OXNARD, Calif. – Dallas Cowboys training camp 2026 is underway. On Tuesday, the team held its annual State of the Cowboys address before they practice Wednesday.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer, along with owner, President and General Manager Jerry Jones, and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones, addressed the media for approximately 41 minutes.
Last season, the Cowboys failed to make the postseason, in large part because of their defense. They were bad on all levels, so the Cowboys revamped that side of the ball, practically overhauling the defensive staff. They hired Christian Parker to serve as their new defensive coordinator.
Schottenheimer feels Parker is the right man to turn the defense around.
“Incredible communicator. I can’t say that enough,” Schottenheimer said. “The way, you know, he’s an elite coach, is when you walk by his office and players, I mean, multiple players are in there wanting to listen and talk to him about scheme and things like that.”
The Cowboys are certainly buying into Parker’s scheme, and the 34-year-old leads by example.
“The way he’s organized this camp on the defensive side of the ball, from the individual section to the tackling circuit drills to the ball disruption drills, to the install packages from first and second down fronts, pressures, coverages, things like that. He is a first-time coordinator that doesn’t act like a first-time coordinator,” Schottenheimer told the media.
Finishing 7-9-1 last season and missing the playoffs is unacceptable to Schottenheimer, and he’s looking to learn from last season to help the Cowboys play better this season.
“I mean, you learn things every day when you go through this process,” he said. “I think, you know, there’s countless lessons that you learn, from the way we grade film, the way we have a meeting, things like that.”
Coach is always upbeat, clapping on the field and trying to motivate his guys, and he never wants to become stale.
“I’m also real big on not rinsing and repeating,” he said. “What I mean by that is that I don’t like the first team meeting to feel like the same first team meeting. That was last year, right? I think players in this era tune you out.”
Schottenheimer will look to keep his guys tuned in Wednesday when they hit the field at 11:45 a.m. PT.
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