The 2026 season marks the second in which Brian Schottenheimer is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. By all measures, to this point obviously, his second year promises to be significantly different from his first.
Defining success for a Cowboys head coach has been difficult ever since the onset of The Drought™. This is a franchise fighting a now officially 30-year old (and counting) shadow and so to some nothing is truly success except escaping it.
Speaking pragmatically, reaching the playoffs is
a good place to start. The Cowboys missed the playoffs in Schotty’s first season and the one that preceded it, so missing out again would mean over 1,000 days with no postseason activity.
Schottenheimer is the 10th head coach in franchise history, and interestingly it is sort of a coin-flip as to whether or not one reaches the playoffs by their second season in charge:
- Tom Landry……….. No
- Jimmy Johnson….. No
- Barry Switzer……… Yes
- Chan Gailey………… Yes
- Dave Campo……….. No
- Bill Parcells………… Yes
- Wade Phillips……… Yes
- Jason Garrett………. No
- Mike McCarthy…….. Yes
This is admittedly a bit arbitrary. Football has changed a lot since the Cowboys were founded in 1960 so you have to understand there is context necessary for each and every situation.
Still though, for the most part, recent history suggests that the Cowboys should reach the playoffs by a head coach’s second season in charge. Three of the last four have done so with Jason Garrett being the exception, and for what it’s worth the Cowboys had de facto playoff games in the final week of his first two regular seasons. Not the same, but again, context.
For the most part fans are feeling that the Cowboys are a playoff-caliber team this season. They have to play the games. You don’t make it in August. All of that stuff.
But it stands to reason that the Cowboys will be a playoff team before Schotty’s second season is over.
Right?
