FRISCO - So far as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Brian Schottenheimer has said all the right things.
That continued Saturday afternoon inside The Star when "Schotty" addressed the media on a solo panel before the rest of this weekend's rookie minicamp.
The Cowboys welcome their 2025 rookie class which includes 19 total players. Nine were picked in the NFL Draft and others were added through un-drafted free agent contracts.
At the press conference, Schottenheimer opened up about his philosophy for getting the new players acclimated this weekend.
"I talked about it to them, the three C's," he said. "Get them comfortably a Cowboy, getting them caught up with football, but probably most importantly, getting them connected to one another."
Schottenheimer added how his offseason schedule has put an emphasis on setting a foundation for hard work beyond just this weekend. He hopes the rookies will adapt to that plan leading up to the season.
"I think it's more for them. Their peace of mind," he said. "These guys are going to have to have a plan for attack of what they're doing, how they're keeping their conditioning up ...
"What I've told them all - I'm kind of doing individual sit-downs with all the guys - is, when you leave here on Sunday ... and they all go home or back to their school, wherever they're training, they have to find time to condition. They have to find time to work out. They have to find time to study."
This group, especially the nine drafted, all show excellent leadership qualities - either in their professionalism or experience as a captain in college - that proves Schotty's desire for high character locker room presences.
"The maturity of this group ... they are very mature," Schottenheimer said. "I think they'll maximize the fact of, while they're away, using that time to get caught up on what we're doing but also find time to work out...
"It's kinda getting closer to go-time for them now."
Before it's truly go-time at Cowboys' training camp in Oxnard, Brian Schottenheimer is keeping things simple at his first rookie camp:
Comfortable. Caught up. Connected.
