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By Jon Machota 2h ago
FRISCO, Texas — It’s far too early to say what, exactly, the Cowboys will look like on defense next season. New head coach Mike McCarthy said the plan is to continue having four down linemen in their base package. Beyond that, it’s mostly just speculation at this point.
New defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and the rest of the assistant coaching staff met with reporters on Monday at The Star. Like McCarthy, they were vague when it came to any details. It’s understandable, considering the new staff was just recently finalized, and five of the 11 starters on last year’s defense are unrestricted free agents. A lot will change in the next few months.
But there were some nuggets shared outside the locker room on Monday that provide a little better understanding of the defensive goals.
“It all starts with players,” Nolan said. “The things that excite me are the things we can potentially do down the road. Players will determine what we can do and what we cannot do, not the scheme. The scheme is basically what you have to utilize the players.”
Nolan has worked in the NFL since becoming special-teams coordinator for the Denver Broncos in 1987. He’s made several stops around the league, mostly coaching on the defensive side of the ball. This is his eighth defensive coordinator job.
Nolan was the San Francisco 49ers head coach from 2005 to 2008. He has experience working in both 4-3 and 3-4 defenses.
“3-4 and 4-3 is really just a personnel decision to get your best 11 on the field,” Nolan said. “Outside of that, it’s just spacing between the 11 players you have. All the 3-4 teams and the 4-3 teams play a lot of the same fronts. But I’ve always believed it’s about getting your best 11 on the field.”
When opposing coaches and players would talk about the Cowboys defense over the last few years, they’d point out how disciplined or fundamentally sound the group was, occasionally also mentioning how they always played hard and made offenses work for everything. That was Dallas’ defensive gameplan under Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard.
What they were not known for was being unpredictable.
Following an inexcusable 24-22 loss at the New York Jets in Week 6, Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said the Cowboys defense “did what they do.”
“They do it every single week,” he added. “They just play one-high (safety), occasionally two-high, and they like to stop the run. I knew that I had to throw the ball today to have success, and we did that.”
Darnold finished 23 of 32 passing for 338 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 113.8 passer rating. It was the Jets’ first win of the season. They’d go on to finish 7-9. The following week, Darnold had the worst game of his career. He completed only 11 of 32 passes for 86 yards, no touchdowns, four interceptions and a 3.6 passer rating against the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.
The New England defense had Darnold so rattled that the Monday Night Football mic he was wearing during the game caught him saying, “I’m seeing ghosts.”
Quite the difference in only eight days.
One of the biggest reasons for Bill Belichick’s incredible success as Patriots head coach is his ability to constantly change defensive gameplans from week to week, keeping opponents guessing. Judging by Nolan’s comments on Monday, it sounds like the Cowboys will be mixing things up more than they have been.
“I think you have to have a mix,” Nolan said while specifically talking about the defensive backfield. “I believe if you peg yourself too much in one hole about doing one thing, that’s easy for the best quarterbacks to dissect and take advantage of. I do believe you have to have a good mix between man and zone (coverages). You have to have some kind of variety in order to be successful.”
Nolan didn’t get specific about the type of defensive back he’s looking for, but he leans toward those who have a history of making plays on the ball. The Cowboys have struggled for years to take the ball away, particularly on the back end. Nolan said he wants to have a group that plays with a swarming style and forces turnovers.
To illustrate his point, Nolan shared a brief story from a conversation he had with Troy Aikman about 15 years ago.
“I remember talking about DBs and throwing against them,” Nolan recalled. “And he said, ‘I’m not really concerned with throwing at a corner that I know is just going to knock the ball down.’ He says, ‘I throw incompletions all the time.’ We were talking about Deion (Sanders), and he said, ‘But when I throw at Deion, I got to be concerned about that ball going for six the other way.’
“I thought that was a great point. Really good quarterbacks, I think, recognize that same thing. There really is no fear in throwing the ball if it’s going to be completed or on the ground. But when that guy covering them can take it the other way, the ballhawk, that’s a difference-maker.”
Maurice Linguist and Al Harris will be splitting the defensive back coaching duties. Scott McCurley will handle linebackers. Jim Tomsula is in charge of the defensive line.
Tomsula has coached more 3-4 fronts than 4-3 fronts during his NFL career, but he is prepared to utilize both in Dallas. He coached a 3-4 front in Washington the last three seasons.
“It will fit around players,” said Tomsula, the only other defensive staff member who has worked with Nolan. “That’s what I know about Coach Nolan. This isn’t a one-way street, it’s a two-way street. The guys with the helmets win games.”
Nolan said he has admired the play of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith over the last two years while working as the New Orleans Saints’ linebackers coach. He also noted that it’s a “good thing” that defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is under contract.
Beyond that, Nolan didn’t get into much detail about the current roster.
George Edwards was an interesting late addition to the staff last week. Edwards got his NFL coaching start with the Cowboys as linebackers coach in 1998, working with players like Dexter Coakley, Randall Godfrey and Dat Nguyen. He spent the last six seasons as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator.
It’s unclear what his exact job requirements will be, but his title is senior defensive assistant.
“Whatever they need me to do, that’s what I’m going to do,” Edwards said. “We’re so early in this process. I’m really just starting to look at a lot of our players. We’re just taking it one step at a time evaluation wise, trying to see the skill sets of our players. And then as we develop what we’re going to do defensively, it’s trying to get them in the best position to utilize their skill sets.”
The staff is set. They are starting to get to know each other and study what they have on the current roster and where they need to improve. There’s plenty of work to be done. That’s part of the reason why the coaches didn’t make the trip to Mobile, Ala. last week for the Senior Bowl.
“Obviously there are some good players on our roster,” Nolan said. “There are still a lot of things that have to happen through this process. Everything from the draft to free agency and all that, that will really determine who are the guys exactly that we work with. You never really know what that will be in its entirety.
“But I just think there’s a good nucleus of guys on defense that are good building blocks for us going forward.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
Must.... not.... homer...... fuck it.
FRISCO, Texas — It’s far too early to say what, exactly, the Cowboys will look like on defense next season. New head coach Mike McCarthy said the plan is to continue having four down linemen in their base package. Beyond that, it’s mostly just speculation at this point.
New defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and the rest of the assistant coaching staff met with reporters on Monday at The Star. Like McCarthy, they were vague when it came to any details. It’s understandable, considering the new staff was just recently finalized, and five of the 11 starters on last year’s defense are unrestricted free agents. A lot will change in the next few months.
But there were some nuggets shared outside the locker room on Monday that provide a little better understanding of the defensive goals.
“It all starts with players,” Nolan said. “The things that excite me are the things we can potentially do down the road. Players will determine what we can do and what we cannot do, not the scheme. The scheme is basically what you have to utilize the players.”
Nolan has worked in the NFL since becoming special-teams coordinator for the Denver Broncos in 1987. He’s made several stops around the league, mostly coaching on the defensive side of the ball. This is his eighth defensive coordinator job.
Nolan was the San Francisco 49ers head coach from 2005 to 2008. He has experience working in both 4-3 and 3-4 defenses.
“3-4 and 4-3 is really just a personnel decision to get your best 11 on the field,” Nolan said. “Outside of that, it’s just spacing between the 11 players you have. All the 3-4 teams and the 4-3 teams play a lot of the same fronts. But I’ve always believed it’s about getting your best 11 on the field.”
When opposing coaches and players would talk about the Cowboys defense over the last few years, they’d point out how disciplined or fundamentally sound the group was, occasionally also mentioning how they always played hard and made offenses work for everything. That was Dallas’ defensive gameplan under Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard.
What they were not known for was being unpredictable.
Following an inexcusable 24-22 loss at the New York Jets in Week 6, Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said the Cowboys defense “did what they do.”
“They do it every single week,” he added. “They just play one-high (safety), occasionally two-high, and they like to stop the run. I knew that I had to throw the ball today to have success, and we did that.”
Darnold finished 23 of 32 passing for 338 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 113.8 passer rating. It was the Jets’ first win of the season. They’d go on to finish 7-9. The following week, Darnold had the worst game of his career. He completed only 11 of 32 passes for 86 yards, no touchdowns, four interceptions and a 3.6 passer rating against the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.
The New England defense had Darnold so rattled that the Monday Night Football mic he was wearing during the game caught him saying, “I’m seeing ghosts.”
Quite the difference in only eight days.
One of the biggest reasons for Bill Belichick’s incredible success as Patriots head coach is his ability to constantly change defensive gameplans from week to week, keeping opponents guessing. Judging by Nolan’s comments on Monday, it sounds like the Cowboys will be mixing things up more than they have been.
“I think you have to have a mix,” Nolan said while specifically talking about the defensive backfield. “I believe if you peg yourself too much in one hole about doing one thing, that’s easy for the best quarterbacks to dissect and take advantage of. I do believe you have to have a good mix between man and zone (coverages). You have to have some kind of variety in order to be successful.”
Nolan didn’t get specific about the type of defensive back he’s looking for, but he leans toward those who have a history of making plays on the ball. The Cowboys have struggled for years to take the ball away, particularly on the back end. Nolan said he wants to have a group that plays with a swarming style and forces turnovers.
To illustrate his point, Nolan shared a brief story from a conversation he had with Troy Aikman about 15 years ago.
“I remember talking about DBs and throwing against them,” Nolan recalled. “And he said, ‘I’m not really concerned with throwing at a corner that I know is just going to knock the ball down.’ He says, ‘I throw incompletions all the time.’ We were talking about Deion (Sanders), and he said, ‘But when I throw at Deion, I got to be concerned about that ball going for six the other way.’
“I thought that was a great point. Really good quarterbacks, I think, recognize that same thing. There really is no fear in throwing the ball if it’s going to be completed or on the ground. But when that guy covering them can take it the other way, the ballhawk, that’s a difference-maker.”
Maurice Linguist and Al Harris will be splitting the defensive back coaching duties. Scott McCurley will handle linebackers. Jim Tomsula is in charge of the defensive line.
Tomsula has coached more 3-4 fronts than 4-3 fronts during his NFL career, but he is prepared to utilize both in Dallas. He coached a 3-4 front in Washington the last three seasons.
“It will fit around players,” said Tomsula, the only other defensive staff member who has worked with Nolan. “That’s what I know about Coach Nolan. This isn’t a one-way street, it’s a two-way street. The guys with the helmets win games.”
Nolan said he has admired the play of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith over the last two years while working as the New Orleans Saints’ linebackers coach. He also noted that it’s a “good thing” that defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is under contract.
Beyond that, Nolan didn’t get into much detail about the current roster.
George Edwards was an interesting late addition to the staff last week. Edwards got his NFL coaching start with the Cowboys as linebackers coach in 1998, working with players like Dexter Coakley, Randall Godfrey and Dat Nguyen. He spent the last six seasons as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator.
It’s unclear what his exact job requirements will be, but his title is senior defensive assistant.
“Whatever they need me to do, that’s what I’m going to do,” Edwards said. “We’re so early in this process. I’m really just starting to look at a lot of our players. We’re just taking it one step at a time evaluation wise, trying to see the skill sets of our players. And then as we develop what we’re going to do defensively, it’s trying to get them in the best position to utilize their skill sets.”
The staff is set. They are starting to get to know each other and study what they have on the current roster and where they need to improve. There’s plenty of work to be done. That’s part of the reason why the coaches didn’t make the trip to Mobile, Ala. last week for the Senior Bowl.
“Obviously there are some good players on our roster,” Nolan said. “There are still a lot of things that have to happen through this process. Everything from the draft to free agency and all that, that will really determine who are the guys exactly that we work with. You never really know what that will be in its entirety.
“But I just think there’s a good nucleus of guys on defense that are good building blocks for us going forward.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
Must.... not.... homer...... fuck it.