OXNARD, Calif. -- Conor Riley had spent 22 years coaching in college football, including the past six at Kansas State, before joining the Cowboys as their offensive line coach.
For two decades, he was used to the whims of 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds still learning their craft fresh out of high school. Now he is coaching veterans such as Terence Steele, Tyler Smith, Saahdiq Charles and Hakeem Adeniji, who have multiple years of starting, have made a Pro Bowl or have even played in a Super Bowl.
Does he coach the same?
"Here's the No. 1 thing, when this opportunity arose, I did reach out to a few people, and the one thing that they said is, 'Make sure that you're going to be yourself. Don't try to be somebody else. The coach that you are, you got this opportunity because of that. Be yourself.' And that's the one thing that you consistently remind yourself."
Riley had one of his former players, center Cooper Beebe, already with the Cowboys.
"He kind of had to find his way just like everybody does once you're into the NFL," Beebe said. "Now it's the same old Riles."
Once Riley was hired, Beebe's teammates started to reach out.
"All of them did," Beebe said. "They're like, 'Hey, talk to me about Riles. How is his [individual drills]? How is he in the meetings?' They were all trying to get the 411 on that."
Look, ma, no ... gloves
Before every practice, tight ends coach Lunda Wells puts his players through a series of drills to help with hand-eye coordination and everything that goes with catching a football.
Jake Ferguson is the only tight end to go through the work without wearing his gloves. There's a reason.
"A lot of it is the feel for the ball," he said. "Me and coach Lunda Wells, we do a lot of ball drills. If I'm not on the field working, I'm usually off the field doing ball drills with him to get that feel of the ball in bare hands; it's a lot better.
"But also in my eyes, doing some of those drills with gloves is a little bit of cheating. They're very sticky, and a lot of it is one-handed work. Catching a ball bare-handed versus [using] a glove, there's a difference."
Help wanted
Brian Schottenheimer has a lot of responsibilities as head coach before and during a game. He's dropping one postgame responsibility after the first preseason game: the team prayer.
"I went straight Ricky Bobby on them," Schottenheimer said, referring to the movie "Talladega Nights."
"I actually cursed. Yeah, just yeah, I cursed. I asked God to help us in the red zone. I said, like, 'Damn, we left some opportunities out there.' So I fired myself from doing the postgame prayer."
At the team meeting, Schottenheimer opened with accountability and showed the scene where Will Ferrell is saying grace at the dinner table "where he's talking to baby Jesus."
"I think everybody knew because Sam Williams said afterwards to [Dak Prescott], he goes, 'Can you swear during the prayer?'" Schottenheimer said. "So I will no longer be doing the postgame prayer. Chalk that one up to when you're that emotional and there's the ups and downs of a game, you don't need to be the one talking to God."
So who will do the prayer?
"Either it will be the team chaplain," the coach said, "or somebody a little more calm than me."
Checking in on...
Cornerback Jourdan Lewis was one of the key departures the Cowboys had in the offseason, with him now calling the Jacksonville Jaguars home.
Here's a report on what Lewis is doing with Jacksonville from ESPN Jaguars reporter Mike DiRocco:
Lewis has been a camp standout and seems to make a play in almost every practice. He has intercepted two passes -- including a diving catch to snag a Trevor Lawrence throw -- and has alternated between lining up outside and inside.
"It's every day [he's] making a play," coach Liam Coen said. "There's only so much within a scheme that you can teach and coach. Ultimately, they have to go out and make plays, and he just continues to be a steady, consistent professional that communicates at a high level.
"He brings calmness to our back end, a playmaker to our back end, and a great leader for the guys to be able to continue to listen to back there."
When the Jaguars are in base defense, Lewis will line up outside opposite Tyson Campbell. When they bring in an extra corner (Travis Hunter or Jarrian Jones), Lewis will slide inside to nickel.