Will it end, as the last 29 years have, without a championship? Or is this the year that somehow, they finally break through and visit a land they haven’t since that wonderful 1995 season?
Shockingly, if you are under the age of 30, you were not alive when the Cowboys last appeared in an NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl. Every year, The Ticket (the radio station my show, The Invasion, is on) takes a week to broadcast live from Cowboys training camp. Oxnard is stunningly beautiful with highs in the low 70s and lows in the upper 50s this time of year. It’s perfect. It helps to distract from the reality the Cowboys have become: an annual disappointment.
Camp is great for us on the radio because we get a lot of access to different players and coaches and a chance to talk with the men in charge, Jerry and Stephen Jones. There’s always an optimistic viewpoint from the front office and players, as there should be, because every team should believe they have the pieces to put together a magical season. The Cowboys have their share of problems, yes, but they also have more depth than last season, a new voice in their new head coach Brian Schottenheimer that is resonating with the players, and they’ve got plenty of high-end talent, as evidenced by the large contracts a handful of them are signed to.
I must admit, being there for a full week, there is a different vibe and feel to things this year than last year. Schottenheimer, also known as “Schotty,” has done as much as possible to work on the team’s culture change, and you can feel it. To a man, the guys seem to have all bought in on the new leader. I asked several players about Schotty’s seemingly cheesy games and mini competitions he puts the team through. It almost feels like the type of thing you’d do at a high school church camp, and yet, each of the players I spoke with offered an interesting perspective on the coach’s methods and why they feel it works.
We talked with All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey. I asked him specifically how he felt about Schottenheimer and the paintball outing, and the free-throw contests he holds, and the former Observer cover boy offered a unique insight that made a lot of sense to me.
Cowboys Pro Bowl LG Tyler Smith said new head coach Brian Schottenheimer took the team to play paintball on the first day of optional team activities. “I thought that was a crazy thing. That’s never happened before. I thought that was really cool to start things off on a fun…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) May 30, 2025
“It’s hard to get locked in and get really meaningful work when there’s not pressure involved. Even something as silly as going in front of the team and shooting in a competition in basketball, really puts you under pressure, puts you in front of the whole team,” Aubrey said. “[It] teaches you how to respond to that, to get used to being in that situation. I like it… You can take that on the field and then it’s nothing new. No one wants to lose. Going up there, losing is worse than anything you can think of in front of all your teammates.”
I get it. Creating these mini competitions amongst teammates reinforces the Cowboys’ season mantra of “Compete Every Day” so that they are constantly in a mindset of competing. It also helps to stoke bonding and brotherhood. Schottenheimer got it from one of his mentors, the legendary head coach Pete Carroll.
It may sound strange, but how many of you reading this have hung out with your friends and just sat around playing video games, or gone outside and shot hoops? Maybe you talked a bit, or maybe you just played, and yet somehow, you felt like you were bonding.
Schottenheimer is creating that bonding opportunity through constant competition with his players. Words like “real” and “genuine” were used to describe Schottenheimer in my interviews. There’s a closeness you can feel in training camp and an appreciation for their head coach that I’m not sure existed under previous head coach Mike McCarthy.
Dante Fowler Jr., back after a season in Washington, talked about the new training camp vibes as well. Keep in mind, Fowler is a guy who has played for coaches like Sean McVay, Dan Quinn and Mike McCarthy, all three of whom have at least coached in a Super Bowl. When I asked him about the tactics of Schottenheimer, he said, “I love that type of stuff. It’s real cool. Instead of walking on pins and needles, he tries to take the edge off a little bit. That’s really cool and I really respect that.”
Fowler also told us a story of a couple of guys he knew who played for Carroll in Seattle. He’d watch videos Seahawks players posted of the stuff they’d do, and he wanted to be a part of something like that. To be fair, Seattle was Carroll’s third NFL head coaching gig after failed stints with the Jets and Patriots. This is Schottenheimer’s first-ever shot in the NFL as a head coach.
Training camp warm and fuzzy feelings are great, but Dallas has a rough schedule to start the regular season. They go on the road to open against the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. They get the New York Giants at home before a road game against the Chicago Bears and their new coach, Ben Johnson. Then Dallas comes back home to take on the Green Bay Packers, who went 11-6 last season.
The buy-in is great in camp when it’s 70 degrees outside and the stands are (sparsely) filled with adoring fans, but if the season starts out 1-3, it may be a different story sooner than later. Still, there is a noticeable difference in attitude and in scheme.
The offense is using more motion, and even in the limited, non-padded practices, what we saw looked more creative than in years past. Those are all good things. It’s a positive time, there’s cautious optimism to be had. The Cowboys needed something to change and Schotty, if nothing else, has changed the culture for the better. For now.
I like Schottenheimer. He talks a good game and motivates men, which is key. But we all know the end goal in Dallas is taking that next step to break the longest championship drought in the NFC. Washington broke their lengthy drought last year to pass the mantle of mediocrity to the Cowboys. So, um, is there a mini free-throw contest to get into an NFC Championship Game?
