Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
Jan 27, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer and owner Jerry Jones speak to the media at a press conference at the Star.
At 3-5, the Dallas Cowboys are floundering in a season when it appears that the NFC East should be theirs for the taking, and second-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer is a big reason why.
Rather than interviewing big names such as Ben Johnson or Liam Coen after the departure of Mike McCarthy, Jones and the Cowboys promoted Schottenheimer, their offensive coordinator at the time, to the head coach position.
He’s now 10-14-1 across 1.5 seasons in Dallas and has just one win streak of any kind over that time. But Jones is sticking by his head coach.
“A lot of people let Brian down today, and so for whatever criticism we want to have of Brian, we can all get in line,” Jones said after the Cowboys’ horrific loss to the Arizona Cardinals over the weekend.
Schottenheimer is also believed to be one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the league, with reports estimating he earns around $4.5 million per season. That’s a quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs reportedly pay Andy Reid.
But don’t expect Jones to change course anytime soon.
Jerry Jones on the narrative that he won’t pay top money for a head coach.
“There’s zero correlation between how much you pay a coach or how many coaches you have, to winning. There’s no correlation. That’s a random sample of years and all 32 teams involved, so put that in your hopper and smoke it.”
Said on @1053thefan.
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) November 3, 2026
Jerry Jones Tries To Justify Cheaping Out On Dallas Cowboys Head Coach
In theory, coach salaries are an area where the Cowboys should have a massive advantage. Dallas is the most valuable franchise in the league, and there’s no cap on spending for coaching or front office positions.
Instead, Jones has routinely opted to go the cheap route, with Schottenheimer making the same amount of money he paid Bill Parcells in 2003.
When asked about why he refuses to spend big in the coaching market, Jones lashed out.
“There’s zero correlation between how much you pay a coach or how many coaches you have, to winning,” he said on local radio station 105.3 The Fan. “There’s no correlation. That’s a random sample of years and all 32 teams involved, so put that in your hopper and smoke it.”
Notably, Sportico reports that Reid, John Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Sean McVay, and Kyle Shanahan are the five highest-paid coaches in the NFL. They have six Super Bowl victories between them.
So not only is Jones cheap, but he’s also wrong. Sorry, Cowboys fans. But it seems things aren’t going to change anytime soon.