Dallas Cowboys coordinator on path to become head coach — but 2026 comes first
This past week, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams was in Orlando, Florida, taking part in the NFL’s accelerator program at the NFL Owners Meetings, designed to prepare league personnel for potential head coach and lead executive roles down the line.
Adams, 43, who is entering his second season as the team’s offensive coordinator, played a big role in the Cowboys finishing second in yards per game in 2025 and especially in the team finishing ninth in rushing yards per game last season.
While he hasn’t yet received head coaching interest, his name is slowly becoming more recognizable around the league. The Philadelphia Eagles attempted to interview Adams for their vacant offensive coordinator job earlier this offseason, but Brian Schottenheimer quickly denied that request.
This past week was designed to give Adams a look into what the interview process could look like when the time does come for head coaching interest.
“It was a really good experience,” Adams said to NFL Network. “As much as anything, probably an introduction to the thought process of, ‘How are you going to instill leadership? How are you going to create culture?’ It was great.”
This offseason, Adams has been hard at work figuring out how to make the Cowboys’ offense better than it was in the first year under his and Schottenheimer’s guidance. While the honor of being in Orlando is a sign of what his future could look like, he emphasized that his feet are grounded with where he is in Dallas.
“I try to think of it as I really need to dig in and think harder about what I’m doing,” he said. “Because I always want to keep both eyes on my job. I don’t think you get the next opportunity until you master the opportunity you’re in. I just look at all the stuff that we’ve done over the last year in Dallas, and you see a lot of things and holes that we want to get better at. That’s been my primary focus.”
While the offense exceeded expectations statistically, there were still areas of the unit that are in need of improvement. The Cowboys were in the bottom half of the league in giveaways, top-five in quarterback pressures allowed and bottom-half in red zone touchdown percentage. All of those points are at the top of mind for Adams heading into 2026.
“One of the biggest things is we want to take care of the football better than we did a year ago,” Adams said. “We want to protect the quarterback better than we did a year ago. We want to be better in the red zone than we were a year ago. A lot of those things were not just things we needed to answer going into the offseason, it’s how do you dig into this, and what is the root of some of these issues, and how do we solve those problems? I feel really good about the process in the offseason with the staff of really attacking those problems.”
At the end of the regular season, Adams mentioned that the thing he looked forward to the most in improving and workshopping this offseason was how to best utilize having wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens on the field at the same time. While a lot still hangs in the balance regarding Pickens’ status with the team after signing his franchise tag, Adams is still working as if he will be in Dallas this season.
“It’s an interesting thing, just because the business side of it is generally something I’m not going to jump into,” he said. “I just know from a personal perspective, I love the guy and I love being around him in the building every day. I’m looking forward to seeing him when he comes around, and obviously he’s an outstanding football player. He’s a big part of our plans.”
Pickens was a large part of the success offensively last season. He led the team with 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns and was a big part of how the team powered on without Lamb early in the season. Still, the improvements can come in his game to have an even better second year with the team, Adams said.
“The familiarity with what we’re doing can improve,” he said. “The detail of what we’re doing can always improve. The biggest thing I learned from having two elite playmakers on the outside is the effect that you can draw on all of the other parts of your offense. I think we’re just scratching the surface there of what opportunities does it give you in the run game? What opportunities does it give you on first and second down to really blend and marry what you’re doing? Those are all things that we’re very, very excited to get into.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 9:56 AM.
