FRISCO — The Dallas Cowboys drew ridicule when they decided to stay in-house for their next head coach hire. Many expected them to conduct a wider search of Cowboys’ disciples spread across the league.

Instead, Brian Schottenheimer has stepped into the role that Mike McCarthy held for the last five seasons. Schottenheimer spent the final two of those campaigns working under the head coach.

Since taking the job, he and the Cowboys have gotten to work assembling a solid staff around him. Amid these hires, there is a very clear vision of how Schottenheimer wants things to operate.

With additions of Klayton Adams and Conor Riley, the Cowboys are clearly focused on reestablishing their offensive line presence. Once the dominant power in that area, they have faded into irrelevancy in recent seasons.

Clearly, the team has an uphill climb staring them down. Not only is their line in need of a reset, but they have lost an all-time player in Zack Martin. The right guard officially announced his retirement, signaling the final goodbye to the players of that unit from a decade ago.

This turn around will be orchestrated without Martin in the fold, keeping things focused on the younger players. However, the new philosophy set to take shape should help the cause.

Schottenheimer has made clear since his introduction as the head coach that he wants this offense to be facilitated through the run game. There are a number of reasons why that is a clear and obvious direction to take.

The modern NFL demands a presence on the ground to be successful. Dallas has not had that feel under McCarthy all the while their biggest rivals have made that a center of their identity.

But this strategy could also help bring along a crop of younger players stepping into more responsibility next season. The Cowboys at times had two rookies starting on the line last season in Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe.

Both saw their share of struggles on the field and were sometimes forced into situations where the Cowboys were throwing well over 30 times a game.

Martin himself hinted at how a run-focused offense made life easier on him in his early years and that could be the case here.

Consider that advice given from a future Hall of Famer.

Besides Tyler Smith, this Cowboys’ line is littered with young and relatively unproven talent. They may add to that group with a pick or two in April’s NFL Draft as well.

So if Martin’s philosophy holds true here, Dallas’ new-look staff could be they key in unlocking the talents of their offensive front.

When it comes to the Cowboys, action is always more believable than any talk. But if Schottenheimer and his group are able to show some results from those words, this phase of the offense may be in store for a major turnaround.