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In Year 2, Tony Romo and Scott Linehan starting from higher plane
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- The relationships between quarterbacks and offensive coordinators have to be incredibly close.
They must see things the same way. They must be willing to listen to each other. They must trust each other.
For Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, he has that in Scott Linehan.
“If there’s four criteria you want, he hits all four,” Romo said. “You want someone who obviously has the ability to come up with a good game plan for each week. You want someone who has experience, who has went against multiple looks, multiple coordinators and has a history with them. And then you want to have the interaction between the quarterback and the coordinator where you can have that. The last thing is just his ability to just ...”
Romo went into technical aspects of playing his position to describe the fourth criteria, and it came down to making necessary adjustments.
The decisions Romo has to make on a play-to-play basis are nearly infinite. He wants quick answers to solve problems immediately.
When Jason Garrett called plays in 2011 and '12, they could not communicate as much in between series because Garrett had to worry about the entire team as the head coach. In 2013, when offensive line coach Bill Callahan called plays, the Cowboys were running an offense that was not his. Callahan came from the West Coast background, not Garrett’s timing-based offense favored by Norv Turner and Ernie Zampese in the 1990s.
With Linehan, Romo has found a coach to challenge his answers and trust him.
“We’re going to be the same team, but we’re just going to do little wrinkles and guys have to learn intricate detail stuff, but they’re within the structure,” Romo said. “Our system is our system. We’re going to run it. But we’re going to tweak a thing here and there to improve it. It’s a benefit when you can be in that system for extended periods of times and just tweak things instead of overhauling.”
Romo had his most successful season in 2014 -- NFL-best completion percentage (69.9), 34 touchdowns, nine interceptions -- in the feeling-out process with Linehan. In 2015 they can start their discussions at a higher level because they know exactly what each other wants.
“Any time you can spend more time with players you coach and the player is spending time with you, you’re going to improve in a lot of areas: communication, kind of what the expectations are,” Linehan said. “So it’s different in that sense. We’ve got more experience, but what’s also different is that we’re not sitting here managing and trying to figure our way. We’re not still in the rehab process (with Romo’s back) like we were last year. I think that’s huge for us this year with Tony.”
The changes to the offense are not drastic.
What you have seen since Garrett took over as playcaller in 2007 will remain key components of the offense in 2015 since Linehan runs essentially the same scheme.
“We’re actually probably more complex now with Scott,” Romo said. “It’s just that our complex stuff is actually simple. I know that sounds weird.”
So let’s allow Romo to explain.
“Our stuff that is complex now is telling a back he’s running a burst instead of a sit, and what happens is it grabs the 'backer and when all of a sudden the 'backer could’ve played both for an extra count and now he has to make that decision,” Romo said. “As I’m going through the progression I’m able to see that a second faster, so I’m getting through an extra guy a half-second faster and get on to the next read.”
The Romo-Linehan pairing worked incredibly well in 2014, and there is no reason why it can’t be better in 2015.
“Some of that subtleness is the stuff I’ve learned and he’s learned his, and you add them together there’s stuff that can really benefit you as an offense,” Romo said. “He’s really got a great mind for that.”
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- The relationships between quarterbacks and offensive coordinators have to be incredibly close.
They must see things the same way. They must be willing to listen to each other. They must trust each other.
For Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, he has that in Scott Linehan.
“If there’s four criteria you want, he hits all four,” Romo said. “You want someone who obviously has the ability to come up with a good game plan for each week. You want someone who has experience, who has went against multiple looks, multiple coordinators and has a history with them. And then you want to have the interaction between the quarterback and the coordinator where you can have that. The last thing is just his ability to just ...”
Romo went into technical aspects of playing his position to describe the fourth criteria, and it came down to making necessary adjustments.
The decisions Romo has to make on a play-to-play basis are nearly infinite. He wants quick answers to solve problems immediately.
When Jason Garrett called plays in 2011 and '12, they could not communicate as much in between series because Garrett had to worry about the entire team as the head coach. In 2013, when offensive line coach Bill Callahan called plays, the Cowboys were running an offense that was not his. Callahan came from the West Coast background, not Garrett’s timing-based offense favored by Norv Turner and Ernie Zampese in the 1990s.
With Linehan, Romo has found a coach to challenge his answers and trust him.
“We’re going to be the same team, but we’re just going to do little wrinkles and guys have to learn intricate detail stuff, but they’re within the structure,” Romo said. “Our system is our system. We’re going to run it. But we’re going to tweak a thing here and there to improve it. It’s a benefit when you can be in that system for extended periods of times and just tweak things instead of overhauling.”
Romo had his most successful season in 2014 -- NFL-best completion percentage (69.9), 34 touchdowns, nine interceptions -- in the feeling-out process with Linehan. In 2015 they can start their discussions at a higher level because they know exactly what each other wants.
“Any time you can spend more time with players you coach and the player is spending time with you, you’re going to improve in a lot of areas: communication, kind of what the expectations are,” Linehan said. “So it’s different in that sense. We’ve got more experience, but what’s also different is that we’re not sitting here managing and trying to figure our way. We’re not still in the rehab process (with Romo’s back) like we were last year. I think that’s huge for us this year with Tony.”
The changes to the offense are not drastic.
What you have seen since Garrett took over as playcaller in 2007 will remain key components of the offense in 2015 since Linehan runs essentially the same scheme.
“We’re actually probably more complex now with Scott,” Romo said. “It’s just that our complex stuff is actually simple. I know that sounds weird.”
So let’s allow Romo to explain.
“Our stuff that is complex now is telling a back he’s running a burst instead of a sit, and what happens is it grabs the 'backer and when all of a sudden the 'backer could’ve played both for an extra count and now he has to make that decision,” Romo said. “As I’m going through the progression I’m able to see that a second faster, so I’m getting through an extra guy a half-second faster and get on to the next read.”
The Romo-Linehan pairing worked incredibly well in 2014, and there is no reason why it can’t be better in 2015.
“Some of that subtleness is the stuff I’ve learned and he’s learned his, and you add them together there’s stuff that can really benefit you as an offense,” Romo said. “He’s really got a great mind for that.”
