FRISCO, Texas — Things are moving quickly this week for the Dallas Cowboys as it relates to filling the vacancies within their coaching staff, for there are many to be filled, and not much time to do so. With Brian Schottenheimer being named head coach, Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator and Nick Sorensen as special teams coordinator — offensive coordinator remained in flux, but no more, following two interviews with Klayton Adams.
On Friday, Adams officially agreed to terms to join the Cowboys in that exact role, offensive coordinator, rounding out the top three seats behind Schottenheimer for 2025 and beyond, according to multiple reports.
He beats out other candidates such as current Cleveland Browns' offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, current Atlanta Falcons' tight ends coach Kevin Koger and Detroit Lions' running backs coach Scottie Montgomery, who all spoke with Dallas' front office over the past few days.
Adams heads to Dallas after spending the previous two seasons as the offensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals, heralded for the turnaround he was able to bring about within that unit in the desert.
His coaching resume extends much further back than 2023, though, having began in the collegiate ranks in 2005 — with stints as an offensive coordinator, run game coordinator, tight ends coach and running backs coach — before ascending to the NFL as assistant offensive line coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2021.
With Adams operating as O-line coach, the Cardinals' rushing attack was ranked seventh in the NFL last season in total rushing yards (2,451) and trailed only the Baltimore Ravens, who boast both Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, with a second-best league rushing yards per carry average (5.3 ypc).
The Cardinals were also top-10 in rushing touchdowns (18), fifth-most in carries of 20-39 yards (17), and tied for first in the NFL in carries of 40 yards or more (7).
It's success that carried over from his inaugural 2023 season with the red birds.
In contrast, the Cowboys struggled to get a rushing attack going due to a committee approach that failed fairly quickly, and while finally unleashing Rico Dowdle resulted in a career and record-breaking season for the former undrafted running back, the team as a whole was inept when it came to scoring on the ground —ranked 32nd in rushing touchdowns (6) and 27th in total rushing yards (1,705).
The hope is that Adams can do for the Cowboys what he did for the Cardinals, though Dallas will now have to figure out their running back situation after releasing Ezekiel Elliott and as Rico Dowdle approaches free agency, but it should be noted he hails from Boise State, where a certain record-setting running back prospect hails from as well ahead of this year's NFL Draft; and that the Cowboys have a longstanding pipeline to the school even prior to the arrival of Adams.
It truly bears mentioning here.
And though the play calling will belong to Schottenheimer, the task of helping to coordinate the offensive attack weekly, while also lending a hand to bolstering the impact of the offensive line, will most certainly be in the hands of Adams.
