Cowboys Ex Staffer Sanjay Lal ‘Excited’ to Take Job With Seahawks
FRISCO - Former Dallas Cowboys wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal is joining the coaching staff of the Seattle Seahawks, returning to the area where he played college football an was part of a national championship team at Washington.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity and to work with Pete and Schotty,” Lal tells CowboysSI.com in confirming the move.
The hire, first reported by TheAthletic.com, hasn't yet been finalized in terms of Lal's specific role. But he'll surely work on the offensive side of the ball under Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, with whom he coached when both were assistants with the Indianapolis Colts in 2017.
Lal has a 13-year resume in the NFL, including meaningful contributions to the Cowboys offense during his two seasons at The Star.
Lal, 50, came to Dallas two seasons ago with credentials, and with more than a decade of experience as an NFL receivers coach. The numbers - big and small - speak volumes about what was accomplished here. Lal contributed to the overall success of the 2019 Cowboys passing game, which finished second in the NFL at 296.9 yards per game.
On a more behind-the-curtain note, under coach Jason Garrett, each staffer was assigned a specific game-plan-related area of study and input. Lal's area of emphasis was "Designing the Third-Down Plan.'' In that category, the Cowboys were second in the league at 47.1 percent behind only Kansas City at 47.6 percent.
Lal's name jumped into the headlines after the Week 16 loss to the Eagles when Garrett pinpointed him as the staffer who'd decided to "rotate'' star Amari Cooper out of the game on a critical down. And if pops up again when we discuss in-house conflicts, as we're told that Cooper didn't always see eye-to-eye with his supervisor.
Cooper, for all his ups and downs, achieved career highs in touchdowns (eight) and receiving yards (1,189). In just his second season, Michael Gallup emerged as a potential "lead receiver'' and had 1,107 yards and six TDs. And Randall Cobb - an old Green Bay favorite of McCarthy's - resurrected his career with 828 yards and his highest average per catch of his career at 15.1 yards.
But Adam Henry is the new receivers coach in Dallas. (See our 1-on-1 visit with Henry - "I'm not a 'player's coach''' -here.) And as disappointed as Lal is, he's equally proud of the success of his group.
"I'll always be appreciative of my time here working with Jerry, Jason, Stephen and Will McClay,'' Lal told CowboysSI.com recently. "And I am especially proud and appreciative of working with these great young men who I had the opportunity to coach.''
Now comes another Sanjay Lal opportunity to coach ... back on familiar turf.
