How much will Cowboys' offense change under Mike McCarthy?

[p1_]

Dak Prescott weighs in
Dak: 'Right now, Mike told me [about] 20-30% change'

Jori Epstein

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, and quarterback Dak Prescott will enter a new kind of partnership in the 2023 season. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

PHOENIX — Change is coming in Dallas.

The change will target the Dallas Cowboys' offense, a unit without Kellen Moore in the house for the first time in seven seasons.
How much will the Cowboys' system change as head coach Mike McCarthy takes over play-calling?

“Right now, Mike told me [about] 20-30% change,” quarterback Dak Prescott told Yahoo Sports from Phoenix during Super Bowl week. “I think if anything, it’s things that need to be changed.

“It’s great to dial in, fix some things, get sharper and crisper. I’m excited.”

The Cowboys and Moore announced a “mutual parting of ways” on Jan. 29, less than 24 hours before the Los Angeles Chargers announced they had hired Moore to coordinate their offense and develop talented third-year quarterback Justin Herbert.

The marriage between Moore and the Cowboys had been consistently productive. Dallas ranked top-6 in scoring in three of Moore’s four years as coordinator. But efficiency and communication began to dip last season, inconsistencies between Prescott and his receivers’ defensive diagnoses contributing to Prescott’s league-high 15 regular-season interceptions. In the Cowboys’ 19-12 divisional round playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Prescott threw two interceptions to one touchdown. Dallas’ run game was held to 76 yards.

The Cowboys' defense stifled the 49ers' attack but couldn’t surmount the lack of complementary football.

So the Cowboys seek a different voice, an at least partially different scheme and some different offensive philosophies. Cowboys team owner/general manager Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones attributed Moore’s departure to the philosophical differences between McCarthy and Moore.

Should an offense attack opponents with deep, extended routes to stretch defenders vertically? Would quicker short and intermediate passers increase the success rate? How often and in what scenarios should receivers run option routes, perhaps stressing a defender more acutely but also risking the receiver interpret defensive cues differently than the quarterback who needs to anticipate the throw?

The Cowboys will attack these questions in the coming months.

How much is changing for Cowboys, Prescott and Moore?

The Cowboys' front office will also likely look to upgrade Prescott’s receiving corps a year after trading top wideout Amari Cooper (and his $20 million salary) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb posted 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns in his first season as a true No. 1 receiver. But the Cowboys’ pass-catching corps otherwise struggled, as fifth-year receiver Michael Gallup was unable to return smoothly from an ACL tear while third-round rookie Jalen Tolbert played just 16% of offensive snaps and caught two passes for 12 yards.

Decisions face the Cowboys' front office on multiple offensive starters as Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard hits free agency, franchise-tagged tight end Dalton Schultz is likely to command more on the open market than Dallas hopes to pay, and veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott enters his first year with zero guaranteed salary. A pay cut is a near certainty should Elliott desire to stay with the Cowboys. Even with a pay cut, his return is no sure deal.

Prescott acknowledged the personal disappointment to part with Moore for the first time in his seven professional years. Moore was integral to Prescott’s development from a 2016 fourth-round draft selection. When the Cowboys drafted Prescott, Moore was Tony Romo’s backup quarterback.

Both Romo and Moore suffered training camp injuries, and Prescott soon catapulted from a fourth-string QB (Jameill Showers, a quarterback who would eventually be converted to safety, was third) in training camp to season-long starter in a matter of weeks.

Alongside Prescott in the quarterbacks room in 2016 and 2017, Moore remained a guiding voice. So in 2018, Dallas promoted Moore in name to the role he had already been filling in practice: quarterbacks coach.

Moore was then promoted in 2019 to offensive coordinator, a role he held the past four seasons.

Now, Moore and Prescott chase their development in different cities, organizations and even conferences.

“When you lose a friend, you’re going to be upset, but that’s the nature of this business,” Prescott said. “When I say I’m upset he’s gone, it’s not that I’m upset about the future. It’s that when you’re a player, you have the relationship we’ve had, when he was a player. I watched his success and watched him grow into the coordinator that he is.

“I’m just as excited about our opportunity as I am for a new start for Kellen.”

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott spent his entire pro career alongside Kellen Moore in some capacity in Dallas. That will change in 2023. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Who will lead the Cowboys' offense in 2023?
Jerry Jones knows his team fronts a defense that is the Cowboys’ best in more than a decade. With defensive coordinator Dan Quinn returning to Dallas for a third season, Jones believes McCarthy has the freedom to dial in more closely on running and calling the offense.

“Frankly, I want Mike and Dak to join at the hip on the execution at quarterback,” Jerry Jones told Yahoo Sports from the Senior Bowl earlier this month, “Mike of course knows the personnel, knows [Dak], so picture if I had just interviewed him and he was coming in, how far ahead he is of making this thing really work.

“Knowing Dak and what he’s going to do, and knowing Mike, I think we’re definitely going to see positive, positive, just a lot of positive results.”

McCarthy promoted veteran coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who spent 2022 as a consultant for the Cowboys, to offensive coordinator.
McCarthy’s first NFL opportunity came from Schottenheimer’s father, Marty, from 1993-96 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Brian Schottenheimer coordinated the New York Jets' offense from 2006-11, the then-St. Louis Rams' offense from 2012-14 and the Seattle Seahawks' offense from 2018-20. During Schottenheimer’s Seahawks stretch, with Russell Wilson at quarterback, Seattle ranked top-10 in scoring and top-five in passing touchdowns all three years.

“Sometimes change is good,” Prescott told Yahoo Sports. “I’m a big believer in change and I’m excited for Mike calling the plays. I’m excited for Schotty. I’m excited for just being able to dial into this offense and just really get it to where we want it to be.
“I’m excited as hell.”

 

[son of deadrise]

Fuckin' Jerry Jones has his head so far up his ass he doesn't know whether it's day or night.

 

[bbgun]

Fuckin' Jerry Jones has his head so far up his ass he doesn't know whether it's day or night.

I'm sure he's already instructed Stephen to play "My Way" at his funeral.

 

[mcnuttz]

Fuckin' Jerry Jones has his head so far up his ass he doesn't know whether it's day or night.

Maybe not, but he knows where his yacht's headed.

 

[1bigfan13]

I assume a bulk of that 20-30% change will be the utilization of more vertical routes.

 

[Cujo]

I was hoping for at least 50%.

 

[son of deadrise]

Whatever they do, Dak has to get the ball out of his hand. He can't drop back and stand there. He has to get better at making progressions faster, using his feet, finding space in the pocket, being a threat to run, forcing secondaries to open up opportunities.

Under Moore, it was take the snap, drop back, wait—while four receivers ran straight down and did hooks or come-backs.

Watch the newer Kurt Warner video, or the Carr video. It's pathetic.

 

[p1_]

I assume a bulk of that 20-30% change will be the utilization of more vertical routes.

are Schottenheimer and MM of the same WCO philosophy?

 

[son of deadrise]

Maybe not, but he knows where his yacht's headed.

I doubt that. He's got a crew who takes care of that. Jerry wouldn't know port from starboard or stem from stern.

"Jest show me where them pretty little gals are. Ahoy girls! Another shot of Jack?"

 

[Simpleton]

I assume a bulk of that 20-30% change will be the utilization of more vertical routes.

I'd imagine the majority of it will be the structure of the passing game. I remember McCarthy complaining about Gallup not being used right at some point in December.

Let's say 25% of the offense is changing, if the majority of that is the passing game we're talking about half of the passing game changing, which would be significant.

 

[Genghis Khan]

are Schottenheimer and MM of the same WCO philosophy?

I don't think so. I don't think Schottenheimer is WCO at all if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I don't think so. I don't think Schottenheimer is WCO at all if I'm not mistaken.

I think he is more of the Air-Coryell system.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Found this from a couple years ago which honestly sounds pretty positive. As the Seattle guy says, guess Schottenheimer at least ran mostly the WCO when he took over there.

≠=====≠========

The Jacksonville Jaguars will have a new-look offense as they prepare for a rookie quarterback in 2021; an offense that will likely look extremely familiar to NFC West fans.

The Jaguars and new head coach Urban Meyer will reportedly be adding a pair of former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinators to their staff in Darrell Bevell, who will serve as offensive coordinator, and Brian Schottenheimer, who will be the team's quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

With the Jaguars likely to draft Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence at No. 1 overall, Bevell and Schottenheimer's influence can't be undersold. They will be directly in Lawrence's ear over the course of his rookie season and beyond.

To get an idea for what the two bring to the table and what the Jaguars' offense may look like in the fall, we talked to Corbin Smith of Seahawk Maven to discuss the two. What went right and what went wrong in Seattle? How optimistic is he about their moves to Jacksonville? We discuss this all here.

Q: The Jaguars will reportedly have Pete Carroll's last two OCs as their top two offensive assistants in Darrell Bevell (OC) and Brian Schottenheimer (PGC/QB Coach). What was Seattle's offensive identity under each?

Smith: Bevell was at the helm from 2011 to 2017 and guided several of the most prolific offenses in Seahawks franchise history while operating a variation of the West Coast scheme with an emphasis on play-action and running the football. During his time in Seattle, the team finished in the top 10 in scoring four times, including ranking second in the league in 2015 behind a historic hot streak by Russell Wilson in the second half.
For the most part, Schottenheimer adopted Seattle's prior scheme when he replaced Bevell in 2018 and simply added wrinkles from his Air Coryell background, which led to the best seasons of Wilson's career under center, as the gunslinger threw 106 touchdown passes in 48 regular season games with the two paired together. The Seahawks finished in the top 10 in scoring all three seasons and Wilson finished no worse than fifth in the NFL in passing touchdowns in any of the three years Schotty was at the controls.

Q: Why did the Seahawks move on from Schottenheimer after three pretty successful seasons?

Smith: I don't believe Schottenheimer deserved all of the blame for Seattle's second-half regression, but there had to be a scapegoat with how things unraveled. The problem? His attack became predictable to an extent and he wasn't able to make necessary adjustments when opponents took away the deep ball down the stretch. The running game wasn't much of a factor, which had to eat at Pete Carroll. Even when Schottenheimer schemed receivers open in the short-to-intermediate game, Wilson had his share of struggles executing and unloading the football in a timely manner, and there were times where scheming didn't seem to be effective in that regard.
Due to "philosophical differences," Carroll and Schottenheimer decided to part ways, and I believe the biggest root of those issues revolved around Schottenheimer wanting to continue letting Wilson cook and Carroll desiring a return to a more balanced, run-heavy approach.

Q: How much did Schottenheimer's presence benefit Russell Wilson?

Smith: Wilson admitted to reporters that he wasn't on board with Schottenheimer being dismissed last month and looking at his production, it's easy to see why. Again, he had the most productive three-year stretch of his career and he threw a career-high 40 touchdown passes in 2020 despite a rough final two months. He improved dramatically throwing from the pocket under Schotty's tutelage, he seemed to develop a better grasp for reading defenses, and above all else, most of the technical flaws in his throwing form were shored up over the past three years. He's a very good quarterback instructor dating back to his time working with Drew Brees with the Chargers and honestly, he doesn't get near enough credit for somehow running an offense with Mark Sanchez under center that got to back-to-back AFC title games.

Q: Is there any merit to the idea that both Bevell and Schottenheimer could have been restricted to a degree by Carroll?

Smith: I don't know that "restricted" is the right word, but Carroll does have a habit of meddling into offensive affairs. From sources I've spoken to, Bevell was much more willing to roll with what Carroll wanted to do, but Schottenheimer exhibited resistance at times. Most notably, in the wild card game against the Rams last month, Carroll admitted he was "fighting the call" a bit on a key fourth-down situation and even with a player being looked at injured on the field for two minutes, the Seahawks didn't break the huddle until there were only five seconds left on the play clock. Trying to rush the snap, two linemen jumped early and the Seahawks then had to punt as a result. It was a huge storyline in Seattle for a week before Schottenheimer's dismissal and it was the last straw in a relationship that didn't seem to be working anymore because of Carroll's hands-on approach.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Jaguars surrounding Meyer and Lawrence with so many Seahawks coaches?

Smith: It's a bit ironic that both of Seattle's previous two coordinators will now be working collaboratively together, especially since the Seahawks are on the Jaguars' schedule next year. But as far as fit, I think Meyer brought in two solid coaches who bring slightly different offensive mindsets and have lengthy track records working with quality quarterbacks. I believe they will work well together and though it may not be a perfect duo with all things considered, the organization should feel good about having these two coordinators around to help develop Lawrence. I'm particularly high on the Schottenheimer hire, as I think he got a raw deal to an extent and his work with Brees, Sanchez, and Wilson speaks for itself.


BY
JOHN SHIPLEY

 

[p1_]

From mentors to magic numbers: Why Brian Schottenheimer’s the guy to resurrect the Seahawks’ offense

The son of highly respected NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, Brian Schottenheimer was tasked with rebuilding the Seahawks' offense. Here's a look at what he's about, and how he honed his coaching philosophies.

By Bob Condotta

Seattle Times staff reporter

It’s not easy for a son to make his own way in the shadow of a father who’s the seventh-winningest coach in NFL history.
The Schottenheimer File

Name: Brian Schottenheimer

Title: Seahawks offensive coordinator

Age: 45

College: Florida

Coaching experience: 21 years

Previous stops:

St. Louis Rams (1997, assistant)
Kansas City Chiefs (1998, assistant)
Syracuse (1999, WR coach)
USC (2000, TE coach)
NFL's Washington franchise (2001, QB coach)
San Diego Chargers (2002-05, QB coach)
New York Jets (2006-11, OC)
St. Louis Rams (2012-14, OC)
Georgia (2015, OC and QB coach)
Indianapolis Colts (2016-17, QB coach)
Seattle Seahawks (2018, OC)

But for Brian Schottenheimer to embark on the path to – he hopes – someday carve out a football coaching career as illustrious as his father’s, he first had to defy Marty Schottenheimer.

It was the summer of 1993 and Brian Schottenheimer had just finished his freshman season as a redshirt quarterback at the University of Kansas when he approached his father with a drastic decision.

“I kind of realized,‘You know, I’m not really good enough to play at the next level (the NFL)’ but I knew I wanted to be involved in football for the rest of my life,’ ’’ Brian Schottenheimer said. “And I was like ‘You know, I want to try to get a Ph.D. in coaching.’ ”

The Jayhawks’ offense was based on using the quarterback as a runner. Brian Schottenheimer wanted to transfer to a program that ran a more cutting-edge and varied offense so he could learn as much football as possible.

When he told Marty, though, his father replied, “No, you are not transferring,’’ Brian Schottenheimer recalled in a recent interview with The Seattle Times.

Marty, then the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, felt his son had made a commitment to Kansas and should stick to it.

“I was like, ‘Well, that’s your opinion, but I’m leaving,’ ” said Brian, who had driven roughly seven hours to the Chiefs’ training camp in River Falls, Wis., to deliver the news.

Eventually, Marty relented and Brian transferred to Florida, where he saw sparing action but spent four years soaking in all he could about football from Steve Spurrier. That move put Brian Schottenheimer on the path to where he is today: the 45-year-old offensive coordinator of the Seahawks at the beginning of a pivotal rebuild.

Brian’s long coaching road to Seattle included three stints working for his father and the likes of Dick Vermeil, Rex Ryan and Jeff Fisher. Brian also has tutored quarterbacks such as Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Brett Favre, and worked nine years as an NFL offensive coordinator.

There are good years and there are bad years. But I love it. There is nothing I enjoy more than being on the field with these players and coaches and just watching them work.” - Seahawks OC Brian Schottenheimer

Schottenheimer was hired last January to revive an offense whose struggles led to the firing of Darrell Bevell and the reshaping of the Seahawks’ offensive staff.

In the seven months since, coaches and players have raved about Schottenheimer’s energy on the field — he likes to personally deliver immediate feedback whenever possible — and communication skills in meeting rooms.

But Schottenheimer knows all that really matters is what happens on Sundays (and the occasional Monday or Thursday) in the fall.

“It’s a unique profession,’’ he said with a wry smile. “My dad got fired after going 14-2 (with San Diego in 2006). It can be a great profession. It can be hard. It’s hard on families. And there are good years and there are bad years. But I love it. There is nothing I enjoy more than being on the field with these players and coaches and just watching them work.”

As Schottenheimer takes the latest step in a journey that began with that drive to see his father, here’s a look at some other key moments and core beliefs formed occurred along the way.
From a player to a coach

The Schottenheimer family moved regularly in the ’70s and ’80s as Marty worked his way up before settling in Kansas City in 1989 to coach the Chiefs for 10 seasons.

As a senior at Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, Kan., Brian led his team to the 1991 Kansas Class 5A state football championship and was named first team all-state.

That led to a scholarship at Kansas, where the offensive coordinator at the time was Pat Ruel, who became the Seahawks’ assistant offensive line coach in 2010.

“Growing up around it, he just knew how to do things correctly,’’ Ruel said.

Ruel was one of the coaches Schottenheimer had to break the news to when he decided to leave Kansas.

“He made the right decision. He learned more football there,” Ruel said last week.

In a recent phone interview with the Times, Spurrier says he and Schottenheimer both knew the quarterback wasn’t coming to Florida to be anything other than a backup and groom himself for a future coaching career.

“He wanted to come and see how we were doing it,’’ Spurrier said.

Schottenheimer threw just 38 passes in three seasons at Florida with two touchdowns.

One of his touchdowns — the first of a 1996 season that would culminate in the Gators winning the national championship and quarterback Danny Wuerffel winning the Heisman Trophy — gave Schottenheimer a quirky place in Florida history and resulted in a story Spurrier loves to tell.

The Gators opened that season heavy favorites against Southwestern Louisiana at home. But the offense struggled early, and a few series in, Spurrier inserted the second-string offense at every position other than receiver.

“Southwestern Louisiana blitzed and Schotty checked to a little hitch pass to (future first-round selection and 12-year NFL vet) Ike Hilliard,’’ Spurrier said. “Ike caught it and dodged like five guys and went for a touchdown.’’

Recalls Schottenheimer: “I was, of course, very excited and I came off the field expecting jubilation from coach. And he was excited, but he said, ‘Good job. Danny’s back in.’ And I was like, ‘Really?’”

That was the last touchdown pass of Schottenheimer’s career.
Devising his favorite saying: The “me-to-you factor”

After leaving Florida, Schottenheimer said he intentionally bounced around to get exposed to varying coaching methods and philosophies.

That led to one-year stints with the Rams under Vermeil, at Syracuse and then at USC, where, in 2000, Schottenheimer was tight ends coach under Paul Hackett.

Hackett was fired at the end of the season and replaced by none other than Pete Carroll.

But before Schottenheimer and Carroll crossed paths, the young coach inevitably ended up back with his father.

While working under his father with the Chiefs in 1998, Schottenheimer met the other coach he considers a significant influence: Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, who was then Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach.

“A lot of my quarterback fundamentals and beliefs and protections of the quarterback comes from Mike,’’ Schottenheimer said. “He’s had a huge impact on my career.’’

From 2002-05, Schottenheimer worked under his father again as the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach, and he worked with Brees and Rivers.

There, he devised one of his favorite sayings: the “me-to-you factor.’’

To Schottenheimer, that phrase reinforces the trust a quarterback must have in his receivers and vice versa. The QB knows the receiver will be where he throws it, and the receiver knows if he is open the quarterback will find him.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has established a good rapport with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)
Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has established a good rapport with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

“We were throwing a lot of back-shoulder fades and things like that and you kind of learn that the trust element was critical,’’ Schottenheimer said. “Me-to-you, that just means trust. You trust that guy will throw it where he can catch it.’’

It’s a phrase Schottenheimer already has ingrained in his new Seahawks players.

“I’ve been saying for a long time, that’s the magic of the passing game, the me-to-you factor, the trust between Russell (Wilson) and Tyler (Lockett) or Russell and Doug (Baldwin) or Brandon (Marshall),” Schottenheimer said. “That’s the magic of it that they have a great feel for one another.’’

Learning the value of the run game

Schottenheimer’s first coordinator job came in 2006, with the New York Jets under Rex Ryan. There, his reputation for favoring a strong running game began to take hold.

Brian had seen it work for his father. In nine of the last 10 years of Marty Schottenheimer’s coaching career, he had just two losing seasons and won 12 or more games four times. In that time period, Marty Schottenheimer’s teams ranked in the top nine in the NFL in rushing yards.

We are always going to go in with the understanding that we should be able to run the ball, and believing and expecting we can do it at a high level.’’” - Brian Schottenheimer

“The running game is critical because if you don’t have balance, you are pretty easy to defend,’’ Schottenheimer said.

The Jets advanced to the AFC title game two consecutive seasons behind quarterback Mark Sanchez and an offense ranked in the top four in rushing each season, coupled with a strong defense.

The key, Schottenheimer said in his first news conference as a Seahawk, is to be able to run successfully even when the defense knows it’s coming.

Many football analysts took that comment to task, questioning if it’s foolhardy to run if a defense is expecting it, and noting that the traditional notion of running to set up the pass can be disproved statistically.

Schottenheimer doesn’t back down when confronted with that criticism. He says it’s not quite that simple and that his offense will be tailored to suit both the strength of its personnel and traits of its next opponent. Plus, as many have noted, Wilson might be the best quarterback Schottenheimer has had as a coordinator.

Schottenheimer says the real key to his offensive philosophy is rooted in the magic number: 53. In his career, Schottenheimer has found hitting that number through any combination of pass completions and runs in a game is one of the biggest predictors of victory.

“If you rushed the ball, say, 30 times and throw 23 completions, that was like the second determining factor of wins and losses after turnovers,’’ Schottenheimer said. “Some weeks, it’s going to be different and it’s going to be 33 completions and 20 rushing attempts. But we are always going to go in with the understanding that we should be able to run the ball, and believing and expecting we can do it at a high level.’’

A “weird” call from Pete Carroll

Schottenheimer was the Rams’ offensive coordinator from 2012-14, then, after a year as the OC at Georgia, he became the Colts’ quarterbacks coach for two seasons.

That job sounded good until Andrew Luck suffered a shoulder injury and sat out last season. In Luck’s absence, the Colts withered, and head coach Chuck Pagano was fired. Before Schottenheimer left for his usual postseason vacation at a family house in Florida, he was told he could pursue other jobs.

A few days later, a call came from Pete Carroll, whom Schottenheimer knew of, but had never worked for. Only, Carroll didn’t initially say he had a job available in Seattle.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer trains players at Seattle Seahawks Training Camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton Tuesday August 7, 2018. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)
Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer trains players at Seattle Seahawks Training Camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton Tuesday August 7, 2018. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

“We just started talking real general stuff about Russell and quarterbacks and just kind of had a fun, little conversation,’’ said Schottenheimer.

Afterward, Schottenheimer told his wife, Gemmi, that Carroll had called and said, “That was weird.’’

A few days later came a second call with more in-depth talks about coaching and philosophy

Finally, on a third call several days later, Carroll got to the point. He said he wanted to interview Schottenheimer – who also knew Seattle general manager John Schneider from their time together in Washington and Kansas City – about a job.

Carroll told Schottenheimer his first goal was to revive a running game that had fallen to 101.8 and 99.4 rushing yards a game the past two seasons after averaging at least 136.4 every year from 2012-15 and ranking in the top four in the NFL each season.

“He realizes the same importance from looking at it from a defensive standpoint,” Schottenheimer said. “If you can’t stop the run, it’s a bad feeling on defense. Offensively, if you can’t run the ball, it’s a bad feeling. So that was a big part of our discussions of how we kind of envision ourselves being offensively with the running game and tying that into the play (action) pass.’’

Great opportunities, great challenges

The football coaching life might be tough on families. But the Schottenheimers always tried to take advantage of what football can offer to keep a family close. As a kid, Brian, the only son of Marty and Pat, was a regular fixture on the sidelines of his father’s games.

Brian now has two children of his own: a son, Sutton, 13, who’s a regular at Seahawks training camp, and a 12-year old daughter, Savannah.

Marty and Pat now live in Charlotte, N.C., where Marty, 74, is battling Alzheimer’s.

It’s not a topic Brian Schottenheimer evades, thanking a reporter for asking about his father’s health.

“It’s a terrible disease,’’ he said. “We are not at the stage where it’s as bad as it sounds like it gets with some people. … He still remembers everybody. He’s still very active. He gets confused from time-to-time, like, ‘Where am I coaching? What is going on?’

“But he is in good spirits and we feel like we’ve got a good plan to help take care of him.’’

For now, that plan includes trying to treat life as normally as possible. Brian says Marty and Pat will come to Seattle for a few weeks this season, and in November, the Seahawks play the Panthers in Charlotte.

“You take the good with the bad,’’ Brian said. “We try to laugh a lot. We try to make light of the situation. And when he forgets to do something, or he comes out with two different shirts on or something, we try to kind of make light of it and have fun with it because I think if you don’t do that, it will rip your heart out.’’

In a different and less serious way , Brian has learned football can do that too. He says he’s no less enthusiastic for a new coaching beginning than he was 25 years ago.

“Each year is different,’’ he said. “I have been hired, I have been fired. It’s not always what you did or what you can control. There are a lot of extenuating factors. So I just came into this year and said, ‘Hey, look, I’m going to be who I am.’ ’’

Now, to see if stamping Schottenheimer’s identity on the Seahawks’ offense allows it to rediscover the one Carroll feels it has lost.

 

[shane]

Hearing that Schottenheimer was criticized for running the ball too much and being too conservative under Russell Wilson has made me more happy about the hire.

We don’t need innovation. We need a run based attack that is focused on minimizing Dak’s weaknesses and giving the defense the best chance to dominate. Any time Dallas tries a Jap play it’s ass anyhow.

 

[boozeman]

Hearing that Schottenheimer was criticized for running the ball too much and being too conservative under Russell Wilson has made me more happy about the hire.

We don’t need innovation. We need a run based attack that is focused on minimizing Dak’s weaknesses and giving the defense the best chance to dominate. Any time Dallas tries a Jap play it’s ass anyhow.

Actually I think it was a little of the other way around, at least in terms of how he fell out with Carroll. Carroll wanted more runs.

 

[son of deadrise]

Same old, same old NFL incestuous bullshit. Don't actually hire a proven, up and coming OC from a successful franchise.

Instead, hire the journeyman son of the coach who gave McCarthy his start, a journeyman whose stops have included two really forward-looking teams, Jets and Jaguars.

It's the same tired recycling of the same old tired names from the same old Rolodex -- McCarthy being one of them.

Jerry hired Garrett because of the Dallas Cowboy incestuous lineage. Moore gets hired as OC because he was hanging around and they couldn't think of anyone else.

McCarthy came out of the recycling bin because he didn't make Jerry too uncomfortable.

Jerry keeps grinding the gears, trying to shift from 2nd to 3rd, but every year for the last 27 years it's the same old predictable pattern.

 

[jsmith6919]

As long as i never see 3wrs all running curls again I'll take it

 

[p1_]

Same old, same old NFL incestuous bullshit. Don't actually hire a proven, up and coming OC from a successful franchise.

Instead, hire the journeyman son of the coach who gave McCarthy his start, a journeyman whose stops have included two really forward-looking teams, Jets and Jaguars.

It's the same tired recycling of the same old tired names from the same old Rolodex -- McCarthy being one of them.

Jerry hired Garrett because of the Dallas Cowboy incestuous lineage. Moore gets hired as OC because he was hanging around and they couldn't think of anyone else.

McCarthy came out of the recycling bin because he didn't make Jerry too uncomfortable.

Jerry keeps grinding the gears, trying to shift from 2nd to 3rd, but every year for the last 27 years it's the same old predictable pattern.

Talk about same old pattern.

 

[p1_]