Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy studied Sean McVay’s offense during time away from football

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Let go by the Green Bay Packers midway through the 2018 season after 13 years leading that team, new Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy had plenty of time on his hands in 2019 -- a gap year away from football he called a gift.

McCarthy spent plenty of that newfound time doing the normal things that fathers do -- attending basketball games and spending quality time at home with his family.

But McCarthy also took a deep dive into new schemes emerging in the league, intensely watching football on game days with an eye toward his eventual return in the NFL.

That research at his home base in Wisconsin in front of the television included a heavy dose of studying his opponent on Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams, led by young offensive guru Sean McVay.

“I had a chance to watch Sean,” McCarthy said. “As I view offensive football, you tend to put different coaches into families. So, I mean, really that’s the way the offenses were broken down, based off schematic family. It’s not that they are all the same, it’s because everybody, especially Sean, they have their distinct variations that they run and adhere to and how they utilize the players and the starting point.

“The way I view it is with the quarterback and so forth. But he does a lot of great things. He really challenges the defense from a communication standpoint with the pre-snap, as far as cadence variation and ability to shift the motion on certain plays, lining up in a standard huddle and immediately shifting up to the line of scrimmage, and going quick count, then following up with a hard count. So, when you have a chance to watch that much TV, watch the different games and also watch the TV copies, you just really have an appreciation for the coaching in the league. And Sean does a great job.”

McCarthy and McVay’s offenses both originate from the West Coast offense. However, McCarthy’s offense likely will be a melding of his concepts and offensive coordinator holdover Kellen Moore, who will continue to call plays.

McCarthy also has three former coaches from McVay’s staff to lean on in special teams coordinator John Fassel, running backs coach Skip Peete and assistant special teams coach Matt Daniels.

“We feel like we have a good handle on their personnel and really talking philosophically about their approach,” McCarthy told reporters in Dallas.

However, McCarthy went on to say that according to the numbers, over 30 percent of the plays teams see on game day will be unscouted looks, so his team will need to be prepared to adjust on the fly.

McCarthy said watched “Hard Knocks: Los Angeles” to see if he could glean anything that would help his team on Sunday.

“Oh yeah. We watch Hard Knocks,” McCarthy said. “I don’t want to sit here and act like we didn’t, but you definitely look at those things. I thought they did a good job and in fairness to the Rams, you know, just with the tight coverage -- but there wasn’t a whole lot there for us to sink our teeth into.”

Likewise, McVay managed to get a copy of the Dallas scrimmage shown on local TV where McCarthy had players wearing jerseys with no numbers.

“They didn’t show any plays,” McVay said. “It’s like anything else. This is such a unique year without any preseason games, especially with them being a new staff I didn’t anticipate them showing anything. That’s why we didn’t show anything in our scrimmage.”

Just like the scheme and personnel, McCarthy acknowledged there will be some unknowns with the game day experience as the Rams and Cowboys christen SoFi Stadium. Fans will not be allowed in the facility, and fake crowd noise will be piped in to help create an energetic game-day environment.

“I really do believe football will be football,” McCarthy said. “Again, you have to state the obvious. The game environment is going to sound and look a little different.

“If you had a chance to watch the NBA, I think it’s an excellent comparable. You know, it’s still great basketball, but it’s the game day environment that looks different. I’m sure it felt -- I can’t speak on their behalf, but I’m sure it’s different. So, I think our experience will be similar.”