FRISCO, Texas -- On most Tuesdays during the offseason, Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has spent dinnertime with different groups of players. Offense, defense, special teams.
By his count, he's up to about 40 players.
The purpose: to get to know his players beyond what they can do on the field and to foster relationships between those who spend most of their days with teammates in their position group or on their side of the ball.
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"My wife will tell you this: I'm the first one, we'll go to dinner, and I'm always the one to ask a question and challenge the room about something," Schottenheimer said. "So it starts pretty quick when they sit down."
Schottenheimer is entering his second season as the Cowboys' head coach. His first season ended with a 7-9-1 record. It was marked by highs, such as beating the previous season's Super Bowl participants -- Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs -- in back-to-back weeks, and lows with a defense that finished last in the league in points allowed and led to a personnel revamp.
He also shepherded the team through the tragedy of Marshawn Kneeland's death.
There are no manuals to follow for a first-time head coach, but Schottenheimer earned praise from the front office, personnel department, assistant coaches and players in 2025.
Brian Schottenheimer is working to learn from his mistakes and generate more wins in Year 2 as Cowboys head coach. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez As Year 2 begins, Schottenheimer knows there is a second-year jump he needs to make as coach, just as players often make their largest improvements from their rookie season to their next year.
"I mean, it's obviously going to start with more wins," Schottenheimer said. "Getting the culture to continue to grow. Like I said, I think one of the deals this year [is] the culture has been really fun to create because you've got a lot of new faces. We certainly weren't expecting as many changes on the defensive staff that we ended up making, but excited about the culture.
"But at the end of the day, it's going to come down to wins and losses. I feel much more comfortable in Year 2. I think I've got my hands around more of the things that I want to and I've also been able to really do an after-action report on myself and making little tweaks throughout. Just much more comfortable."