The Dallas Cowboys have started the 2026 season off 2-4 and are currently tied for second in the NFC East. Media vultures have hounded the Cowboys’ lackluster effort so far and won’t ease up anytime soon if head coach Brian Schottenheimer can’t turn his team around.
During a recent episode of ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith did not hold back after he reacted to a recent clip of Schottenheimer proclaiming himself a “great coach” during a press conference.
“I know what a great coach I am,” Schottenheimer said, via Clarence Hill of AllCity DLLS. “But at the same time, I’ve got strong shoulders.”
The First Take crew attempted to hold back laughter early as they sensed Smith was gearing up for a classic rebuttal to the Cowboys’ head coach.
“Respectfully, Brian Schottenheimer, you have no business classifying yourself as that,” Smith said on First Take. “That’s problem one, two, and three. He seems like a really nice man… His record as a head coach in the National Football League is 9-13-1. If that is his definition of great, there’s a whole bunch of people out here that are great that we haven’t been talking about. You just can’t say stuff like that.
“Let me ask Brian Schottenheimer a rhetorical question. If your quarterback completed 41% of his passes, would you call him great? If your defense gave up 41 points a game, would you call them great?
“If you were not the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and somebody else was coaching them, and in the two years that they were coaching, one year they didn’t make the playoffs and another year they’re underachieving, two games under .500, with the most potent offense arguably in the sport.”
Smith continued to bash the Cowboys coach with off-the-field analogies centered on his coaching record, but quickly pivoted to show his seriousness and discernment for the Cowboys organization.
“This is about bare-bones facts,” Smith added. “What the hell are you doing with cameras rolling and the microphone hot, as a grown-ass man and a head coach of an NFL franchise four games under .500 in your career, and you actually uttered out of your mouth, ‘I know I’m a great coach.’ Come on, man…go out there and prove it.”
The Cowboys look to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7 on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys need a win, and Schottenheimer will be looking to quiet critics and spectators who doubt his coaching.
The post ‘You have no business classifying yourself as that’: Stephen A. Smith rips Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer after ‘great coach’ comments appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.