Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer is spending the week preparing for the Cardinals, but he had to deal with a different bird—literally—first: an owl.
One of the nocturnal birds of prey paid a visit to the Schottenheimer home on Thursday night, as the coach confirmed to reporters during his media availability on Friday.
"So I'm in game plan meetings last night doing some red zone stuff and I leave the meeting about 10 o'clock and I go back to my phone and I literally had 72 text messages on my phone," Schottenheimer said. "72. And I'm a popular guy so that's nothing abnormal.
"But it literally started with a text from my son to his mother saying, 'Um, there's a big hawk-sized bird in here.' And I began to look down and there was an owl ..."
How did the owl get into Schottenheimer's home?
"My son was doing some work and left the sliders [sliding doors] open and all of a sudden, an owl came to visit," Schottenheimer continued. "And we're not very outdoorsy people and so he wasn't really quite sure what to do. So he called my soon-to-be-nephew, 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."
For #Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer and his family, it’s been like a sequel to Dr. Dolittle at their house his year.
— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) October 31, 2025
First it was snakes—now it’s an Owl 🦉
(🎥: @ gemmi_schottenheimer on IG) https://t.co/sUHfqNM12r pic.twitter.com/wcWGIkYDXM
With Schottenheimer's soon-to-be nephew and son unable to figure out how to remove the owl, an audible had to be called.
How did the Schottenheimers get rid of the owl?
The Schottenheimers called animal control and a "gentleman with a pool net" came and removed the owl.
"And so in typical coaching fashion, I called my wife and said, 'Honey I'm going to stay at the condo tonight. You got this.' But they did. They got the owl removed. The owl has been returned to its safe domain. But you can't make this stuff up, man."
It's not the first time Schottenheimer has dealt with an animal in his house this year
Earlier this season, Schottenheimer's family dogs were bitten by snakes before Dallas‘s Week 2 win over the Giants, leading to the family having to foot a sizable veterinary bill. Schottenheimer‘s home has been straight out of the movie Dr. Doolittle to the point where he joked he‘s leaning into the narrative for superstition purposes.
"... I think we won when we had the snake issue," Schottenheimer said. "So that's probably a good omen, you know? I'll put an elephant in my freakin‘ garage if I have to. If that's what it takes to win, I’ll do it."
With the owl issue safely dealt with, Schottenheimer can now fully focus on helping Dallas get back in the win column against Arizona on Monday night.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as In Preparing for Cardinals, Cowboys Coach Had to Deal With an Owl First.