"I miss him" - Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer grows emotional reflecting on his late father Marty on Father's Day

Brian Schottenheimer was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach by the Dallas Cowboys in January. As he gets ready to start his first season as a head coach, Schottenheimer is looking to emulate his father, Marty, who spent 21 years as an NFL head coach.

Speaking ahead of Father's Day on the influence his father had on his life, Schottenheimer, 51, was overcome with emotion as someone who grew up admiring his father.

Schottenheimer, who is typically celebrated on Father's Day since he is a father to two children (a son and a daughter), also mourns the loss of his father, who died in February 2021 at the age of 77 following a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.

This Father's Day is a little more special for Brian Schottenheimer. This is because he's now the Cowboys coach, a lifelong dream of his, but it's painful that he can't share that experience with his father.

“I know he’s proud. I miss him," Schottenheimer said when asked about his father after the Cowboys finished their minicamp on Thursday. "I would tell him that I used all the life lessons that he taught me, not just about football but about life and being a good man, a good husband and a good father, and I think I’m doing OK for myself. I know he’s proud.”

It would be an understatement to say that Schottenheimer has done well for himself after the death of his father. A year after Marty's death, the Cowboys recruited Brian as a consultant, and in 2023, he was promoted to offensive coordinator. He was once again promoted to the role of head coach in January 2025 after Mike McCarthy left.

Brian Schottenheimer explains how he deals with his father's absence

According to Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, he now speaks more with the people his dad used to be close with, now that his father is no longer around.

“I miss him like crazy,” Schottenheimer said. "I actually lean on some of his friends now, guys like Bill Cowher that I know he coached with. But Father’s Day will be a special day. I’m a father of two amazing kids, and I talked to my mom, and I know he’s looking down on me. But I appreciate you making me get teared up, you know, up here on the last day of minicamp.”

The older Schottenheimer, Marty, spent two years as a linebacker with the Boston Patriots and four years with the Buffalo Bills. He started a prominent NFL coaching career at the end of his playing career, spending more than two decades leading the San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins.