Brian Schottenheimer said a lot of good things himself at his press conference.
Brian Schottenheimer was formally introduced as the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys Monday morning, and there were plenty of questions for him and his two new bosses, Jerry and Stephen Jones. While much of the questioning centered on the process that led to this hiring, Schottenheimer did receive one question relating to the offense.
Schottenheimer, who Jerry Jones confirmed would call offensive plays, spent several minutes in his press conference emphasizing that he would keep the bones of the team intact from what Mike McCarthy had installed, but that there would be changes here and there.
The first thing that Schottenheimer emphasized was that the changes would be done in collaboration with the players, notably Dak Prescott. Schottenheimer has been reported to have a strong relationship with Prescott already, and he spoke to some of the changes his quarterback wants to see moving forward.
“He and I see the game of football, offensively, very similar. We’ll have tons of communication moving forward on some of the thoughts of things we want to do, whether it’s tempo or some of the different things we’re trying to do with our play action passing game, the run game, things like that.”
The last time Schottenheimer called plays, his Seahawks offenses were top 10 in play-action rate all three seasons regardless of the drastically different run/pass splits from year to year during that time. Russell Wilson averaged a 0.13 EPA/dropback on play-action concepts over that span, a solid mark.
By contrast, play-action has not been much of a priority in Dallas lately. Over the last five years, the single-season high for play-action usage came in 2020, and that figure has gone down each season.
Schottenheimer went on to talk more specifically about his offensive philosophy, stressing the need to shape things around his players but also highlighting some concepts he aims to use more.
“I go back to my days with Pete [Carroll]. I think if you go back and look at some of the things we did in Seattle, obviously the starting point for me would be things that our players do well. You’re always going to start with that. If your system is not flexible enough to do what your players do well, then you’re probably in the wrong business.
I’m a big believer in cut splits. I’m a big believer in shifts and motions to distort things. We’re going to do a great job of marrying our runs and our passes and make those look the same. I’m proud to say that two different times in my career as a coordinator we led the league in rushing. And they go hand in hand; the running game and the [play] action passing game go hand in hand.”
For anyone familiar with the offenses that are run by Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, this blurb from Schottenheimer sounded like what fans have been clamoring for in Dallas. While neither Shanahan or McVay are necessarily run-first coaches, their offensive identity is built around the threat of the run game and muddying the pre-snap picture for the defense.
That is accomplished through shifts and motions – an area where Dallas has been middle-of-the-pack at best, as well as molding their play action pass game around their rushing schemes to continue the confusion after the snap.
Schottenheimer also mentioned cut splits, also known as reduced splits, which refers to receivers lining up closer to offensive line, oftentimes being bunched together. This adds stress to the secondary, as receivers have more options to run their routes in different directions and can at times create a natural rub for receivers, resulting in more separation at the catch point.
Schottenheimer hinted at this earlier in the press conference too, revealing that he and Carroll spent time looking at Shanahan and McVay – their division opponents in Seattle – and trying to incorporate some of those concepts into their offense.
Finally, Schottenheimer spent some time to discuss the importance of tempo in his offense:
“I would say there’s a tempo element that we’re excited to mix in that our players have all shown an affinity for. And let me expand on that a bit. Why do players like tempo? Well, they like tempo because it allows them to play free. You guys have heard some of the play calls – Dak could rattle off four or five of them right now – they’re pretty long.
So when you go fast and you’re playing on the ball, these guys – it’s a little bit more like pickup basketball. Those will probably be the biggest things that I would say from an offensive standpoint.”
The Cowboys generally played with a fast pace under McCarthy – their 26.3 seconds between snaps in neutral game situations ranks second in the NFL over the last two seasons – but only five teams used a lower rate of no-huddle. That might be one area of improvement in Schottenheimer’s eyes.
All in all, though, it sounds as if Schottenheimer does not plan on completely overhauling the scheme that saw Prescott finished second in MVP voting a year ago but rather look to incorporate elements that are common to some of the league’s best offenses. Assuming this actually comes to fruition, it might go a long way towards selling the fan base on their new head coach.