Stephen A. Smith delivers ‘quite pathetic’ assessment of Jerry Jones’ answer to losing Mike McCarthy

Jerry Jones no longer has Mike McCarthy, but he has his replacement. After kicking the tires on a few candidates, Jones chose to elevate Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to become the next coach of the team.

However, Stephen A. Smith was not impressed. Speaking on Monday's edition of "First Take," Smith called the move "pathetic." The hire would change nothing about his opinion about the Cowboys going forward.

"This is quite pathetic," Smith said (0:48). "And all Jerry has done is fuel, create and just give credence to everything everybody has said negatively about him in terms of it being about him.

"Brian Schottenheimer didn't even call plays for your Dallas Cowboys team and you hired him as your head coach because somebody else that may have been more qualified, somebody else may have been more capable, would have been too much for you to share. ... So I expect more of the same from the Cowboys. It's going to be that simple."

Schottenheimer's claim to fame was working as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks during the "Let Russ Cook" years between 2018-2020. However, he had spent many more years working as an OC before joining the Seattle Seahawks. Schottenheimer spent six years with the New York Jets and three years with the St. Louis Rams as a coordinator.

Jerry Jones shuts down Deion Sanders talk with head coach choice

Jerry Jones at Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys - Source: Imagn

Until the end of last week, Jerry Jones had seemingly mounting pressure from fans and analysts to at least talk to Deion Sanders about the coaching position. Instead, he went with someone entirely different. Jones called the move to hire Schottenheimer "risky," but "not a hail mary," during the introductory press conference on Monday.

"This decision to bring (Schottenheimer) in is risky," Jones said. "It's not a Hail Mary at all. At all in any way. But it's founded over some very unique... circumstances. ... I'm interested in getting into those playoffs and (winning)."

Some fans and analysts believed that Sanders would have been a larger personality to deal with than Schottenheimer. To some of them, hiring Sanders would have given Jones a check against his power with the Cowboys.

By hiring Schottenheimer, Jones elected to go with a first-time NFL coach, which usually means that the general manager will have more power in the relationship — in this case, Jones.

With Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons on the team, much of the foundation for the team was seemingly already set before Schottenheimer's arrival. The question is how much input the new coach will have on other offensive positions like potentially at running back.