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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer had an unexpected visitor at his house Thursday.
Schottenheimer, 52, found an owl flying around his living room.
“I’m in gameplan meetings last night doing some red zone stuff and I leave the meeting around 10 o’clock and I go back to my phone and I literally had 72 texts on my phone. Seventy-two. I’m a popular guy so it’s not unusual,” Schottenheimer told reporters Friday.
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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer looks on before the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on October 26, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
“But it literally started with a text from my son to his mom saying, ‘Um, there’s a big hawk-sized bird in here,’ and I started looking down and there was an owl.”
The Cowboys head coach called his future nephew and niece for help with the owl, but they got nowhere.
“We’re not very outdoorsy people, and so he wasn’t really sure what to do, so he called my nephew-to-be, who’s marrying my niece, and the two of them together, Frick and Frack, tried to figure it out. They couldn’t do it. All they did was piss it off. And then, in typical fashion, I said, ‘honey, I’m going to’. opportunity tonight, you’ve got this,” Schottenheimer said.
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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer looks on prior to the game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Oct. 19, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)
Eventually animal control was called and the owl was removed.
“The owl has been returned to its safe domain. … They called animal control. A gentleman brought a net, like a pool net. I might have to look at it as another job. Just become an animal control guy. I’m so experienced now with wildlife in and around Dallas,” Schottenheimer said.
The owl wasn’t the first encounter Schottenheimer has had with wildlife so far this season. Prior to the team’s first win of the season over the New York Giants in Week 2, he had encountered a problem with hoses.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer looks on during the third quarter of the game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Oct. 19, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)
Two of his dogs were bitten by snakes earlier this week, but it turned into a Cowboys win. Schottenheimer called the owl a “good omen” and said he would be willing to keep an elephant in his garage if it meant a win for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys are 3-4-1 this season and will host the Arizona Cardinals (2-5) on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.
