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Frank Pollack finds success in mastering the mundane
11:19 PM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- Perhaps the most important person in the Dallas Cowboys’ success this season prefers the background. From a distance, he wears a scowl. He walks quickly with his head down.
While rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are the most prominent faces of the Cowboys’ turnaround in 2016, what is truly driving the success is the offensive line.
Frank Pollack is in his second year as the full-time offensive line coach and fourth year altogether with the team. After his NFL playing career ended in 1993, Pollack went into the business world, but he couldn’t get the game out of his system. He worked at his alma mater, Northern Arizona, for two seasons before entering the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach with the Houston Texans in 2007.
In the vernacular, he’s a ball coach.
“I’m not into coaching from a social services standpoint,” Pollack said. “To me, that’s kind of a side benefit to it. I’m in football because I love the game and I want to compete. I can’t play anymore, and the next-best thing is coaching and seeing guys get better under your tutelage, if you will, and seeing the group play. That’s the benefit. But I’m a competitor. I’m competing against the league, and my own standard every day and what’s been set here is a high standard. A lot of big-name O-line coaches have come through this program or this club.”
Pollack, a sixth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 1990, has a group that consists of three first-round picks, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin. Right tackle Doug Free has been a starter since 2009.
But what he has is a group that works as if they were a sixth-round pick like Pollack.
“He understands what offensive linemen go through,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He teaches a mentality and a toughness that shows up each and every day and certainly shows up on Sunday afternoons. He’s very good technically and he understands the importance of that unit staying together, being strong together, and the bonds that are created on an offensive line. He’s been around really good offensive lines in his life, and he’s done a great job transferring that to our guys. They certainly embrace it."
When he arrived on the Cowboys’ staff in 2013, Pollack brought with him a change to the wide-zone blocking scheme. While he was the assistant offensive line coach at the time, he had more hands-on work with the group than Bill Callahan, who was also the play-caller.
Pollack is a big technician. He believes in execution and footwork. His favorite saying to his linemen is "Master the mundane."
“It’s just about focusing on the tiny details, the things that you do over and over and over,” Frederick said. “It’s like catching a fly ball in baseball. You do it over and over and over, and you’re going to see it a thousand times but maybe not do it perfectly. You just keep doing it because it’s something that continues to come up.”
Things have not gone perfectly for the line this year. Smith has missed two games because of a bulging disc in his back. Left guard La’el Collins is on injured reserve after undergoing toe surgery and been replaced by Ronald Leary. Chaz Green, who replaced Smith, suffered a foot injury and has missed the last two games.
Yet there has not been a drop off. The Cowboys have run for at least 180 yards in each of the last four games. Elliott leads the NFL in rushing with 703 yards. Prescott has been sacked just 11 times.
“Peer pressure, it’s a great motivator, right?” Pollack said. “So you got to put that in front of them all the time, different ways, reminding them. You kind of do it amongst the league when you’re watching tape and watching other teams and you see how other guys are doing it. You see guys having success and you say, ‘Hey, there’s some other guys doing it this way.’ We’ve got to make sure we’re trying to beat that standard and create our own standard. That’s when you’ve got guys competing. Peer pressure is big. You don’t want to let those guys down. They’ve been working hard, sweating hard, bleeding hard next to each other for month, some of them for years. That’s the last thing you want to do, let them down.”
The credit due Pollack, however, will come through gritted teeth from some because of the talent he coaches in Smith, Frederick and Martin. Smith has been named to the last three Pro Bowls, Frederick and Martin the last two. Leary could be a sought-after free agent after this season. Collins was a first-round talent in 2015. Free has been a dependable starter.
Yet if the Cowboys’ offensive line falters, the blame would lie with Pollack.
“I guess I’m aware of it but at the end of the day I don’t really care about it,” Pollack said. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to appease anyone. I know when our guys play good and when they play bad. I know what our standards is and when we’ve reached it or haven’t reached it. ... That’s the nature of the business. That’s what happens. That’s what being a pro football coach is all about. So that’s a blessing. It’s a good thing. I could be sitting home not coaching.”
11:19 PM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- Perhaps the most important person in the Dallas Cowboys’ success this season prefers the background. From a distance, he wears a scowl. He walks quickly with his head down.
While rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are the most prominent faces of the Cowboys’ turnaround in 2016, what is truly driving the success is the offensive line.
Frank Pollack is in his second year as the full-time offensive line coach and fourth year altogether with the team. After his NFL playing career ended in 1993, Pollack went into the business world, but he couldn’t get the game out of his system. He worked at his alma mater, Northern Arizona, for two seasons before entering the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach with the Houston Texans in 2007.
In the vernacular, he’s a ball coach.
“I’m not into coaching from a social services standpoint,” Pollack said. “To me, that’s kind of a side benefit to it. I’m in football because I love the game and I want to compete. I can’t play anymore, and the next-best thing is coaching and seeing guys get better under your tutelage, if you will, and seeing the group play. That’s the benefit. But I’m a competitor. I’m competing against the league, and my own standard every day and what’s been set here is a high standard. A lot of big-name O-line coaches have come through this program or this club.”
Pollack, a sixth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 1990, has a group that consists of three first-round picks, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin. Right tackle Doug Free has been a starter since 2009.
But what he has is a group that works as if they were a sixth-round pick like Pollack.
“He understands what offensive linemen go through,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He teaches a mentality and a toughness that shows up each and every day and certainly shows up on Sunday afternoons. He’s very good technically and he understands the importance of that unit staying together, being strong together, and the bonds that are created on an offensive line. He’s been around really good offensive lines in his life, and he’s done a great job transferring that to our guys. They certainly embrace it."
When he arrived on the Cowboys’ staff in 2013, Pollack brought with him a change to the wide-zone blocking scheme. While he was the assistant offensive line coach at the time, he had more hands-on work with the group than Bill Callahan, who was also the play-caller.
Pollack is a big technician. He believes in execution and footwork. His favorite saying to his linemen is "Master the mundane."
“It’s just about focusing on the tiny details, the things that you do over and over and over,” Frederick said. “It’s like catching a fly ball in baseball. You do it over and over and over, and you’re going to see it a thousand times but maybe not do it perfectly. You just keep doing it because it’s something that continues to come up.”
Things have not gone perfectly for the line this year. Smith has missed two games because of a bulging disc in his back. Left guard La’el Collins is on injured reserve after undergoing toe surgery and been replaced by Ronald Leary. Chaz Green, who replaced Smith, suffered a foot injury and has missed the last two games.
Yet there has not been a drop off. The Cowboys have run for at least 180 yards in each of the last four games. Elliott leads the NFL in rushing with 703 yards. Prescott has been sacked just 11 times.
“Peer pressure, it’s a great motivator, right?” Pollack said. “So you got to put that in front of them all the time, different ways, reminding them. You kind of do it amongst the league when you’re watching tape and watching other teams and you see how other guys are doing it. You see guys having success and you say, ‘Hey, there’s some other guys doing it this way.’ We’ve got to make sure we’re trying to beat that standard and create our own standard. That’s when you’ve got guys competing. Peer pressure is big. You don’t want to let those guys down. They’ve been working hard, sweating hard, bleeding hard next to each other for month, some of them for years. That’s the last thing you want to do, let them down.”
The credit due Pollack, however, will come through gritted teeth from some because of the talent he coaches in Smith, Frederick and Martin. Smith has been named to the last three Pro Bowls, Frederick and Martin the last two. Leary could be a sought-after free agent after this season. Collins was a first-round talent in 2015. Free has been a dependable starter.
Yet if the Cowboys’ offensive line falters, the blame would lie with Pollack.
“I guess I’m aware of it but at the end of the day I don’t really care about it,” Pollack said. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to appease anyone. I know when our guys play good and when they play bad. I know what our standards is and when we’ve reached it or haven’t reached it. ... That’s the nature of the business. That’s what happens. That’s what being a pro football coach is all about. So that’s a blessing. It’s a good thing. I could be sitting home not coaching.”