Sunday, July 19, 1998

Cowboys look to execute new offense under Chan Gailey

By Jean-Jacques Taylor / The Dallas Morning News

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Since he arrived at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch training complex five months ago with a playbook the size of a Julia Childs cookbook, new Coach Chan Gailey has changed everything about the team's offense.

He's revamped the terminology, tinkered with the cadence and installed an audible package. He's also changed the philosophy.

The Cowboys no longer will be described as an I-formation, power running team with a precision passing offense. Now, they have a multiple-formation scheme geared toward finding and attacking weaknesses in the defense.

Gailey learned the recipe for a successful offense from Ron Erhardt, who was the New York Giants' offensive coordinator when they won Super Bowls XXI and XXV. Erhardt also was the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive coordinator when they lost to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, with Gailey serving as his receivers coach.

Although Gailey says he likes five-receiver formations and trick plays, don't be deceived. He is not installing a finesse offense.

The Giants won with a powerful running game. So did the Steelers.

"This is a tough, hard-nosed offense," Gailey said. "The base is running the football and being physical.

"Running the football is a four-quarter proposition, and that's the one thing you don't waver from, because I believe you have to be tough and physical to win football games."

The Cowboys won three Super Bowls this decade by bludgeoning defenses with their running game. And when defenses moved a safety closer to the line of scrimmage to help stop the run, Troy Aikman efficiently threw the ball down the field.

Those Cowboys didn't care what the defense did. They dared teams to stop them, but few could. But times have changed. Compare these statistics from 1995 with last season:

-- In 1995, Emmitt Smith rushed for 1,773 yards and scored 25 touchdowns. Aikman had a quarterback rating of 93.6 with an average yards per attempt of 7.6.

-- In 1997, Smith gained 1,074 yards and scored four touchdowns. Aikman had a rating of 78.0 with an average yards per attempt of 6.3.

The Cowboys have scored more than 30 points once in the past 25 games. That alone suggests they needed a fresh offensive approach.

"It's exciting to learn something new, but what we did in the past was very successful and it helped us win three Super Bowls," Aikman said. "I don't think the old system caused us problems; I think it was execution. If we don't execute this system, then we're not going to be any better."

With their days of overpowering defenses apparently over, the Cowboys will rely more on coaching than talent. That means being flexible in their approach and seeking any mismatch or advantage they can.

"If our best personnel is three wide receivers, one back and a tight end, then you'll see us in that," Gailey said. "If Daryl Johnston is playing great, then you'll see us in the I-formation more.

"We have enough diversity to do whatever is going best."

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TERMINOLOGY:

Gailey installed the bulk of the Cowboys' offense during three mini-camps and twice-a-week practice sessions this past spring.

The players used that time to learn the new terminology.

In the previous system, words described the running plays and numbers were used for pass routes. Now, the Cowboys use numbers from 0-9 in the running game and words to describe their pass routes.

For example, last year Aikman might have called Lead Draw Right in the huddle. This season, the play might be called 42 Lead.

Last year, the Cowboys used words to describe their pass blocking; now they use numbers.

Gailey also has added an audible system and several trick plays to the offense.

"We have them, but we don't use them a lot," he said of the trick plays. "The last few years on the road, it has been so loud that it's hard to audible. So why put something in that you can't use in half your games?"

In the past, coaches called in a running play and a passing play, and after relaying them in the huddle, Aikman would pick the best one at the line of scrimmage.

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PASSING GAME

Gailey has ditched the Cowboys' precision passing offense, which required near perfect timing between Aikman and the receiver. Gailey's passing system is more versatile, because it gives the quarterbacks and receivers more options. The drawback is the quarterback and receiver must make the same "read" or it can lead to turnovers.

"Every passing offense has an element of timing to it, but now our offense isn't so predicated on that," backup quarterback Jason Garrett said. "Before, when a receiver took his fourth outside step, the ball was supposed to be in the air."

At Pittsburgh, Gailey had Pro Bowl receiver Yancy Thigpen, who caught 79 passes for 1,398 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and several no-name receivers.

The offense is designed to spread the ball around, but still managed to put the ball in Thigpen's hands frequently.

Gailey will take the same approach with the Cowboys.

Michael Irvin ranks 11th all-time in NFL history with 666 receptions. The other receivers expected to make the Cowboys' roster have combined for 171 receptions, and seven-year veteran Ernie Mills has 138 of those.

Irvin caught 75 passes for 1,180 yards and nine touchdowns last season, but it was a poor year by his lofty standards. He tied for second worst in the NFL with 11 dropped passes, managed only four 100-yard receiving games and did not have a 100-yard game during an eight-game stretch in the middle of the season.

"We tried to spread the ball around too much last year, and we got away from doing what had been successful for us," Irvin said. "You pay some people in the NFL a lot more than you pay other people because they make plays and win games. I think I'm one of those players."

So does Gailey.

Gailey said the Cowboys will move Irvin around quite a bit in their four- and five-receiver formations instead of lining him up wide left most of the time. There are even some plays where Irvin lines up in the backfield.

"Everywhere he's been, Chan has recognized the individual talent and skills of his players and been innovative in finding ways to get them the football, but he does it without being predictable," receivers coach Dwain Painter said.

When he's preparing a game plan, Gailey scours videotape to find weaknesses in his opponents' defense. Then he looks for schemes in his playbook that take advantage of those flaws.

The playbook is so vast, Gailey said, that he always finds something to base his game plan around.

"You're trying to take something that you have and make one adjustment so that only one guy is doing something new, so it's not a whole new play for everyone on the team," Gailey said.

This offense requires the receivers to make more reads at the line of scrimmage and adjust their routes accordingly, which means more film work. But it won't matter if the blockers can't protect Aikman.

The Cowboys allowed 33 sacks last season, the most since 1991, and many occurred on blitzes up the middle. The Shotgun, a part of the Cowboys' offense for the first time since 1991, should help their pass protection.

The Shotgun allows Aikman to stand five yards behind the line of scrimmage and receive the snap, giving him more time to read defenses and throw.

"In the Shotgun, there's real flexibility to protect the quarterback, because people can come underneath the snap to block rushers," Painter said.

The Cowboys will also use more moving pockets to give Aikman additional time. "Troy is not always going to have a three-, five- or seven-step drop," Painter said.

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RUNNING GAME

Smith ranks 11th all-time in NFL history with 11,234 yards, and he's undoubtedly headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the Cowboys need him to alter his style to fit their new offense.

Part of Gailey's approach to running the football is to give the running back as many options as possible. To do so, the Cowboys will use more zone blocking this season. That means they will block players who venture into certain areas instead of being assigned a particular player.

The idea is for the running back to wait as long as possible for picking his hole and blasting through it.

In the old system, when a play was designed to run between left guard and left tackle, that's where Smith took it most of the time. Gailey wants Smith to wait until he hits the line of scrimmage before picking a hole.

"If a 300-pounder can't figure out which hole you're going through, by the time he does it's usually too late for him to shed the block and make the play," running backs' coach Clarence Shelmon said.

"What we're trying to do with our running backs is give him two or three different places to run with the football instead of forcing them to stick it in one hole all of the time," Gailey said. "It lets a guy with good eyes, good balance and quick feet see where the softness is in the defense and attack it."

The Cowboys also will use more pitchouts this season. On those plays, their lineman will take out a defensive lineman's legs, so the running back can quickly get to the corner.

The new running style, however, does take some getting used to. Repetition, said Gailey, is the only way to grasp the concept.

The biggest question is whether the Cowboys can master a new offense in six weeks and be ready when the season begins at Texas Stadium against Arizona on Sept. 6.

"It's tough to have good execution with a brand new offense early in the season, but I expect us to be good," Gailey said. "I can't accept that we'll have glitches."

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