DALLAS – Former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach called Dak Prescott earlier in his career and asked him to take his place as an honorary chairman of the Children's Cancer Fund, which raises money each year to advance research and treatment programs in pediatric oncology. Prescott happily accepted, and given how cancer has impacted his life, takes seriously.
"This is something that I've always been honored to be a part of, humbled when Roger asked me to take his position in this chair," Prescott said at the reveal of models for the 2025 Children's Cancer Fund gala on Tuesday. "Obviously having my own relationship with cancer, losing my mom to it, this fight is something that I don't take lightly."
As Prescott prepares for his ninth season with the Cowboys, he'll do so with the third head coach that Dallas has hired during his time wearing the star on his helmet in Brian Schottenheimer. The two have worked together closely over the last few years, and Prescott is excited for the opportunity that the team has with Schottenheimer at the helm.
"Understanding the type of coach he is, the type of man he is, the way that he approaches the game, I think the best way to exemplify that is the son of a legendary football coach," Prescott said of Schottenheimer, who is the son of former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer. "He's not going to take anything about this game lightly. He enjoys the work in it, kind of old fashioned."
"I'm looking forward to the grind and some things that we're going to do and he's going to add, excited for him, I know he's ready for it, he's been in the system a long time."'
Schottenheimer has spent 25 seasons coaching in the NFL as an assistant, and now takes his first head coaching opportunity in Dallas. As he went about finalizing the coaching staff around him, Prescott admired how he went about the interview process to find his assistants, which translates to his overall approach as the Cowboys head coach too.
"For him to go through the due diligence of getting the guys in, interviewing them, and then taking it amongst the other guys that are there and making final decisions, I think speaks highly of his approach and the way that he's going to take care of things." Prescott said.
In his introductory press conference, Schottenheimer mentioned a time in training camp when Prescott threw an interception. The rule is that after throwing a pick in practice, the quarterback has to come out, but Prescott didn't want to, and the two had a tough conversation but ended up coming to a conclusion.
Being able to have that kind of a relationship right off the bat with his head coach, and knowing tough conversations can be had is something that will translate not just to Prescott at the quarterback position, but across the entire roster with Schottenheimer as head coach.
"It was a great moment of understanding…" Prescott said. "That was a conversation that was very unpleasant at the front end, but it had to be addressed at some point or another and it was immediately after practice, it was two grown men coming to an understanding and appreciating each other for the competitiveness and the standard."
"I'm excited for things like that to grow not only just me in the quarterback position, but throughout every position on our team."
As offensive coordinator under Mike McCarthy, Schottenheimer did not handle play calling duties, but did help construct each week's gameplan. After missing the back half of the season with a calf injury, Prescott got a better look behind the curtain at how Schottenheimer was contributing during the game on the coaching headset.
"A huge impact, he was a guy that was a vital part in putting the gameplan together each and every week," Prescott said. "Obviously [Mike] McCarthy was the one making the calls at the end of the day, but he was a big part in the on game process, which call was being made."
"I was on the headsets the latter part of the year so I heard all of that, very professional guy who as I said is ready and deserves every bit of this opportunity."
In his past as a play caller, Schottenheimer's offenses have been at their best when they're running the ball at a high level. The hiring of offensive coordinator Klayton Adams as well as other assistants on staff shows that the Cowboys are committed to increasing their emphasis on the ground game, an aspect that Prescott looks forward to opening the door for his specialty, play action.
"We just got to get to running the ball, being a little bit more consistent on that," Prescott said. "Then from there go back and look at the numbers, I've always enjoyed play action pass or just being able to get back to that, but you've got to start with the run game, and when you have that, the rest of the offense can open up."
The numbers do in fact back that up, as Prescott has completed 67% of his play action passes over the course of his career for 8,524 yards and 55 touchdowns compared to just 13 interceptions. Now, the Cowboys will look forward to reincorporating that aspect of the offense with a healthy Prescott back under center in 2025.
