Scott Linehan’s credentials spoke for themselves when he joined the Dallas Cowboys as their passing game coordinator and play-caller last off-season.
He was the architect of a Detroit Lions’ offense the past five seasons and turned them into a top-six offense in each of his final three seasons; he developed and helped Matthew Stafford throw for more than 5,000 yards in 2011; and his accolades continue with his previous stops in St. Louis, Miami and Minnesota.
But nobody knew how much of an impact Linehan would have in his first season with the Cowboys. The end result has been better than anyone imagined with him making a seamless transition into his new job.
Tony Romo is having his best season and is in the MVP conversation. So is DeMarco Murray, who has flourished in setting the franchise’s single-season rushing record. And Dez Bryant and Jason Witten continued to put up impressive numbers even in a more run-heavy scheme.
Now, the Cowboys can even rely on some of Linehan’s detailed knowledge of the Lions’ personnel going into Sunday’s wild-card game in Arlington.
“I had some pretty high expectations [for Linehan], but when you’re initiating something, you realize that’s what it is … expectations,” owner Jerry Jones said. “What the facts are now is that he’s had a terrific impact. He has really been phenomenal in how he has maximized what Romo can do.”
Linehan and Romo developed an almost instant chemistry. They had similar philosophies and ideas about how the offense should run, and what each other looked for in game-planning against defenses.
As Romo said, “He’s really been just a special coach to come along at this point and literally make my job a lot easier. He wouldn’t be talked about as much, but he should be up there for assistant coach of the year for sure.”
Romo’s success is one reason, of course, but it’s a misnomer to associate Linehan strictly with the passing game. His reputation coming into the season was that he’d prefer to throw it than run it, but that simply isn’t the case.
Steven Jackson set career highs for yards (1,528) and attempts (346) in 2006 while Linehan was the head coach in St. Louis. When he served as Miami’s offensive coordinator in 2005, Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown combined to rush for 1,650 yards and 10 TDs.
So it shouldn’t be too surprising that Linehan is using all of the Cowboys’ weapons in what has been a largely balanced offense.
“You go to your strengths and our strengths are definitely there [in the running game],” Linehan said. “When you have a runner like DeMarco and the perimeter players and the tight ends and the other backs to complement it, it’s not hard to do.
“We’ve said we wanted to be balanced, but we’ve been able to be balanced because we’ve got personnel for both the run game and passing game.”
Linehan has also impressed with his game-calling strategies throughout games. He doesn’t abandon the run too early when the Cowboys are trailing, and he knows what it takes to close out wins when they’re ahead.
“The ability to adjust during the middle of games and within games has been special to be part of,” Witten said. “He brings a little bit of attitude to us and he challenges us. He’s honest. He’s been great for us.”
All of it has allowed Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to relinquish some of his offensive duties and oversee the entire team more. Garrett spends just as much time in defensive meetings as offensive meetings because he has more than enough faith and trust in Linehan.
“I just felt like it was going to be a really good fit for us and it certainly has,” Garrett said. “He’s embraced the opportunity to be here, the personnel that we have. I think he’s really made everybody better and certainly has helped our football team. ”
Read more here: Linehan’s correct calls are all over Cowboys’ turnaround | The Star Telegram
He was the architect of a Detroit Lions’ offense the past five seasons and turned them into a top-six offense in each of his final three seasons; he developed and helped Matthew Stafford throw for more than 5,000 yards in 2011; and his accolades continue with his previous stops in St. Louis, Miami and Minnesota.
But nobody knew how much of an impact Linehan would have in his first season with the Cowboys. The end result has been better than anyone imagined with him making a seamless transition into his new job.
Tony Romo is having his best season and is in the MVP conversation. So is DeMarco Murray, who has flourished in setting the franchise’s single-season rushing record. And Dez Bryant and Jason Witten continued to put up impressive numbers even in a more run-heavy scheme.
Now, the Cowboys can even rely on some of Linehan’s detailed knowledge of the Lions’ personnel going into Sunday’s wild-card game in Arlington.
“I had some pretty high expectations [for Linehan], but when you’re initiating something, you realize that’s what it is … expectations,” owner Jerry Jones said. “What the facts are now is that he’s had a terrific impact. He has really been phenomenal in how he has maximized what Romo can do.”
Linehan and Romo developed an almost instant chemistry. They had similar philosophies and ideas about how the offense should run, and what each other looked for in game-planning against defenses.
As Romo said, “He’s really been just a special coach to come along at this point and literally make my job a lot easier. He wouldn’t be talked about as much, but he should be up there for assistant coach of the year for sure.”
Romo’s success is one reason, of course, but it’s a misnomer to associate Linehan strictly with the passing game. His reputation coming into the season was that he’d prefer to throw it than run it, but that simply isn’t the case.
Steven Jackson set career highs for yards (1,528) and attempts (346) in 2006 while Linehan was the head coach in St. Louis. When he served as Miami’s offensive coordinator in 2005, Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown combined to rush for 1,650 yards and 10 TDs.
So it shouldn’t be too surprising that Linehan is using all of the Cowboys’ weapons in what has been a largely balanced offense.
“You go to your strengths and our strengths are definitely there [in the running game],” Linehan said. “When you have a runner like DeMarco and the perimeter players and the tight ends and the other backs to complement it, it’s not hard to do.
“We’ve said we wanted to be balanced, but we’ve been able to be balanced because we’ve got personnel for both the run game and passing game.”
Linehan has also impressed with his game-calling strategies throughout games. He doesn’t abandon the run too early when the Cowboys are trailing, and he knows what it takes to close out wins when they’re ahead.
“The ability to adjust during the middle of games and within games has been special to be part of,” Witten said. “He brings a little bit of attitude to us and he challenges us. He’s honest. He’s been great for us.”
All of it has allowed Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to relinquish some of his offensive duties and oversee the entire team more. Garrett spends just as much time in defensive meetings as offensive meetings because he has more than enough faith and trust in Linehan.
“I just felt like it was going to be a really good fit for us and it certainly has,” Garrett said. “He’s embraced the opportunity to be here, the personnel that we have. I think he’s really made everybody better and certainly has helped our football team. ”
Read more here: Linehan’s correct calls are all over Cowboys’ turnaround | The Star Telegram