By RAINER SABIN Follow @RainerSabinDMN
RAINER SABIN The Dallas Morning News Staff Writer
Published: 10 October 2014 07:14 PM
Updated: 10 October 2014 10:18 PM
IRVING — As the Cowboys have won four of their first five games, powered by a balanced offense, praise has been heaped on new play-caller Scott Linehan. But a lot of the credit should go to the man he replaced, a coach who was demoted and denied a chance to seek other job opportunities in Cleveland and Baltimore during the offseason.
Bill Callahan, after all, is the man who implemented the zone blocking scheme — the foundation of the team’s prolific running game that has opened a new dimension within the offense at the same time it’s helped stabilize the defense.
“He has been an integral part in the success,” center Travis Frederick said.
The Cowboys, once reluctant to rely on anyone but quarterback Tony Romo, are now carried by DeMarco Murray.
Murray is the league’s leading rusher, a player on a record-setting pace who has galvanized a team producing 160 yards per game on the ground, the second-highest average in the league.
The gains being realized have been years in the making. In 2012, when Callahan first arrived as the offensive coordinator and line coach, it would have been hard to envision the Cowboys pounding away at opponents like they have in the first five weeks of this season.
The year before Callahan was hired, Dallas was 18th in rushing and had a blocking front that included rookie seventh-round pick Bill Nagy, undrafted center Phil Costa and aging right guard Kyle Kosier.
Revamping the offensive line had become one of the organization’s top projects, and Callahan was brought in to oversee its development.
As the Cowboys procured better personnel — using first-round choices to select left tackle Tyron Smith, Frederick and right guard Zack Martin in a span of four drafts — Callahan nurtured the nuanced zone blocking system he installed.
The scheme, which requires precise coordination, was accompanied by a learning curve and growing pains. In Callahan’s first year in Dallas, the Cowboys ran for 1,265 yards — a franchise low over a 16-game season.
“It takes time,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “You get better over time, when you do stuff and you get better players in there.”
In other words, it’s a process, as Garrett likes to say.
Last season, when Callahan served as the play-caller, things finally began to click. The zone plays that shunted Murray to the edge began to meld with the more traditional gap-blocking concepts, helping Dallas disguise its intentions.
With Callahan’s right-hand man, Frank Pollack, supervising the offensive line, the Cowboys showed signs that they could attack teams on the ground. In fact, over the last eight weeks of the season, no team averaged more yards per carry than Dallas.
“I think any style it’s a matter of being committed to what you’re doing and having the repetitive game reps and practice reps, really doing it over and over,” Callahan said. “And everybody being tied into it. Not just the line. You are building that timing and rhythm.”
But even though the Cowboys were experiencing tangible success, they weren’t committed to running the ball, choosing instead to desert the ground game at the first sign of struggle. Last season, only Atlanta had fewer rushing attempts than Dallas.
It didn’t appear as if anything would change when Linehan was hired in January during a staff upheaval that marginalized Callahan and left him with the same responsibilities he had when he came to Dallas in 2012.
Linehan’s title, which was passing game coordinator, hinted at his philosophy, and he had a history of leaning on his quarterbacks.
But Linehan has defied expectations by relying on the rushing attack Callahan helped grow.
“Bill and Frank do such a great job putting together some ideas for the run game,” Linehan said. “The concepts are very sound and fit very much what our offensive line does well and our running back does well. We have been building on that.”
Not much, however, is left to finish. The project Callahan undertook has been virtually completed. The running game that had been one of the Cowboys’ most noticeable weaknesses has become perhaps their greatest strength.
And only months after he was demoted, the impact Callahan has made is apparent. So how much credit does he deserve for Dallas’ early-season success?
“A lot,” Murray said. “Yeah, a lot.”
RAINER SABIN The Dallas Morning News Staff Writer
Published: 10 October 2014 07:14 PM
Updated: 10 October 2014 10:18 PM
IRVING — As the Cowboys have won four of their first five games, powered by a balanced offense, praise has been heaped on new play-caller Scott Linehan. But a lot of the credit should go to the man he replaced, a coach who was demoted and denied a chance to seek other job opportunities in Cleveland and Baltimore during the offseason.
Bill Callahan, after all, is the man who implemented the zone blocking scheme — the foundation of the team’s prolific running game that has opened a new dimension within the offense at the same time it’s helped stabilize the defense.
“He has been an integral part in the success,” center Travis Frederick said.
The Cowboys, once reluctant to rely on anyone but quarterback Tony Romo, are now carried by DeMarco Murray.
Murray is the league’s leading rusher, a player on a record-setting pace who has galvanized a team producing 160 yards per game on the ground, the second-highest average in the league.
The gains being realized have been years in the making. In 2012, when Callahan first arrived as the offensive coordinator and line coach, it would have been hard to envision the Cowboys pounding away at opponents like they have in the first five weeks of this season.
The year before Callahan was hired, Dallas was 18th in rushing and had a blocking front that included rookie seventh-round pick Bill Nagy, undrafted center Phil Costa and aging right guard Kyle Kosier.
Revamping the offensive line had become one of the organization’s top projects, and Callahan was brought in to oversee its development.
As the Cowboys procured better personnel — using first-round choices to select left tackle Tyron Smith, Frederick and right guard Zack Martin in a span of four drafts — Callahan nurtured the nuanced zone blocking system he installed.
The scheme, which requires precise coordination, was accompanied by a learning curve and growing pains. In Callahan’s first year in Dallas, the Cowboys ran for 1,265 yards — a franchise low over a 16-game season.
“It takes time,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “You get better over time, when you do stuff and you get better players in there.”
In other words, it’s a process, as Garrett likes to say.
Last season, when Callahan served as the play-caller, things finally began to click. The zone plays that shunted Murray to the edge began to meld with the more traditional gap-blocking concepts, helping Dallas disguise its intentions.
With Callahan’s right-hand man, Frank Pollack, supervising the offensive line, the Cowboys showed signs that they could attack teams on the ground. In fact, over the last eight weeks of the season, no team averaged more yards per carry than Dallas.
“I think any style it’s a matter of being committed to what you’re doing and having the repetitive game reps and practice reps, really doing it over and over,” Callahan said. “And everybody being tied into it. Not just the line. You are building that timing and rhythm.”
But even though the Cowboys were experiencing tangible success, they weren’t committed to running the ball, choosing instead to desert the ground game at the first sign of struggle. Last season, only Atlanta had fewer rushing attempts than Dallas.
It didn’t appear as if anything would change when Linehan was hired in January during a staff upheaval that marginalized Callahan and left him with the same responsibilities he had when he came to Dallas in 2012.
Linehan’s title, which was passing game coordinator, hinted at his philosophy, and he had a history of leaning on his quarterbacks.
But Linehan has defied expectations by relying on the rushing attack Callahan helped grow.
“Bill and Frank do such a great job putting together some ideas for the run game,” Linehan said. “The concepts are very sound and fit very much what our offensive line does well and our running back does well. We have been building on that.”
Not much, however, is left to finish. The project Callahan undertook has been virtually completed. The running game that had been one of the Cowboys’ most noticeable weaknesses has become perhaps their greatest strength.
And only months after he was demoted, the impact Callahan has made is apparent. So how much credit does he deserve for Dallas’ early-season success?
“A lot,” Murray said. “Yeah, a lot.”
