The Dallas Cowboys hoped to reel in a touted coach from the Oregon Ducks staff. However, their target has decided to stay in Eugene.
Ducks running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples rejected the Cowboys’ offer to be on their staff for the same position. New Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer is attempting to fill out his staff.
But it’s clear now that Schottenheimer and the Cowboys will need to look elsewhere.
On Monday, Samples simply posted, “#GoDucks,” indicating that the Oregon coach will remain on Dan Lanning’s staff. Later, Dallas reporter Nick Harris confirmed the news that Samples will remain in Eugene with the Ducks, and not join the Cowboys staff.
“Oregon RBs coach Ra’Shaad Samples interviewed yesterday and was a top target but will stay back in Eugene,” Harris said.
Dallas eventually hired Derrick Foster for the role after Foster spent time on the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff.
The Cowboys and the Ducks are two teams in opposite directions in their own spectrum. Oregon finished an undefeated regular season this year in their first season in the Big Ten Conference. They went on to win the Big Ten, but fell to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The disappointing end might have left a bad taste in their fans’ mouths, and the team’s. But they’re loaded, and hoping to get back to the Playoff in 2025.
Dallas, meanwhile, hasn’t lived up to expectations in almost three decades now. They haven’t reached the NFC Championship Game since the 1995-96 season, the last time the team won the Super Bowl.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022