Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday he has no issue with a players-only meeting held by his defense last week, pushing back on criticism from former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. The meeting followed a 24-16 home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 12.
Schottenheimer’s comments came a day after Tomlin, now an NBC analyst, said on the New Heights podcast that players-only meetings are a warning sign for a team. The Cowboys coach made clear he sees it differently.
Schottenheimer’s Response To Tomlin’s Criticism
Tomlin told the New Heights podcast that meetings like the one the Cowboys held signal a breakdown in normal leadership structure. “I think you are dead,” Tomlin said. “If it did occur, I’d like not to hear about it. The fact that you hear about it is what makes it B.S.”
Schottenheimer rejected that framing when he spoke with reporters Wednesday, according to ESPN. “I love it,” he said. “I’ve said from the very beginning, the best teams I’ve ever been around are led by the locker room.
And my information that I received from some of those guys that called that meeting, it was very productive. It was very open and honest.”
He added that the public nature of the meeting did not trouble him. “Doesn’t bother me at all,” Schottenheimer said. “It means everyone’s rowing in the same direction trying to get this thing fixed.”
What The Meeting Says About The Cowboys’ Approach
Dallas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said the defensive players structured their discussion methodically, going “bullet point, bullet point” through whether the unit was meeting its standards. Pass rusher Rashan Gary, a 2024 Pro Bowler, said the aim was making sure “everybody’s on the same page and going throughout the week, making sure we create the right habits.”
Those accounts suggest the meeting functioned as a self-assessment rather than a dispute among players. Schottenheimer’s willingness to publicly praise it, rather than downplay it, signals a coach treating player-driven accountability as an asset rather than a threat to his authority.
Context: A Defense Under Scrutiny
The timing explains why the meeting drew attention. The Cowboys defense ranks 31st in the league, allowing 395.4 yards per game, and sits last against the run at 168.4 yards per game, according to Footballscoop. Tomlin had already called the unit “somewhat negligent” on Sept. 27 after Dallas played Baltimore, making this his second public jab at the Cowboys defense this season.
Dallas finished with the NFL’s 30th-ranked defense last season and has made multiple high-profile additions over the past 14 months to address the problem, including the hiring of Mike Pettine to assist first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker. The unit’s early-season numbers show those changes have not yet produced results on the field.
Schottenheimer did not shy away from the unit’s struggles. “The pride of that unit is strong,” he said. “There’s some really, really prideful men in that room, and we’re going to get it fixed.
I have no question about that.” The Cowboys are 2-3 through five games, two games back of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.
What’s Next
Schottenheimer said Parker will move to the coaching booth for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, a shift from his usual sideline role. The coach also said rookie linebacker Malachi Lawrence will see increased playing time as Dallas looks to stabilize a defense that has been a season-long issue, a problem detailed further in Total Apex Sports’ look at whether Porter Jr. can fix the issues.
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