Dallas Cowboys arrive in California for training camp with lofty expectations
The wait is over.
On Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys arrived at their Staybridge Suites facility in Oxnard, California, for their first training camp under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer, signaling the unofficial beginning of the 2025 NFL season. The team will remain in Southern California for almost four weeks as players and coaches ramp up with 16 practices ahead of the season.
“I’m excited,” defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa said as he stepped off the bus and onto the team’s facility in Oxnard. “It’s good to be back out here. I’m confident in where we are as a team. I like the vibe we have. I’m just excited to see how it comes together.”
Coming off a 7-10 season and an offseason that saw a change at head coach, it would be realistic to see expectations be tempered heading into a year with so much change afoot.
But for fourth-year offensive lineman Tyler Smith, that’s far from the case.
“Super Bowl champions, that’s always the expectation,” Smith said. “I think it is a realistic goal. Why can’t we win?”
“Last year’s campaign is obviously not at all how we wanted it to go. A lot of unfortunate things happened, but ultimately this year is a new opportunity. We’re going to attack it the way we need to attack it. The goal remains the same. We want to be world champions.”
The offensive side of the ball features a new piece in wide receiver George Pickens while the defensive side of the ball is expected to have multiple new starters under new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
“We built a great core on offense,” Smith said. “The addition of George and a lot of other key pieces. Drafting [Tyler] Booker, he’s going to be a hell of a guy to bolster the [offensive] line. We have a lot of additions across the board.”
One player that did not step off the bus on Sunday afternoon was defensive end Micah Parsons. Although he awaits an agreement on a contract extension with the team, it is still expected that he will report to camp by Monday’s deadline.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to be here at some point,” Odighizuwa said.
With or without Parsons’ participation on the field in Oxnard, the next four weeks will be a crucial time for the Cowboys to work out the 53-man roster while also implementing new systems on both sides of the ball. After what Schottenheimer called a positive offseason back in Frisco for the team, it will now be about carrying the momentum out west.
“We’ve had a lot of great work, it’s been consistent,” Smith said. “The hay has been in the barn. With training camp coming around, we’re just putting more hay in there.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM.
