Cowboys FILM ROOM: New 'West Coast Offense' - Can Dak Prescott Be 'Fixed' by Coach McCarthy?

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy’s roots are in the West Coast Offense, which he's now bringing to The Star - with Dak Prescott and "2.5 seconds'' a centerpiece determinant for how well it'll work.

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is a career-long believer in the West Coast Offense - and in 2023, he's bringing it - or, at least most of its principles - to The Star.

How will it work? How will it help QB Dak Prescott? Can it make Dallas' already good offense become consistently great?

Some quick background on the origins of McCarthy and the WCO ...

Bill Walsh largely devised the concept in the early 1970's and then as the head coach of the 49ers pushed it near perfection. It's about short timing passes, about stretching a defense horizontally, about quick QB reads and quick throws, about yards after the catch, and about the "horizontal'' approach leading to downfield openings.

Paul Hackett learned it from Walsh in San Francisco in the mid-1980's. McCarthy was a grad assistant under Hackett at Pitt and then in 1993 moved with him to the Chiefs - where Walsh's QB, Joe Montana, had also moved. (McCarthy loves to tell the self-effacing story of how in-over-his-head he was to be "Montana's coach.'') And by 2006, when McCarthy became head coach of the Packers, Walsh disciple Mike Holmgren had already installed it in Green Bay (circa 1992), McCarthy was a full-fledged "West Coach Offense'' guru.

And what did no less an authority than Aaron Rodgers think of that approach?

“I grew up in the West Coast offense, which I think is the most beautiful offense ever created,'' Rodgers has said. "It’s about timing and rhythm and balance and everything makes sense protection-wise. You know where your hots are, you know where your eyes are going every single time, you know how the concepts fit together.”

Can Dak be Aaron? That's not even a fair question. But it is fair to assume that McCarthy wouldn't be overseeing this change if he didn't view it as "Dak-friendly.''

So, our deep-dive film study with Tyler Rowland at the chalkboard for CowboysSI.com ...

Prescott’s league-worst 17 interceptions (including playoffs) could be seen as a symptom, not the virus as the real root of the problem is how long Prescott held the ball before throwing in 2022.

Prescott ranked in the bottom third (20th) in “Time To Throw,” a metric that measures how quickly the QB is getting rid of the ball. Prescott averaged 2.71 seconds before throwing; 2.5 seconds is considered a good mark.

That's an issue - and it becomes magnified when you look at Prescott’s TTT splits with 2.5 seconds as a line in the sand. 

When getting rid of the ball in 2.5 seconds or less, Dak ...

*Completed 77.4 percent of his passes

*Threw for eight scores and only three interceptions

*Registered a 99.3 passer rating. 

However, when Dak held the ball longer than 2.5 seconds ...

*His completion percentage dropped nearly 20 percent down to 57.8.

*He TD/INT ratio fell off a cliff as threw for 20 touchdowns, but 14(!) interceptions.

*His passer rating dropped over 10 points down to 87.5.

That's eye-popping stuff that isn't mean to take Prescott off the hook for his errors ... but rather, to suggest what McCarthy is thinking by moving away from some Kellen Moore concepts (and from Kellen himself).

"Get the ball out quickly.'' In that regard, Prescott can be "like Rodgers.'' ... circa 2014, when Rodgers won an MVP working with McCarthy in Green Bay.

Taking a look at the film from that season, and you can see how McCarthy’s philosophical influence helped create the "balance'' that Rodgers mentioned.

You can also see how the Cowboys ability to run game can be blended into this system. Look at how McCarthy combined the play-action fake with the quick-throw principles of the WCO. Rodgers carries out the fake, thus holding the defense for a split second, then quickly dumps the ball to his playmakers.

That is "Dak-friendly'' stuff.

Even without play-action fake, the quick passing game can be beneficial to Dak and the entire offense. A quick strike like we see above to CeeDee Lamb can accomplish a great deal. It gets the ball out of Dak’s hands quickly, thus limiting interceptions, and also keeps the offense on schedule. 

More first downs. More extended drives. And the YAC potential, all there.

The 49ers in Montana's era famously ran the play-action bootleg - and yes, that's in McCarthy’s playbook in a way that helps take advantage of Prescott's mobility. It gives the QB a clear throwing lane and also creates the threat of the QB run.

Oddly, in 2022, Prescott, 29, had the second-lowest rushing total of his career (186 yards) excluding his injury shortened year of 2020. Not using Dak’s mobility created an unnecessary limitation for Dallas.

That's about to change.

Offenses evolve; the 2023 Cowboys' playbook won't just a carbon copy of the 2014 Packers playbook. There are things that players on this roster do well worth keeping; there are concepts used by Kellen (who himself melded Jason Garrett thoughts derived from Norv Turner's tree ("Air Coryell'') with Chris Peterson's Boise State approach) that are worth keeping.

But the essential philosophy remains essential. And helping the QB succeed is the most essential thing of all.

Time will tell if McCarthy's big mistake here was not integrating this system when he first came to Dallas in 2020. But the (accurate) thinking then was that Kellen and Dak were growing together; it was actually quite unselfish of McCarthy to roll with much of what was in place.

But now? McCarthy will be the play-caller, will truly be his own coordinator (even as top aide Brian Schottenheimer, in for Moore, gets the title) and will be free to create a "North Texas West Coast Offense.'' 

“This is the logical step to build on and use what we’ve established,'' said owner Jerry Jones, giving free rein to McCarthy to make the changes as he sees fit. “This is the time for us to build on it.''

And, for Dak Prescott, this is the time to build on something Mike McCarthy has believed in for a football lifetime.

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