and all those guys, DMO, they’re all doing great. Nick, Nick, Harris, former start, I want to ask about a couple of guys we’ve seen had good days. Miles Sanders on Thursday and Kyer Elim over the last uh, couple weeks. Both of those new additions. What have you seen from those guys in their respective? So, we um I’ll start with Kaier. You know, obviously Florida Gator. Um first round draft pick. You know, sometimes it’s just there there there’s there’s issues with fit. There’s issues with different things, but the talent jumps off the film. Uh we keep track of our players speeds, you know, each week to see who’s hitting top speeds. And like I said, the one thing I’m most proud about is the way our guys run. um you know, pre- snap, but more post snap, the way they run and cover, and he’s been consistently at the top of the skill guys on defense with his top speeds. Uh I think he’s really taken to the system, the coaching from uh you know, DA and and um Andre. So, I think he’s in a really good spot. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, but again, it’s uh I guess we’re June now. So, yeah, we’re June. Uh but we’re still in OTAA football and we’re still limited with what we can do and uh the defense does not have equal right to the football. That that’s that’s the rule. And so therefore DBs have to pull off. But uh from a confidence standpoint, he’s doing great. Um and Miles, I mean, I don’t think I don’t know why anybody would be surprised with Miles’s ability. I mean, you know, having been in the division and played against Miles when he was in Philadelphia, you talk about a guy that’s a home run threat. You talk about a guy that’s got incredible um you know just ability to hurt you running, catching the ball out of the back field, all that stuff. Uh very smart, very bright. All the backs have been that way. Uh but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention they’re both the right type of guy. You know, they both fit into what we’re trying to build as a culture from a work ethic standpoint. They both bring veteran leadership. A little bit different. Miles a little older than Cailler, but um Kaire’s, you know, father, you know, played so he understands the life of professional football. And so, uh, two very exciting guys that we’ve added to the roster amongst many other and you kind of alluded to it already, but how much thought do you put into good days on the field when you can’t really do a whole lot out there? It’s more about learning, you know? I mean, it’s it really is. It’s more about are we are the attention to details with the scheme there? Are our splits right on offense? is our communication right on defense. It’s more of a, you know, when you talk about identity, we want to be a team that plays smart. We want to be a team that doesn’t beat ourselves and we want to be a team that doesn’t have a lot of penalties. So, it’s more of that. Uh, you know, we get a lot out of the walkthroughs. You know, we because that’s kind of the tempo you have to go to. And, um, I’m very pleased with where we are from a, uh, scheme implementation, if you will, uh, both on offense, defense, and special teams. We’re through a lot and we’re in a review day today, which is good. Um, what a review day should bring is really even better details, you know, even better communication, even less errors. And I think that’s the thing that that we want to see from a day like today. Joe, Joe White, DL Sports. One of the things we talked about last year with Eric Hendricks was that he could teach Mike Zimmer system because he knew it so well. Obviously, you guys brought in Jack Samborn who has experience with Mattyuse. Just curious, does Mattyuse assistant, do you think it needed kind of a translator or a guy who had that firsthand experience with it? And and what else have you seen from Samborn since he’s got here? Work ethic jumps off the the tape. Uh the communication I was talking to, you know, he he has the advantage because he’s been in the system. But again, I think Fussu’s system is is so flexible and you know, again, we’re going to always be multiple. Everything we do is going to be multiple on all three phases of the game. And that doesn’t mean that you necessarily ne necessarily have to run a thousand different coverages or run a thousand different plays, but you’re going to dress it up and do things like that. But, uh, Jack’s been incredible. Um, the command also him, I would say, leaning into a couple of the younger backers, you know, Baron and and Shamar. You know, that doesn’t have to happen, but he’s happy to help, which is great. Again, speaks to the fact that, yeah, he’s a competitor. He wants to win the starting job, but uh he’s also willing to, you know, lean into those guys and and answer questions and be a sounding board. And that’s what we want. I mean, you can be a veteran that wants to compete to be a starter, uh, but still help some of the younger guys. There’s not a there’s not a right way or wrong way to do it. And Jack’s a very selfless player that, uh, we’re excited to have Kyleman, Dallas Cowboys TV. We talked to Deone Clark a little bit last week, too. Sticking with linebackers. What have you seen in his progression with this system and how he’s kind of come along this offseason? Yeah, picked it up fast. Uh I think the way he’s diagnosing things looks quicker to me than maybe in the past. A little bit more command of it. Uh the the physical traits have always been there and I think the the connection that he has with uh Flu, Coach Borgzi, I think that’s important. I know most guys are that way, but I think Dean um he’s such a pleaser. he wants to do things the right way that I think that relationship that he’s developed with with Dave Borganzi uh is incredible and again that’s that’s what this time of year is about as well. It’s uh again like we’ve said you know what what are we doing to connect the coaches to the players the players to the staff and um I think that you know Dave’s done a really good job of capturing not just the moan but really that entire linebacker room because there’s a ton of new faces in there. So, so obviously the athletic Brian, you were asked earlier about the burden of the Super Bowls, but the outside perception is, you know, even though it’s your first year running the program, it’s a 30-year drought. Does the drought um for of the Super Bowls weigh on you at all? How how do you kind of navigate that, you know, having clean slate that you have versus the history that Yeah, I don’t get caught up in the drought. This is one year. I mean, this is the first year of mine. I mean, I’ve been here a couple years. Uh but you know when the season’s over, we move on. We do. You move on. So 2024 is over. Now it’s 2025. Are we going to win the Super Bowl this year? I hope. I think we are. Uh if we don’t, you move on. You go to 2026 and and beyond. But like to sit here and say that we worry about, you know, when the last time it was was 96. Is that when the last one was? You know, I mean, I know that stat, but I don’t stay up at night going, man, it’s been x amount of years. uh I’m not wired that way because I’m competing every day to try to win a Super Bowl. And so if I’m looking back and I’m worried about that, then guess what? I’m not focused on what really matters, which is making sure we throw an incredible practice today. And then uh it’s been a few years since Nick has been in the special teams uh realm going back to y’all’s time together in Jacksonville. Just where is he at in the process of you know getting the way that he wants the unit to be moving and things like that and and you know the players as well with him? Yeah. So that’s a great question. Um, Nick is an incredible football coach. I Here’s my belief with football coaches in general, and again, I think our staff’s incredible, but you can find great coaches anywhere. And when you’re a really good coach, you could coach any any phase. Nick’s an incredible coach. And so, uh, other than the the kickoff rule because when we were in Jacksonville, it was a regular kickoff. So, now it’s like, yeah, it looks a little different. So, uh, that’s been an adjustment for him. Uh, Carlos Poke and he were together in Jacksonville. That’s why getting Carlos here, who’s a another Cowboys legend. We actually celebrated him amongst the Bob Lilies and Randy White. Not quite the same uh crowd appreciation from our players, but Carlos is seen as a Cowboys legend. This is I think his third or fourth tour duty here. U but Nick’s doing great. You know, again, it’s a a deal where we’re preaching speed, violence, and finish. And that’s what Nick’s coached from the time he played special teams for 14 or 12 years, whatever it was, and uh what he’s coached coaching the DBs. And so football’s football, man. Fundamentals are fundamentals. It’s running, it’s hitting, it’s tackling. And he’s one of the best I’ve ever been around at teaching that. Jar Jared Podell, CBS Sports. Brian, looks like Kenneth Murray, who you traded for, has been running with the ones a lot through OTA. What have you seen from him coming over from Tennessee so far? Well, I’m going to go back. We played actually on my 50th birthday a couple years ago. We played in uh LA, played the Chargers. And I remember they had him and Kendricks uh and and E’s a great player, too. But I remember going into that game really concerned about I think he’s wearing number nine, I think. Um but the athleticism, the power, uh the ability to diagnose, excellent tackler, physical. Uh so a guy we’ve been watching for a couple years. Um again, right now we’re not doing ones and twos. We’re rotating things around as we create competition, but uh he is not disappointed. You know, the same player that we saw uh in LA a couple years ago on Monday night, I think it was, is the same guy that we’re seeing every day out there at practice. Um really a great feel, understands how to defeat blocks and and and fit gaps. And that’s a big part of a guy that’s got veteran experience and and leadership, quite honestly. John Jonah Jabat, WFAA. Brian, your enthusiasm in practice, your energy with players, you know, from what we see and from what we’ve heard from players, it kind of jumps out to us. How important is that to you as a head coach to kind of bring that to your guys? Why do you feel that’s important and what was the genesis of all that? Has that just been rooted in you from day one or did you have to practice that as a coach versus maybe as a player? Well, it’s actually funny that you asked me that question. And and I’ll answer and the reason I I smile is the way we practice and the way that I act at practice. My father is looking down from heaven going, “What are you doing?” Like that’s not how you practice. But my father also coached a long time ago. And the type of athletes and type of young men that we’re dealing with has changed. Um, I believe that it’s the coach’s responsibility first and foremost to create a great practice environment. What do I mean by that? If we don’t have energy and we’re not into it and we’re not running around and we’re not talking then the players aren’t going to be able to do that because they’re going to follow our lead. And when we show them that we’re going to let our personality shine and we’re going to be who we are and be joyful out of practice, then they’re going to do that. And I think what I would say reminded me of that and what I really fell for that was my years in Seattle. I think I’ve talked to you guys a little bit about Pete. I mean I remember Pete being sorry Pete if you’re if I’m wrong 72 or one at the time and him running around the practice field with more energy than me who was 40some at the time. I’m like damn I got to get in shape. Um, but I believe it like he I watched some incredible athletes that late in the season went out to practice and maybe they didn’t really feel like practicing, but when the coaches bring the juice and the energy and the vibe, then they’re going to follow suit and um that’s really uh impacted me uh at a high level. Scott, our last one, Scott Dixon with the AP back on Mike. You said when this off season was getting cranking, you wanted him to be present in from a leadership point of view. You just talked about the communication with him being good. I wondered how he was sort of meeting that hope and expectation of you of being around enough to where his sort of leadership presence is felt. Yeah. I mean, again, being present doesn’t necessarily mean being here all the time. Doesn’t mean necessarily having to practice. It means being present, being around the guys. I mean, um, we all don’t see the things that some of these guys do away from here. There’s a lot of work being done away from here, whether it’s uh with other players in the NFL, our guys, things like that. And uh again, you know, the thing that I know about Micah is Micah wants to be here. He’s excited about what we’re building. He’s been a big proponent of that and uh you can lead a lot of different ways and this is a business and uh they’re working through the business uh part of this deal. But again, everything I’ve asked him to do, everything that that I’ve required, no different than everybody that’s here, he’s been great with. And so that gets me excited and uh I’m a big fan of Micah. Awesome. Thanks, guys. See you at practice. Now I got to stretch cuz I got to run and be energetic. [Music] Go Cowboys. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]

Join HC Brian Schottenheimer from the @thestarinfrisco for a press conference presented by @pepsi.

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