Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is fully of the criticism he's getting this season.
And that criticism is warranted. The Cowboys are off to a 2-4 start, and he's 9-13-1 overall in his season-plus on the job.
To make the target on his back bigger, Schottenheimer's play-calling on offense has negatively impacted the team's offense, which was supposed to be its strength but simply hasn't been good enough, especially of late.
On Thursday, Schottenheimer was asked about the criticism he has been receiving this season amid the team's putrid six-game start and admitted that while he does try to block some out, there's still instances where he hears it.
He also said "some" of the criticism is deserved and admitted he needs to do a better job coaching. Even still, Schotty believes he's a "great coach" and believes the Cowboys can turn things around.
“I think it comes with the territory," he said of the criticism. "I think some of it is deserved. We got to play better. I got to coach better. When you grow up in a family that your dad is a head coach for over 20 years, you understand that this is part of the job description.
“No one likes it. I block out most of it. Some of it gets to me. Doing this job and having to speak to you guys is part of that. But at the same time, I’ve got strong shoulders. I know what a great coach I am. I know what this team is capable of. That’s what I focus on.”
Is only "some" criticism deserved?
There's a few things Schottenheimer said that are going to make Cowboys fans face palm, with the first being Schotty saying that "some" of the criticism is deserved. All of it is very deserved.
The part about him believing he's "a great coach" is also going to bother Cowboys fans because they have yet to see evidence of that being the case.
Can that be construed as delusion? Sure, but it's not like he's going to say he's not a great coach because that would open Schottenheimer up to even more scrutiny.
The problem Schottenheimer has is we keep hearing the same things every single week about there being plenty of football left and the belief that the Cowboys can still turn this around, yet we keep seeing the same issues over and over again.
Schottenheimer isn't the only one who is guilty of being a broken record because we hear it from Jerry and Stephen Jones, also.
The bottom line is Cowboys fans don't want words, they want results, and Dallas has given plenty of the former and nowhere near enough of the latter.
And until that flips, calls for Schottenheimer and the rest of the coaching staff to be fired will continue.
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