Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson lauds Brian Schottenheimer's offensive prowess while highlighting critical defensive improvements needed for future Cowboys success.
The Dallas Cowboys may not have had the season that they were hoping for in 2025, but that does not mean that their year was without its upsides.
In his first year as the head coach of the Cowboys, Brian Schottenheimer led the team to a 7-9-1 record, as well as one of their better offensive seasons in recent memory.
And legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson gave Dallas their flowers despite missing the playoffs.
The former Cowboys' coach recently appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, and when asked about his former team, Johnson had some high praise for the first-year Dallas coach.
"Brian Schottenheimer did an outstanding job in a difficult situation last year," Johnson said. "They were just horrible on defense, and I think if they can make some corrections on defense. In fact, I talked to Jerry Jones not too awful long ago, after the season, I said you can make some corrections on that defense."
Yes, read that again: Tucked into Jimmy's answer on Schotty is Jimmy's revelation that he's visited with Jerry on the subject.
That's got to be a positive, right?
Johnson knows what he is talking about, as he was a head coach for the Cowboys and led them to back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 1993 and 1994.
So the Hall of Famer knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a winning football team.
Dallas was second in the entire league in total yards over the course of the season, as their offense was a well-oiled machine. But as Johnson noted, it was their defense that was a bit of a problem.
They allowed the third most yards in the league, only behind the Washington Commanders and the Cincinnati Bengals. And to top it all off, they allowed the most passing yards of any team in the league.
"It may not be that you’re going to be dominant, but if you’re just good, just so you’re going to be so good on offense, if you can keep (WR George) Pickens, if you can keep him and get the running back situation going, you can have an outstanding team,'' Jimmy said. "You can make a run at it, because you’re that good offensively, but they’ve got to make the corrections on defense."
Considering the success that Johnson was able to have with the team back in the '90s, the Cowboys might consider listening to their former head coach and improve their defense ahead of the 2026 season.