Genghis Khan
The worst version of myself
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
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Not sure if this was posted yet, but it's an interesting article from DMN about the scheme change and McCarthy and schottenheimer. Someone put it on Reddit and it might be behind a paywall so I'm putting it below... (Not sure why the formatting got weird at the end.)
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Any sort of declaration is premature, but the early returns have been encouraging. The players praise the simplicity and cohesive nature of the changes while the coaches are impressed by how quickly all of this has been picked up. McCarthy calls Schottenheimer, “the easiest hire I ever had’' in his 16 years as a head coach. The two fondly recall their days in Kansas City and are excited about what their latest partnership could yield.
How close did McCarthy come to scrapping the Cowboys offense and going all in on the West Coast scheme? Closer than you think. But under McCarthy’s direction — with Schottenheimer doing the heavy lifting — the two fused together a system that quarterback Dak Prescott has dubbed the Texas Coast.
Brian Schottenheimer joined the Cowboys staff before last season as a consultant. Dallas and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore made the mutual decision to part ways shortly after the team’s second consecutive playoff loss to San Francisco.
Once McCarthy determined he would call plays again after a 4 1/2-year hiatus, he knew who he wanted next to him as his offensive coordinator. The two would set aside time every morning, evening and lunch to talk. There was a five- to six-week period in March and April when they ripped through the scheme evaluation, trying to keep as much as they could knowing there were going to be significant changes in protection and the passing game.
“I think the fun thing for us when we came back in the spring were the different experiences,’’ Schottenheimer said. “We had these foundation principles, but him going to San Francisco, New Orleans and Green Bay. Me going to the Jets and St. Louis and Seattle. There were different ways to do it.
“That was a fun part, the football discussions.’’
It’s obvious the two are comfortable and share an affinity with each other. But Schottenheimer will often look to McCarthy and make sure he’s not about to say something before speaking up. He defers.
McCarthy, after all, is the head coach.
That doesn’t mean Schottenheimer is a yes man. McCarthy chuckles at the suggestion.
“There are a couple [of disagreements] every day,’’ the Cowboys head coach said. “I mean, that’s how this thing works.’’
There are two fundamental starting points on protection. You either belong to the pocket family or the slide family. The Cowboys scheme had been something of a bastardized version of the two but more closely aligned with pocket protection.
McCarthy believes in slide protection. Part of him wanted to make a clean, philosophical break and throw out the pocket concepts the linemen had been working under.
“That was probably the biggest conversation early,’’ McCarthy said.
“For sure,’’ Schottenheimer said.
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Any sort of declaration is premature, but the early returns have been encouraging. The players praise the simplicity and cohesive nature of the changes while the coaches are impressed by how quickly all of this has been picked up. McCarthy calls Schottenheimer, “the easiest hire I ever had’' in his 16 years as a head coach. The two fondly recall their days in Kansas City and are excited about what their latest partnership could yield.
How close did McCarthy come to scrapping the Cowboys offense and going all in on the West Coast scheme? Closer than you think. But under McCarthy’s direction — with Schottenheimer doing the heavy lifting — the two fused together a system that quarterback Dak Prescott has dubbed the Texas Coast.
Brian Schottenheimer joined the Cowboys staff before last season as a consultant. Dallas and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore made the mutual decision to part ways shortly after the team’s second consecutive playoff loss to San Francisco.
Once McCarthy determined he would call plays again after a 4 1/2-year hiatus, he knew who he wanted next to him as his offensive coordinator. The two would set aside time every morning, evening and lunch to talk. There was a five- to six-week period in March and April when they ripped through the scheme evaluation, trying to keep as much as they could knowing there were going to be significant changes in protection and the passing game.
“I think the fun thing for us when we came back in the spring were the different experiences,’’ Schottenheimer said. “We had these foundation principles, but him going to San Francisco, New Orleans and Green Bay. Me going to the Jets and St. Louis and Seattle. There were different ways to do it.
“That was a fun part, the football discussions.’’
It’s obvious the two are comfortable and share an affinity with each other. But Schottenheimer will often look to McCarthy and make sure he’s not about to say something before speaking up. He defers.
McCarthy, after all, is the head coach.
That doesn’t mean Schottenheimer is a yes man. McCarthy chuckles at the suggestion.
“There are a couple [of disagreements] every day,’’ the Cowboys head coach said. “I mean, that’s how this thing works.’’
There are two fundamental starting points on protection. You either belong to the pocket family or the slide family. The Cowboys scheme had been something of a bastardized version of the two but more closely aligned with pocket protection.
McCarthy believes in slide protection. Part of him wanted to make a clean, philosophical break and throw out the pocket concepts the linemen had been working under.
“That was probably the biggest conversation early,’’ McCarthy said.
“For sure,’’ Schottenheimer said.
