2025 is a reset year for Dallas Cowboys

April 16, 2025 by Staff

The Dallas Cowboys have a 5-3 record in Super Bowls, trailing only the New England Patriots (6-5) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) for most wins. The franchise is tied with the Steelers and San Francisco 49ers for most appearances in the Super Bowl with eight, trailing only the Patriots with eleven. The Cowboys and 'Niners are also tied with 8 conference championships to lead the NFC.

But the Cowboys haven't been back to the Super Bowl since their 27-17 over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX (1995 season). The 2026 edition of the NFL Championship will be the 60th installment. It's a bit difficult to imagine that "America's team" once had played in 26.67% of all Super Bowls and won 16.7% of all Super Bowls games. In the past 29 years, they ain't got squat... nada... zilch... not even a single Super Bowl appearance.

In fact, they haven't even had a shot at making it to the Super Bowl as they would first have to play their way into the NFC Championship game -- and again, the Cowboys haven't done that since the 1995 season.

A new head coach and two new coordinators are now charged with the mission of resurrecting the Cowboys after a very disappointing 2024 season that saw starting QB Dak Prescott suffer a major hamstring tear against the Atlanta Falcons and be lost for the season. The team was 3-5 after the Atlanta game and went on to finish 7-10 with Cooper Rush behind center.

The 2025 NFL Draft has the Cowboys picking 12th and expected by multiple mock drafts to select running back Omarion Hampton out of North Carolina. He could immediately replace Rico Dowdle who was the teams' 2024 leading rusher with 1,079 yards, but scored only two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Ezekiel Elliott is still looking for a permanent new home after a 266-yard, 3-TD season in 2024.

Dallas Cowboys

2024 Record: 7-10 regular season, 3-3 NFC East (3rd place), 5-7 vs. NFC
Odds to win 2025 Super Bowl: +5000, No. 18 of all 32 teams
Odds to Win NFC East: +650, No. 3 of 4
General Manager: Jerry Jones (1989)
Head Coach: Brian Schottenheimer (2025)
Offensive Coordinator: Klayton Adams (2025)
Defensive Coordinator: Matt Eberflus (2025)

Much of the disappointment by Cowboys' fans has been laid at the feet of owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones who bought the franchise in 1989 from "Bum" Bright for $140 million. The first move he made was to fire legendary head coach Tom Landry and replace him with college football head coaching star Jimmy Johnson. He also fired GM Tex Schramm to take total control of the team.

The first team under Jones and Johnson went 1-15 in 1989, but the club's supporters were made happy again with Super Bowls wins in 1992 and 1993. Johnson then departed and Barry Switzer came onboard to lead the team to SB win number 5 in 1995.

Brian Schottenheimer, a long-time assistant since 1997 on various NFL teams, became the new head coach earlier this year on January 24 after Mike McCarthy and the organization failed to reach agreement on a contract. McCarthy was 49-35 in five seasons, three of which ended with successive 12-5 records (2021-2023) and immediate exits from the NFL playoffs in their first game. Schottenheimer was serving as offensive coordinator under McCarthy since 2023 after being brought in as an analyst in 2022.

Klayton Adams was soon brought onboard as offensive coordinator under Schottenheimer with Schottenheimer to call the plays. Adams spent his first 14 seasons in the coaching profession at colleges ranging from Western Washington (2008-2009) to Colorado where he was the co-offensive coordinator in 2018 after beginning as a GA at his alma mater, Boise State. The co-OC position with the Buffaloes is the only season in which he has OC on his resume. The Buffs went 5-7 that year after a 5-0 start under head coach Mike MacIntyre who was fired after the sixth straight loss.

Matt Eberflus, the former Chicago Bears' failed head coach (14-32 in less than 3 seasons), was named the new defensive coordinator three days before Adams was hired. Eberflus had previously served on the Cowboys staffs from 2011-2017, largely as linebackers coach.