When Brian Schottenheimer was named the 10th head coach of the Dallas Cowboys back in January, one of his first major tasks was hiring his offensive coordinator replacement.
Schottenheimer who had served as the teams OC in 2023 and 2024, decided to hand the keys over to a young assistant named Klayton Adams.
Most head coaches tend to bring along a group of individuals they have worked with before, but in this case, Schottenheimer had never crossed paths with Adams. However, through connections, he did his research on the 42-year-old assistant.
“It goes back to Indianapolis when he was the tight ends coach,” Schottenheimer said. “I knew some guys on that staff, his name came up. They just said, turn on the film. I coached a guy by the name of Jack Doyle (former Colts TE) when I was in Indianapolis and Jack raved about Klayton and so he kind of came on my radar. Then I got a chance to spend some time with him. We played the Colts; I think the year I was a consultant. We played them so I met him before the game. We just kind of tried to do that. I’m not a big pregame talker but he was a guy I actually looked for and wanted to go say hello and introduce myself. We just kind of stayed in touch after that.”
Three years later, in the midst of a coordinator search, Dallas brought in multiple candidates for the job but Schottenheimer knew that Adams was the right guy for the position and was eager to get him in front of the organization.
“I wanted to get Klayton in front of the staff. I wanted to get Klayton in front of Jerry, in front of Stephen. Matt Eberflus was a huge proponent of Klayton, they had been together,” Schottenheimer said. “Tyler Boyles, my chief of staff, was with him. But no, it was a very open search. When Klayton came in here along with a couple of the other guys, he did a great job of separating himself. He’s the fit we were looking for.”
Now five weeks into the regular season, that “fit” has clearly been showing. Alongside first-year OL coach Connor Riley, the offensive line has had to heavily rely on the next man up mentality with key injuries going back to Week 3 and later not having up to four starters during the Cowboys’ 37-22 Week 5 victory over the New York Jets.
“This is the National Football League and when you’re asked to do something, it’s an opportunity,” Adams said on Thursday. “So you need to go in and do a good job. Kudos to those guys for those guys for going in and taking an advantage of their opportunity. Kudos to Schotty for calling a really good game kinda based on what he knew going into it, not that we had to change very much. Also, I think you always you give a lot of credit to the quarterback because when he’s on the field, you got a shot.”
“Klayton is super good, WR George Pickens said. “He’s always mostly with the o-line, but definitely with gap schemes, and he knows a lot about gap schemes, where players are supposed to be positioned up front. So, I feel like Klayton does a great job.”
Even more impressive has been the revival of the Cowboys’ run game, which this time last year was ranked 31st in the league with just 82 yards per game, and finished 27th overall by the end of the 2024 season.
Now a year later, the run game ranks eighth in rushing with 134.4 yards a game.
No question that RB Javonte Williams has a lot to do with the success on the ground, but Adams knows a thing or two about what a good run game is supposed to look like.
In 2023 and 2024 he served as the offensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals and oversaw a unit that helped pave the way to the leagues fourth and seventh best rushing games.
Alongside the improved run game, the Cowboys rank first in total offense, third in passing offense, fourth in scoring, ninth in red zone offense, and ninth in third-down conversion rate.
“Klayton brings a sense of intensity and focus and grit to our offense that you really can’t quantify,” quarterback Dak Prescott said following the Week 5 win over the Jets. “He’s a great offensive coordinator. It’s a great mix between him, Schotty, and the rest of those guys… we’ve got a great staff that, being in this a long time, I’m thankful for.”
Dallas’ offense has been clicking and the good news is that several key players will soon be on their way back from injury at just the right time.
