The camera is always rolling with the Cowboys. For Christian Parker, that takes getting used to
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OXNARD, Calif. — NFL coaches are paranoid by nature.
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The history of when paranoia started would take a dissertation by many as to why.
With the Dallas Cowboys, if a coach is paranoid about what fans and media videotape during the open practices, it's just something that individual must get over.
Defensive coordinator Christian Parker doesn’t like the open training camp practices where fans and media can shoot the entire session with their cell phones. Don’t get him started with television cameras.
“It’s weird. Not a fan,” Parker told 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) this week when asked about practices being videotaped.
You can imagine how Parker felt on Saturday when the Cowboys' seventh practice of training camp was broadcast on Ch. 21 back in Dallas and streamed on the team website.
Parker’s coach, Brian Schottenheimer, is just used to the cameras being around because, well, the man who owns this franchise, Jerry Jones, likes it that way.
“You know me, I think at the end of the day, I don't worry about that stuff too much,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, we all have each other's playbooks. We all know what we run. We have videos going back decades that we can pull up. It's not like they're showing it from a game standpoint; the camera's on, it's moving. Are there things you can get? Yeah. But we get the same thing. So that doesn't bother me.”
An opposing team could watch the live broadcast on a Saturday and try to figure out what the Cowboys are running. (Well, depending on their cable package). An opposing team can maybe send a scout to get into the free practice and sit in the bleachers and take notes.
The Cowboys have a history of paranoia.
Mike McCarthy, the man who Schottenheimer replaced, took the jersey numbers off players during a practice at AT&T Stadium that was broadcast live.
Another former coach, Bill Parcells, apparently thought there was a scout from an opposing team in the bleachers when he saw a fan wearing a hat from another NFL team.
In past years, the Cowboys security team asked homeowners not to videotape practices from the houses aligned near the practice fields.
Coaches want to be as secretive as possible.
It’s amazing because at some point every NFL team knows what you run — it’s just about stopping it.
Schottenheimer has been an NFL coach for over 25 years, and he’s changed from being protective of everything to being open.
“I've not always been that way. I think my dad [Marty] was definitely like, absolutely not,” Schottenheimer said. “I think it's more as I've gotten older and been around it and understanding. And look, we like eyes on us with the Cowboys. It's a good thing. We're proud of our brand and it doesn't bother me. Everybody's on "Hard Knocks" now anyway, so at some point or another.”
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker (left) talks with head coach Brian Schottenheimer during a training camp practice on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are on "Hard Knocks" this year and the Cowboys have been on the HBO show numerous times.
So cameras following players, coaches and front office people around isn’t a new thing in the NFL. As you know, NFL Films followed every team from the NFC East last season.
For Parker and many of the newer defensive coaches, this videotaping of everything Cowboys takes getting used to.
On Saturday morning, Parker went to greet a friend before practice and a television camera zoomed in.
It’s just part of the deal with the Cowboys and maybe the rest of the NFL. But NFL teams have different sets of rules for videotaping training camp practices. While the Cowboys allow it for everything, the Los Angeles Rams don’t.
When the Rams and Cowboys scrimmage Tuesday, the media is only allowed to videotape individual drills and stretching exercises.
That should make Parker happy.
Hopefully.
But then again, can something be gained from watching social media footage of practice footage.
“Yes and no,” Parker told "The Fan". “Once you get past Game 3 or 4, everything is on tape. When you’re in Week 1 or 2, you’re looking for things. So actually, I don’t know if people realize this, I was following some of our media members and stuff even before I got [to the Cowboys] because when I was in Green Bay and Denver and Philadelphia, I’ve played Dallas in all three spots, us kinda trying to look for things.”
The message, at least from a Cowboys perspective, the camera is always rolling.
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