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By Jon Machota
5h ago
Mike McCarthy doesn’t try to hide it. He enjoys having the two-way radio back in his hand during practice. As he did during the majority of his time as Green Bay Packers head coach, the Cowboys head coach is now calling offensive plays.
One noticeable change is that McCarthy is now wearing reading glasses as he looks over his play sheet before giving quarterback Dak Prescott the call.
“That’s the ultimate seat you want to sit in,” McCarthy said. “It’s everything that goes into preparing that game plan. … That’s the guy that gets to compete on game day with the coordinator on the other side of the field. I think it’s only natural that I’m enjoying it. It’s been a lot of fun to get back into it.”
The coordinator he’ll be competing with throughout training camp has noticed how much fun McCarthy has been having this offseason.
“It looks, from my opinion, like he’s having a blast,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. “Sometimes as a head coach, when you’re not the play caller and you are yearning for it, I’ve seen that with him, the energy he has for it. He sets the whole menu and the table for us and we’re having a good offseason.
“But him specifically, I’ve felt some happiness and some joy for him going out there and you can see his competitive juices going. We’ll have some good battles (at training camp). I’ve coached against Mike for a long time, he’s one of the very best. Hopefully we have a lot of fun out in California.”
https://theathletic.com/4595437/2023/06/09/cowboys-offseason-takeaways/
After attending rookie minicamp, organized team activities and minicamp, most want to know how different the offense looks with McCarthy installing and calling it compared to what was previously called under OC Kellen Moore.
The quick answer is not a lot. There were no full-padded practices during the offseason sessions open to reporters. No full speed 11-on-11 reps, either. There was less contact than the previous two years. That’s a result of McCarthy being fined and the Cowboys losing offseason practices because the NFL deemed their work the last two offseasons as being too physical.
Getting the communication down between Prescott and his offensive teammates was the biggest goal McCarthy and his staff were trying to accomplish over the past month. The most notable staff changes included Brian Schottenheimer being hired as offensive coordinator, Mike Solari being hired as offensive line coach, Jeff Blasko going from assistant offensive line coach to running backs coach, and Scott Tolzien going from offensive assistant to QB coach.
“This offensive coaching staff, the personalities are different,” McCarthy said. “That’s part of making changes. The way we talk to the offense is a bit different than in the past. That’s just our style. But at the end of the day, it has to be the players’ style, it has to be their mindset, because they’re the ones that cross the white lines and play the game.”
All-Pro right guard Zack Martin said he thinks McCarthy brings an edge to the offense.
“We’re still going to run the football,” Martin said. “It’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing. I think just the communication and the little details that we’ve added this year are going to allow everyone to be on the same page. … He’s got a little edge. He’s a Pittsburgh guy. When the guy in front of you is showing you that every day, it rubs off on the group.”
The most notable personnel changes were the departures of RB Ezekiel Elliott, TE Dalton Schultz, LG Connor McGovern and WR Noah Brown. The most notable additions were trading for WR Brandin Cooks, drafting TE Luke Schoonmaker and RB Deuce Vaughn, and signing OL Chuma Edoga and RB Ronald Jones.
Cooks’ speed was the most noticeable addition during minicamp practices. The top highlight from the offseason was Prescott finding him on a deep ball that ended up being a 65-yard touchdown during seven-on-seven work. The trio of CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Cooks should be a more productive wide receiver group than a year ago.
Tony Pollard is the clear No. 1 running back with Elliott gone, however, Pollard didn’t do much during the offseason as he works his way back from the leg injury he suffered in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The tight end group appears to have quality depth, but it’s definitely one to keep an eye on at camp as they work to replace Schultz. The offensive line continues to find what they believe to be their best five. Right tackle Terence Steele did not participate in OTAs or minicamp as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury. Martin didn’t participate as he was dealing with a minor soft tissue injury. That meant Tyron Smith worked some at right tackle and left tackle and Tyler Smith lined up at left tackle and left guard. Plenty still needs to be sorted out with that group.
When asked about the offensive changes last week, Prescott said they have a new name for their system. It’s the “Texas Coast” offense, a combination of their previous offense and the West Coast system that McCarthy and Schottenheimer have run throughout their coaching careers.
Dak Prescott threw a league-high 15 interceptions while completing 66.2 percent of his passes last season. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)
“I’ve said it and I do believe it, it wasn’t broke,” Schottenheimer said of the Dallas offense that has been one of the league’s most productive in recent years. “What they’ve done here over the last five, six, seven years has been really good since Dak came into the league. We wanted to keep a lot of that in place. That’s what our players know. We’re a veteran strong offense that has added some really cool pieces.
“We were very selective about the changes we made. We tried to protect some of the language, the things Dak has used for a long time. But we certainly added some wrinkles. Not to put a number on it, but we’re somewhere in that keep 70 percent-ish. We’ve certainly added some flavor.”
McCarthy has broken their offensive adjustments down into three groups, the education stage, the application stage and the evaluation stage. They are currently in the application stage.
One example McCarthy used was a pass play in their offense called “Duquesne.” Not a surprise that McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, has a play named after the private university in his hometown. It’s pronounced doo-kayn, but McCarthy joked about those who say “Du-qwesney.” Their athletic teams are known as the Duquesne Dukes.
“(Prescott) asked a question in front of everybody,” McCarthy recalled. “He said, ‘Well, Coach, how do you want to call it?’ I said, ‘It’s your huddle. How do you want to call it?’ He said, ‘Duquesne.’ I said, ‘Then it’s Duquesne.’ If I say ‘Du-qwesney’ and ‘Dukes,’ you know what I’m talking about. Just call ‘Duquesne.’ I have just always done it that way. They’re the ones in the huddle and what you learn over time is each quarterback is a little different.
“We want these guys speaking up in meetings. We’ve had our opportunity to go up and say, ‘Hey, this is what we think.’ Now, there’s a lot of Q and A back and forth, interaction. When we get to training camp, I mean our installs will be bada-boom bada-bing. And then we got to get to the real stuff. We’ve got to get to Dak at the line and make sure we’re seeing the things and getting communication, because those guys play the game and he’s the leader of the band out there.”
https://theathletic.com/4579835/2023/06/05/cowboys-jalen-tolbert-receiver/
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones noted that one of the offensive changes is that Prescott will be getting the ball out quicker in the passing game. It sounds like Prescott will have fewer reads. For example, if the first two aren’t there, he might be looking to get into the scramble drill a little quicker.
“All of those things should potentially adhere to quicker releases, which gives us a better chance to block them up,” Jones said. “I know you’ve heard this a thousand times but we are fundamentally doing things differently in the offensive line that let us block them up, protect. And he’s going to be doing some things too that work with that, that let us get that ball in a spot quicker than we have.”
Prescott’s league-leading 15 interceptions last year were uncharacteristic. That career-high had him averaging 1.25 per game. Prescott averaged 0.58 per game over the previous six years of his career. It’s interesting to note that Brett Favre threw a career-high 29 interceptions in 2005, the year before McCarthy was hired as Packers head coach. In Favre’s two seasons with McCarthy, his interceptions went down to 18 in 2006 and 15 in 2007.
Prescott’s success will likely be what ultimately decides the Cowboys’ offensive success this season. McCarthy and Schottenheimer aren’t forcing their franchise QB to learn a completely new system. It’s about identifying how Prescott can be most efficient. If he’s not comfortable, it’s difficult to see the offense being improved.
“I love the way we’ve challenged Dak mentally and more importantly I love the way he’s attacked it,” McCarthy said. “He’s really handled these changes and adjustments, the input. At the end of the day, the quarterback needs to own the offense. I have no interest in being known as some guru coach or a smart coach. I want smart, Hall of Fame-type quarterbacks.
“The only way to get there is to make them own the offense. And you can see it. He has the personality, but it’s just like anything, this is our first year playing the way we want to play and he’s done a really good job of taking ownership of that, and with that, the mental challenges. He has knocked it out of the park.”
Prescott considers himself a visual learner. He has been learning the new parts of the offense by drawing out the plays. He says he feels refreshed and excited entering his eighth season. The offensive changes have heightened his focus.
“I think I’m in a good spot,” Prescott said. “Obviously there’s more to grow. I’ll use these five weeks to make sure that I’m crossing my Ts and dotting my Is. But I feel like when you have Mike and as open as he is about communicating, making sure I know what I like, what’s at the top of my chart, maybe what I don’t feel great about, it’s been pretty easy to make sure that I’m doing that and I’m mastering what I’m good at. I feel great (about) the things we’ve put in that we’ve done. I’m saying (I) own it, but I obviously want to own it more.”