Brian Schottenheimer gets his man, Klayton Adams hired as Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator

The Dallas Cowboys and head coach Brian Schottenheimer are slowly but surely filling out his coaching staff and made a huge move on Friday with the hiring of Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams the team’s team offensive coordinator.

The addition of Adams comes one day after the team was able to retain highly-coveted tight ends coach Lunda Wells, who interviewed with the Chicago Bears on Wednesday.

Schottenheimer, named to replace the departed Mike McCarthy as the 10th coach in franchise history, will call plays for the Cowboys.

He was the non-play calling offensive coordinator the past two seasons under McCarthy.

But what he plans to emphasis going forward with the Cowboys is the run game and play action off the running game.

The Cowboys want to marry the run game and passing game together and getting Adams on staff is in keeping with that philosophy.

The Cowboys also interviewed Cleveland Browns’ offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, current Atlanta Falcons’ tight ends coach Kevin Koger and Detroit Lions’ running backs coach Scott Montgomery for the position.

Adams joined the Cardinals in 2023 after spending the previous four years with the Indianapolis Colts as an assistant offensive line coach and tight ends coach.

The Cardinals finished seventh in the league in rushing yards during the 2024 season but boast yards per carry of 5.3 that ranked second in the league.

The Cardinals also scored 18 rushing touchdowns in 2023, compared to the Cowboys lowly standings of 32nd in rushing touchdowns (6) and 27th in total rushing yards (1,705).

The Cowboys are not done yet on offense as they still need to fill needs for an offensive line coach, running backs coach and receivers coach.

Adams has a relationship with newly-hired Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus from their days together with Colts. Eberflus was the Colts defensive coordinator from 2018-2021 before spending the last three years as the head coach of Chicago Beas.

Even more intriguing is that Adams played college football at Boise State, which not coincidentally is home of the Ashton Jeanty, who led college football in rushing in 2024 and is the No. 1-ranked running back in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Cowboys have a need at the position and pick 12th overall.

Connect the dots if you want.