The which means behind Cowboys coach Schottenheimer’s tattoos

FRISCO, Texas — If there’s a minute in his busy day as Dallas Cowboys head coach, Brian Schottenheimer will catch himself taking a look at his left arm and hand.

There he can see 4 of the 5 tattoos he has obtained since 2022. A fifth is on the opposite facet of his left forearm.

Sooner or later in the course of the Cowboys’ coaching camp in Oxnard, California, Schottenheimer will have a look at them as a reminder of his ‘whys.’

The tattoos symbolize his Christianity, his household, how he approaches his latest job and, finally, what he desires his group to characterize.

“It is one thing everlasting. It is one thing that is necessary to you,” Schottenheimer mentioned. “For me, it is a manner of checking in when instances are good, when instances are unhealthy, if it is advisable to humble your self, if it is advisable to construct your self again up.”

The primary one was accomplished when Schottenheimer’s household was residing in Tennessee. His son, Sutton, wished a tattoo and to share the second together with his father. However there was one drawback: Sutton wasn’t sufficiently old to get a tattoo in Tennessee.

“He was 17, not fairly 18 but on the time, so we needed to depart the state of Tennessee,” Schottenheimer mentioned. “We needed to go to Kentucky to do it, regardless that we had been going with him. Should be 18 or older.

“I will always remember. They mentioned, ‘Who’s going first?’ And I mentioned, ‘Nicely, I will go first.’ However then I mentioned, ‘You are going to get one, proper?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I will get one.’ So till he bought it, I used to be a bit involved he may not do it. He may bail out. However he ended up getting his on his proper wrist.”

Just under Schottenheimer’s left elbow reads “Jireh'” which is Hebrew for “The Lord will present.”

“My journey, like most Christians, has been up and down, and I knew I’d by no means get one if it did not have which means to me,” Schottenheimer mentioned. “So this track had simply come out by [Christian music collective] Maverick Metropolis known as ‘Jireh.’ One in every of my favourite songs. I will hearken to it on good days, unhealthy days; makes me completely satisfied.”

It did not take Schottenheimer lengthy to appreciate he wished one other tattoo.

“It is one hundred pc addictive,” he mentioned.

In summer time 2023, Schottenheimer visited Artwerks in Nashville by himself for the subsequent one. Script lettering on the skin of his left forearm reads “religion household soccer.”

“My three ‘whys,'” he mentioned.

Final summer time, Sutton picked his father up on the airport in Nashville after the Cowboys’ offseason program ended. The dialog turned to tattoos. Quickly, Schottenheimer bought what he known as his “life license plate.”

It is on the within of his left wrist simply above the place his watch band rests. It has “TN,” then the numbers 17, 27 and 19.

“Tennessee is residence,” he mentioned. “My spouse’s [Gemmi] birthday is the seventeenth, the twenty seventh is my son’s birthday and the nineteenth is my daughter’s [Savannah] birthday.”

The following tattoo was impressed by a songwriter good friend of Schottenheimer’s, Jason Ingram. Between Ingram’s forefinger and thumb is the phrase “Hope.” Schottenheimer wished a unique phrase that will exemplify the perspective and work ethic he has exhibited all through his teaching profession: “grit.”

The spot of the tattoo is purposeful. He can see it each day and it serves as a continuing reminder.

“Grit encompasses all the things that I imagine it takes to be a champion,” Schottenheimer mentioned. “And once I say ‘champion’ I do not simply imply in sports activities. I imply in each space of your life: husband, father, good friend. Life is rarely straightforward. There are excessive highs and low lows, however individuals with grit will discover a approach to win and achieve success by working tougher and preventing longer than others.”

The newest tattoo got here previously eight weeks between the Cowboys’ organized group actions and June minicamp. Three nails within the type of a cross beneath Jireh and nearer to his left elbow.

“This one is simply reminding me that Jesus suffered for me and my sins,” he mentioned. “That is what the nails are for.”

The cross took the longest to finish — about 25 minutes. The others took wherever from 15 to 18 minutes.

“It is strain,” Schottenheimer mentioned. “It isn’t painful.”

Main as much as the 2025 NFL draft, the tattoos grew to become one thing of a dialog starter. A couple of prospects in the course of the top-30 visits requested Schottenheimer about them. He in flip requested them what their tattoos meant.

It is a dialog that has additionally give you present Cowboys, corresponding to quarterback Dak Prescott.

“I am a man that has numerous tattoos, and I really feel like when you have got one thing significant and also you need to put it on you, why not?” Prescott mentioned. “Particularly when it is a reminder. It is who you might be. It is one thing that you simply’re pleased with. I do know his have numerous thought and particulars in them.”

Schottenheimer enjoys listening to the gamers’ tales about their tattoos.

“That is one factor I discovered,” Schottenheimer mentioned. “Hey, why did you get that? Oh, I misplaced my dad or I misplaced my aunt. The tales speaking to those guys, like Dak’s complete [personal life] story on his leg is unbelievable, [Jake Ferguson‘s] leg, [CeeDee Lamb‘s] again. It is in regards to the individuals they love.

“It is attention-grabbing that I’ve not gotten one to have a good time my dad but. Not saying I will not, nevertheless it’s not come into my thoughts but.”

Marty Schottenheimer, a long-time NFL coach, handed away in 2021 from Alzheimer’s. Brian joked that his father most likely would have tried to speak him out of getting the tattoos due to the permanence.

“Hell, I used to be, what, 49 once I did it?” he mentioned. “I simply assume as you become older, you get extra snug with who you might be. I feel that is been the most effective issues for me over the past three, 4 years — from the time I left [as offensive coordinator in] Seattle [after the 2020 season], shedding my dad — simply having that confidence to only be who the hell you might be. Like, who cares what individuals assume?”

Schottenheimer is considering a sixth tattoo for his arm. The creed he has give you for the group is “Compete each day.”

He is aware of he’ll preserve one spot free from ink — the highest of his left forearm — for one thing particular. The design is just not finalized. It might be a duplicate of the Lombardi Trophy or the Tremendous Bowl ring he envisions profitable with the Cowboys.

“It may have one thing to do with the group,” he mentioned. “In order that’s why I feel it’s going to most likely be extra of the ring or one thing like that than simply the trophy.”