OXNARD, Calif. — There's at least one word you've constantly heard resonating throughout and emanating out of this year's Dallas Cowboys' training camp, and while the easy answer here is "culture", it's as much the D word as it has been the C word: discipline.
Brian Schottenheimer has already found himself reeling in the roster following scrums and at least one outright fight over the course of their several practices in Oxnard, to the point he's been praised by franchise players like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.
"We have to have discipline," Schottenheimer said early in camp.
"We need discipline," echoed Lamb in a separate press conference.
There are multiple variations of the act, however, and one of them bit the Cowboys in the backside time and again in their preseason bout versus the Rams — the kind that generates unnecessary penalties that kill or stall drives. And considering the struggles of quarterback Joe Milton to consistently move the offense down the field, at times when he did, those penalties became that much more damning.
And that's why Schottenheimer, both head coach and offensive playcaller, took them personally.
"Of course," he said on Monday. "To have six presnap penalties on the offense is awful. It's awful. And it's not going to be accepted. We're not going to allow that to happen. We told guys that today: if you commit presnap penalties, which means you can't line up the right way as an offensive lineman, and I shave my motions, we're not going to play you.
"Why? Because why would you put yourself at a disadvantage and say, 'Hey, I'm going to cost myself five yards here?' The officials did a good job trying to warn us. … If we're not a disciplined football team, that starts with me as a head coach and the coaching staff."
What stands out most here is not only the self-accountability, but the old school style of coaching that threatens a loss of playing time if someone is costing the Cowboys yards and/or entire drives with easily-repaired mistakes.
That is within reason, of course.
"Guys won't play," said Schottenheimer. "That doesn't mean the CeeDee shaves that I'm taking them out forever. I mean, let's be very straight about that. CeeDee, don't shave — wherever you are, don't shave. But if it's a consistent habit and they keep doing it and you're trying to correct it and it doesn't get taken care of, then they don't understand or they don't see the importance of it.
"My job, and the coaches' job, is to make sure they understand the importance of playing with discipline, because why are you going to give up free yards? I think of the six — two, I know for sure, maybe three, were in the red zone. It's like, 'OK, why are we over two in the first half on scoring touchdowns in the red zone offense?' Well, we get down there and we push ourselves back, so that was definitely addressed."
Given the fact the Cowboys have struggled with such penalties often over the past several seasons, albeit under a different regime that did include Schottenheimer on staff, it will continue to be something everyone keys in on when it comes to Dallas — officials, coaches, fans, etc. — until it's no longer an issue.
Schottenheimer is demanding that resolution happen right now, and not down the road when a game, and potentially the season, is on the line.
