I was listening to the likes of Graziano and Lombardi who worked with him. Look, maybe he sucks. And, tbf, 9-8 is more of a ceiling than an expectation. It's the highest expectation I have for the Cowboys in 2025. Even if we had Vrabel, I think 9-8 would be a reasonable ceiling. All I'm expecting for 2025 is for us to be looking like an improved team. I'm expecting us to stop the run better and score more touchdowns in the RedZone, which was an issue last season.
Sidenote, I've taken the liberty to look at the opponents we will have for 2025. Here they are:
Philly (x2)
NYG (x2)
Washington (x2)
Kansas City
Denver
LA Chargers
Raiders
Green Bay
Chicago
Detroit
Minnesota
Jets
Cardinals
Panthers
So, I think a reasonable ceiling (assuming the team stays healthy) is 9-8 at best. The floor is probably 4-13 (wins against the Giants twice, Panthers, and Jets). I think the most likely record is probably around 7-10. I think we probably sweep the Giants as usual. I think we probably beat the Jets. We probably beat the Panthers. I think we will probably split with Washington like last year or the Eagles (so either Eagles or Washington, which would be 5 wins). I think we probably edge out the Vikings. We probably beat the Raiders. And then finally, maybe we catch Chicago off guard (and hopefully I'll be at the game if it's on the Thursday during MFF so I can be there in fursuit).
The most important benchmarks (my bar for Schotty year 1) would be the following:
Better RedZone efficiency
Better run defence
Better run game
Much more physical play
I think those are reasonable benchmarks.