Tag: Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy’s predictability here a detriment to Cowboys’ offense

The Cowboys are far too transparent in 2RB packages, and they really don’t have to be. | From @ReidDHanson

Two running back personnel packages (21 and 22 personnel) aren’t a common deployment for most NFL teams. Outside of San Francisco, most teams avoid putting two RBs on the field together since the intentions are typically pretty obvious to defenses.

Most commonly fielded as a fullback and halfback, 21 and 22 personnel typically indicate the team is going to run the ball. In short-yardage situations and lined up in bunch formation, it often comes between the tackles. It’s more a game of willpower, leverage and strength than it is strategy or deception. In today’s parity-filled NFL, that’s something most successful coaches try to avoid.

In 2023 the Cowboys ran 21 personnel (2RB, 1TE) 33 times and 22 personnel (2 RB, 2 TE) 17 times. In those instances, they ran the ball 66.67% of the time and 76.47% of the time respectively. Given the situations of those plays the Cowboys pass rate over expected in 21 personnel was -19.75 and in 22 personnel -15.64 (yes, those numbers are negative).

In each case the Cowboys are producing a negative EPA/play and in each case the EPA/play is markedly higher when they pass.

Being so run-heavy in 21 and 22 personnel, opponents had a good idea of the Cowboys’ intentions and played the situations accordingly. In both personnel groups the Cowboys produced better EPA/play passing than they did rushing, so it stands to reason they should have been passing the ball more often.

San Francisco, who plays primarily out of 21 personnel, are considered one of the better rushing teams in the NFL. Yet, like Dallas, they also perform better passing out of 21 and 22 personnel than they run it. A big difference between them and the Cowboys is the 49ers pass the ball at a pass rate over expected in each, while Dallas has a pass rate far below expected.

Looking at the rosters most will agree, San Francisco is the far superior rushing offense between the two teams. If anyone should be stubbornly and transparently rushing the ball in these situations, it’s them. But instead of relying on their talent to win in a transparent and predictable way, they employ strategy and deception and pass.

The Cowboys just seem to embrace their transparency.

Offensive coaches worth their salt will look to misdirection and deception to best their opponents. Even if they have the more talented roster, it’s considered the path of least resistance to be less transparent in play-calling and play design. It’s a way for the Cowboys to greatly improve their output in 2024 even if they didn’t improve their roster.

As luck would have it, the Cowboys have a FB who can be playmaker as a pass catcher. Hunter Luepke isn’t the most proven player in the Dallas backfield, but he’s one of the more versatile. Able to run the ball in a single set, a dual set, in short yardage, in pass protection, and as a pass-catcher, Luepke give the Cowboys a versatile piece to play with if they want to be less transparent in those two RB sets.

Even if Luepke’s not the answer to this problem, the point is clear – be less transparent on offense. If one player is so one-dimensional transparency is unavoidable, then avoid playing that player. That’s how important mystery is on offense.

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‘We’re running back by committee’: Cowboys’ McCarthy confirms timeshare for Elliott, Dowdle, others

From @ToddBrock24f7: McCarthy says Zeke looks the same, but his role will be different in 2024. The coach has certainly run his share of past RB committees.

The Cowboys currently have eight running backs on the roster. As the veterans and rookies practice together for the first time, there are plenty of questions about which one will be the primary ballcarrier for 2024.

According to head coach Mike McCarthy, the answer is: none of the above.

“We’re running back by committee,” he told reporters at the conclusion of rookie minicamp.

Two-time rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott is back with the club and obviously the most experienced of the bunch. And while McCarthy claims that, so far, “it’s like he picked up right where he left off,” the coach seemed to confirm that the third-leading running back in franchise history- who turns 29 in July- won’t be logging 230-plus carries this year, as he had in each of his three previous seasons under McCarthy in Dallas.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” McCarthy said. “That’s not going to be his role.”

McCarthy acknowledged that modern NFL offenses have largely moved past the days of the bellcow feature back. And he certainly remembers those days well. He was on the sidelines in Kansas City for the last five years of Marcus Allen’s Hall of Fame career. In New Orleans, he gave Ricky Williams 561 carries in two seasons and then gave Deuce McAllister 945 over the next three. And he wasn’t shy about calling Ryan Grant’s number 312 times one year in Green Bay.

But despite putting Elliott in the league’s top 10 in rushing attempts every season from 2020 to 2022, McCarthy will be looking at Rico Dowdle, Royce Freeman, Deuce Vaughn, Hunter Luepke, Malik Davis, Snoop Conner, and UDFA Nathaniel Peat to help shoulder some of the Cowboys’ load this year.

“Seventeen games is lot of football, that’s a big role for those guys,” McCarthy explained. “Don’t get me wrong; they’d all like to carry it like the old days and have those touches, but you want those guys fresh at the most important time of the year.”

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How the workload will actually be split, of course, remains to be seen. But McCarthy has definitely run his share of committees, too. In 2022, Elliott and Tony Pollard had a 54/46 percentage split in carries. Eleven seasons prior, Ryan Grant and James Starks had an even closer division of labor: 134 and 133 carries, respectively, for a McCarthy-led Green Bay team that finished 15-1.

And his 2016 Packers saw eight different players tally double-digit rushing attempts, with nobody tallying more than 80. That RB room included Starks, Ty Montgomery, Eddie Lacy, Aaron Ripkowski, Christine Michael, Don Jackson, and Knile Davis… and bears a strong resemblance to the veritable sampler platter of backfield options Dallas plans to work with this summer.

Green Bay went 10-6 that season, earned a wild-card berth, beat the favored Cowboys in the divisional round, and made it to the NFC Championship.

Most Cowboys fans would be thrilled with an outcome like that in 2024, even if it means needing a program to keep track of who’s running the ball at any given time.

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Report: Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy hires ‘super agent’ heading into final year of contract

From @ToddBrock24f7: Don Yee has represented Tom Brady, Sean Payton, and Jim Harbaugh, among others. He’ll now add McCarthy entering a pivotal 2024 season.

The start of the 2024 regular season is still over four months away, and things have already take a potentially dramatic turn regarding the Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy, who is heading into a contract year.

McCarthy has reportedly hired “super agent” Don Yee to represent him, according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter.

Yee, 64, signed Tom Brady while the quarterback was still an unknown senior at the University of Michigan and then went on to represent Brady for the duration of his record-shattering NFL career.

The California-based agent has also represented Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, former Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, Broncos head coach Sean Payton, and Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.

McCarthy has led the Cowboys to three consecutive 12-win seasons and a playoff berth in each of those campaigns, but the team finished just 1-3 in the postseason under him.

It was announced shortly after the most recent loss, a stunning 48-32 loss at home to the seventh-seeded Packers, that McCarthy would not be receiving a contract extension and would coach through the final year of the contract he signed in 2020.

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The move comes just hours after the Cowboys’ annual pre-draft press conference. During that Q&A session, team owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones spent the majority of the time discussing the current financial state of the franchise, especially getting grilled by reporters on why the Cowboys have yet to sign their three biggest stars- Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons- to contract extensions.

Jerry blamed past contracts and the salary cap, while also explaining that he likes to give himself plenty of options as he wait “to see a few more cards play.”

Now it appears that McCarthy is lining up his own options, keeping his own interests protected for however the Cowboys’ 2024 season plays.

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Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy talks Tony Pollard coming back from injury in 2023

Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy believes Tony Pollard started rounding into form in the second half of 2023.

The Tennessee Titans have officially moved on from the Derrick Henry era this offseason, and the player taking his spot on the roster is former Dallas Cowboys running back, Tony Pollard.

The Titans inked Pollard to a three-year, $21.7 million deal to form a one-two punch with 2023 third-round pick Tyjae Spears, who was among one of the more impressive rookie backs last season.

Pollard’s 2023 campaign was considered a down year, but it’s important to note that he was coming back from a fractured fibula suffered during the 2022 playoffs.

He still managed to break 1,000 rushing yards for the second straight season, though, which was also his first as Dallas’ lead back.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy believes Pollard began rounding into form in the second half of last season and called him “a dynamic player” and a “good locker room guy.”

“Tony’s an impact player,” McCarthy said, per Jim Wyatt. “Coming off of a major injury, I thought he did a really good job. I think you saw him work his way through the beginning of the season, but I thought the way he played in the second half of the season, that’s who Tony is.

“I thought he had a hell of a year for us,” McCarthy added. “Obviously, he’s got a great opportunity for himself and his family there in Tennessee. Stud of a guy, good locker room guy and just a dynamic player.”

How the Titans ultimately divvy up the workload between Pollard and Spears remains to be seen, as head coach Brian Callahan admitted he wasn’t even sure how that will go just yet.

But on paper, the duo is no doubt an exciting one, as both Pollard and Spears are explosive players who can impact the game in multiple ways.

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Cowboys look for defensive tweaks from Zimmer, not total rebuild: ‘Football is still football’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The new DC will be expected to implement an improved scheme in Dallas but show results quickly in what is shaping up to be a prove-it year.

Often, a first-year coordinator means a long, slow turn from the unit he’s taking over. Personnel moves, new assistants, changes in scheme, revamped verbiage and terminology, and plain old fit within the rest of the organization is what often marks a coordinator’s first year on the job… and frequently results in growing pains in the field.

Mike McCarthy and the 2024 Cowboys don’t have the luxury of waiting for things to gradually develop on the defensive side of the ball, with more and more indicators pointing to a total reset in 2025 if this season falls short of anything but a very strong showing in a conference championship.

So newly-hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who’s been on various NFL sidelines for most of the past three decades, is already off and running with his staff in Dallas.

“They’re in there early, the defensive staff, and they’re just grinding away. They’re spending a ton of time together,” McCarthy told reporters this week while in Orlando for the annual league meeting.

But while the Cowboys definitely need a refresh after a 2023 that saw the defense exposed several times- especially in the postseason- as the team’s weakness, Zimmer apparently won’t be trying to reinvent the wheel as he implements his philosophy.

“Football is still football,” explained McCarthy. “We’re still going to line up with 11 players on defense, Mike’s going to still run some of the common concepts that our players are engaged with, but it’s really the utilization of how we get to them. It’s got to flow. And that will play to our strength, because Mike’s called a lot of games in this league. He has a lot of experience with his system, and to get it in properly, we definitely have the time to get that done.”

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Right now, it’s coaches in meeting rooms. It’s reviewing game film. It’s drawing up Xs and Os on a whiteboard. It’s football gameplanning, but it’s all theoretical. Soon, it will be about flesh-and-blood players bringing those concepts to life on the practice field… maybe in just a slightly different way than the returning veterans will remember from last year.

“The biggest thing for the players will be communication; that will be the first thing that hits them,” admitted McCarthy. “But it always comes down to the nitty-gritty, and it’ll be techniques, alignment, stance, philosophy, utilization of the body types. So much has been made of our run defense. We need to take another step. Statistically, we have improved each year in that area, but it’s still not good enough. We’ve got to play the run first and be more situation-conscious with that. It can’t be all about sacks.”

The run defense has gotten better over the past three seasons, at least incrementally. In 2021, the Cowboys allowed opponents 4.5 yards per carry. In 2022, it was 4.4. Last year: 4.2.

But that’s still just middle of the pack among all NFL defenses. Zimmer has plenty of work to do. And since the team has lost several playmakers and done precious little in the way of adding experienced free agents (aside from linebacker Eric Kendricks, one of Zimmer’s former Vikings players), the new coordinator will have to hope for some fresh talent to work with via the draft.

With holes still to fill at every level of the defense, Zimmer, McCarthy, and the Cowboys definitely have a type they like.

“The most important thing about a system is to have the flexibility to accommodate all the players that you bring into your building,” the coach said. “I think you’ve got to watch on how stringent and structured you are, but I don’t think you can be big enough or have enough length, particularly in that defensive front. We’ll continue to work to that profile.”

So make changes, but not too many. And not too drastic. Except in the right areas. And do it mostly with what we already have in-house. And most important of all, do it in a hurry.

Got it, Zim?

It’s not a tear-down, it’s an express-lane tune-up. And hopefully it’s enough to get the Cowboys where they want to go in 2024.

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‘The defense is the thermostat’: Cowboys’ McCarthy wants more consistency from Zimmer’s unit

From @ToddBrock24f7: “When we win the championship, it’ll be because of our complementary football,” said McCarthy. He’s looking at you, Mike Zimmer.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has no doubt that his team is capable of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. And this week at the league meeting in Orlando, he laid out exactly what it will take to make that happen.

“When we win the championship,” McCarthy told a gathering of reporters, “it’ll be because of our complementary football. That’s what wins championships.”

Now entering his second season as the offensive play-caller in Dallas, McCarthy is clearly confident that his own unit is up to the task. After all, they led the league in points in 2023. The tacit implication, of course, is that Dan Quinn’s defense is what cost the Cowboys too many times in 2023… and certainly when it mattered most.

The way McCarthy sees it, it’ll be up to new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to raise the bar in 2024.

“The defense is the thermostat of your football team,” McCarthy explained. “And the offense and the defense need to complement one another, because the defense always should have the ability to keep you in the game. The offense needs to go win the game.”

Dak Prescott & Co. generally did last season, putting 30 or more points on the board 10 times out of 17 (though many of those points admittedly came from defensive scores). The Cowboys’ high-powered offense also led in first downs and finished top-three in offensive plays run and top-five in yards amassed.

But there were simply too many instances when the defense under Quinn dug too big a hole for the offense to climb their way out of.

In four of the team’s five regular-season losses, Dallas found themselves trailing by double digits at some point. And the team’s three lowest point outputs of the year (Buffalo, San Francisco, Arizona) came in contests where they were behind by 12 or more points in the second quarter.

When the defense was cold, the offense couldn’t get the pilot light fired.

“Yeah, you always want to score in the 30s,” McCarthy noted. “But when you get in those games, one has to pick up for the other. And if you look at our last game, that clearly wasn’t evident.”

The first-round playoff flop versus Green Bay was perhaps the most embarrassing example of the defense going into hibernation, with the Cowboys staring up at a 27-0 deficit before halftime.

With over two months of hindsight, though, McCarthy is at least able to reflect on the positive strides the team made in what ultimately proved to be a disappointing year.

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“A big focal point for us going into ’23 was we needed to take care of the football better, and we needed to win the time of possession and get the snaps down [in terms] of how long our defense is on the field. And we accomplished that at a high level,” the coach said.

“Those are the things that, to me, outside of winning the game, are most important because that breeds the consistency of putting yourself in position to win.”

But now actually capitalizing on that position- and doing so in the playoffs- will fall largely on how the defense responds to Zimmer, his new staff, and the new scheme he implements across the ball from McCarthy in Dallas.

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Shoulder surgeries continue disappointing career starts of Cowboys’ Smith, Schoonmaker

Dallas revealed their two top draft picks from 2023 are going to be out for the duration of the offseason calendar. | From @ArmyChiefW3

This past season was essentially a wash for the Cowboys’ 2023 draft class. None of the first three players selected for the club were able to make a significant impact last year, a rare occasion for a club with a reputation for knocking drafts out the park. Second-year impact is now the focus, but that hasn’t gotten off to a great start, either.

Talking at the NFL’s spring league meetings, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy revealed that 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith underwent shoulder surgery this offseason. The injury news didn’t stop there as he revealed second-round tight end Luke Schoonmaker also had shoulder surgery. The Michigan product injured himself during training and underwent the procedure last week.

Smith underwent the surgery shortly after the season concluded and is He’s expected to miss anywhere between four-to-six months, making him unavailable to participate in upcoming OTAs and mini camps.

Dallas used the 26th overall pick on the massive defensive tackle from Michigan in hopes of shoring up their run defense. His rookie season did not go as planned and his play was overshadowed by weight loss questions. Something McCarthy also addressed on the second day of the league gatherings.

Smith played in all 17 games his rookie season but only lined up for 28% of the overall snaps. With the Cowboys reluctant to bring in any outside free agents, expecting Smith to play a significant role in year two has social media in an uproar. This is especially true after veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins chose to sign with Seattle over Dallas.

Schoonmaker’s timeline is expected to be similar to that of Smith. The backup tight end caught eight passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie season.

Both players will miss the majority of team activities but should be ready for training camp tentatively scheduled for late July.

Dallas lost third-round pick DeMarvion Overshown for the season in the final preseason game last year with a torn left ACL. Before the injury, the linebacker turned heads during training camp which could have given this class a different feel.

Cowboys’ McCarthy, Zimmer skipping NFL scouting combine

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys head coach and new defensive coordinator will participate virtually so they can stay in Dallas and prep for the 2024 season.

The NFL world is preparing to descend upon Indianapolis for the 2024 Scouting Combine. But Mike McCarthy and Mike Zimmer will be staying at home in Frisco.

The Cowboys head coach revealed on Friday that he and his newly-hired defensive coordinator will not attend the combine, instead using the week to work on installing their new defensive scheme and finalizing the coaching staff.

“Zim and I will have a full week together here and cover a lot of ground with things we’re working on,” McCarthy told ESPN. “At the same time, we can still participate in the combine process and have direct contact through video calls and meetings, while having our coaches on the ground there as well.”

McCarthy did not attend last year’s combine, either, save for a brief in-person appearance that consisted of a single press conference with reporters. (It was at that presser that McCarthy made his infamous “I want to run the damn ball” remark.) After the Q&A session, the coach flew back to Dallas in preparation of his new role as the offensive play-caller, leaving the tasks of evaluating and meeting with college prospects to other staffers.

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Whether that strategy actually paid off may depend on perspective. The Cowboys offense put up monster numbers in 2023, with Dak Prescott enjoying an MVP-caliber season and CeeDee Lamb setting franchise records. On the other hand, though, the class of rookies the Cowboys eventually plucked from the 2023 combine was thoroughly underwhelming.

McCarthy appears content to once again leave the groundwork in Indy to Will McClay and others within the Cowboys organization.

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Mike Zimmer should be Yin to Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys Yang

Given McCarthy and Quinn were players’ coaches, a disciplinarian like Mike Zimmer is exactly what the Cowboys need to clean up mistakes. So says @ReidDHanson.

Balance is important in leadership, and hopefully for the Cowboys, Mike Zimmer’s addition as defensive coordinator can restore some to the Dallas’ dynamic. By all accounts, the Cowboys roster loves Mike McCarthy. The four-year head coach has endeared himself to the locker room as a leader and as a friend.

Too many tough guys and the troops may revolt. Too many softies and the troops may never take leadership seriously. This good cop/bad cop routine works in crimefighting, battle, parenthood and even coaching.

Dallas’ former defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, had a similar role on the team. Quinn was often seen as one of the guys. He had a knack for relating to players and communicating on a player level. There’s nothing wrong with this style of coaching. Being labeled a “players coach” is actually a compliment in most cases. It’s just when there’s too many players’ coaches and not enough disciplinarians, things have a tendency to get sloppy.

Sloppy and undisciplined are two adjectives that accurately describe the Cowboys’ defense from 2023. Players routinely abandoned their assignments. They missed their run fits and botched their coverage. They sporadically reverted to hero ball, playing run-and-chase rather than execute the actual assignment. It led to a lot of momentum-driven results where one week they would look like the best defense in the NFL, and the next week they resembled the worst defense in the history of mankind.

The addition of Zimmer should change that.

In many ways, Zimmer is the opposite of the man he replaces in Dallas. He’s not dapping players up in practice or even offering up a welcoming smile. Based on his history, he’s not trying to relate or be a friend either. Zimmer is an old school disciplinarian. He’s going to bark orders. He’s going to teach, correct, and hold players accountable.

McCarthy, who resides on the Quinn side of the spectrum, could use a tough authority figure in his locker room. With any luck, some of that toughness could trickle down to the other corners of the team.

There’s no instruction manual explaining the best way to effectively coach NFL players because every player is different, and every situation is different. But throughout his time in Dallas and later Minnesota, Zimmer has effectively coached all brands and personality types and found success with most of them. Much like with the great Bill Parcells, players didn’t always like Zimmer while they played for him, but they certainly appreciated him after the fact.

Zimmer is bringing a culture change to Dallas. It’s something this team has been missing for some time now and should be the perfect complement to McCarthy’s player friendly style.

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Mike Zimmer already has inside track to be Cowboys next head coach

Is the Cowboys defensive coordinator job a steppingstone for Mike Zimmer or a position of contentment? | From @ReidDHanson

He hasn’t even been on the job a week and already the hyperbole flows. But given the situation in Dallas these days, maybe head coach isn’t such a distant thought for the Cowboys’ newly minted defensive coordinator.

When the Cowboys announced Mike Zimmer to be their next defensive coordinator, they generally received positive reviews for the hire. Zimmer, the former head coach of the Vikings, has always been seen as a top NFL mind around the league. And his willingness to adapt and update his defense has allowed him stay on the right side of relevant for roughly 30 years.

Zimmer, who’s ties run deep with the Cowboys, returns to Dallas as a familiar face. Jerry and Stephen Jones are accustomed to working with him and more importantly, he’s accustomed to working with the Joneses. Given his familiarity and his vast defensive success, he represents a low risk hire for a team claiming to be “all in” in 2024.

After seeing a list of candidates, many agree he was the best of the bunch being considered, marking a big win for Dallas. But one has to wonder what made the Cowboys attractive to Zimmer?

Obviously, there are only 32 DC positions in the NFL and when one of those teams offers a job, that coach is going to have an awfully difficult time turning it down. And obviously Zimmer’s ties to Dallas make the transition an easy one from a comfort perspective.

There is also the specific situation that must be considered in Dallas. The Cowboys aren’t exactly the most stable climate in the NFL these days. McCarthy is playing out the final year of his contract as head coach and there’s no telling what things will look like 11 months from now.

Maybe that’s what makes the Cowboys attractive to Zimmer.