Curious.

[Art]

Remember the uproar In Too Deep and other Dallas fans had over Spurrier tipping the offense off as the the play during passing drills? Well, seems in Dallas, they have a different custom. Looks like the defense is supposed to be told the offensive personnel groupings, and Coslet wasn't playing nice.

So, according to Ellis here, the offense has looked good in camp and passing camp because the advantage of knowing the personnel ahead of time hasn't been told by Coslet to Zimmer. So, when Zimmer responds by pressuring Carter and exposing him to a disadvantageous situation, the reports from Dallas camp change from positive to negative. Very interesting reporting here.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/football/cowboys/stories/080102dnspocowcoslet.40fc9.html

Coslet, Zimmer not pulling punches when offense faces defense

08/01/2002

By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – Cowboys offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer always end up laughing about it. But their one-on-one feuds about how the offense-versus-defense portions of practice should be run are quickly becoming legendary.

"For those rookies, it's probably pretty scary to see two coaches yelling at each other like they have," said defensive end Greg Ellis. "The NFL is a very intense game, not only for the players, but also for the coaches."

It's been a custom in Dallas for the offensive coordinator to give the defensive coordinator some idea of the personnel groups the offense is going to use in practice, so the defense can have the right players on the field to get the most out of each play.

Well, Coslet wasn't playing that game initially, and Zimmer didn't like it.

"Coslet's trying to make sure the offense gets executed, and he doesn't want Zim to have the right personnel out there," Ellis said. "It makes the offense look good if we don't know their personnel."

During mini-camps and quarterback schools, offensive players could be heard yelling, "We got five touchdown passes out of that series of plays," while defensive players shot back, "Yeah, because we didn't have any cornerbacks on the field."

Coslet finally agreed to provide Zimmer with scripts of what personnel groups the offense would have on the field, but only after some meetings with coach Dave Campo.

"I think Dave [Campo] needs to serve as a mediator, at times, between what the offense and defense are wanting to do," said team owner Jerry Jones. "They are not always on the same page at all. It's very serious, and these guys mean business when they get frustrated out there. But it's healthy."

Coslet still likes to stick a play in the script that leaves the defense blindsided. Take Wednesday for instance. The offense and defense had just started team drills dedicated to working on the run and stopping the run, when Quincy Carter dropped back and threw a perfect 40-yard bomb to Reggie Swinton, beating cornerback Bryant Westbrook on the play.

"All the coaches I've worked with have talked about doing that," said backup quarterback Clint Stoerner. "That's the first time I've seen a coach do it, though. It looked good. It worked. So it proved the point."

Surprisingly, Zimmer didn't get upset and fire off a few expletives at Coslet like he has in the past.

"Zim handled it," Ellis said. "I heard Zim say we had our defensive backs in there, and we should have handled it. He's right. You need to be on your toes at all times on the football field. That will make us a better defense."

When Coslet was asked about his apparent gamesmanship, he immediately came to the defense of his defense.

"Zimmer wants to win. So do I," Coslet said. "That's all that's important. I'm rooting my [butt] off for that defense. That's one of the reasons I chose to come here because they have a top-five defense from last year, and then we've added to it with La'Roi Glover and Kevin Hardy and all the rest.

"It's competitive out here. Zimmer and I get our competitive juices flowing, but we both know it's serious business and when it's time to strap on the same colored jersey for a game, we'll be together. It's OK. Believe me."

Zimmer, who has concluded that Coslet is getting away with all this because he's new, has nothing but praise for how Coslet coaches.

"The thing I like about him is he's not afraid to get after players, no matter who it is," Zimmer said. "They look much more disciplined to me offensively. When they make a mistake, he lets them know. We're not here to be players' friends. We're here to get a job done, and I don't think he cares about being their friends."

All that said, Zimmer isn't afraid to retaliate when Coslet sneaks one over on him.

"He gets mad, he throws a bomb," Zimmer said. "I get mad, I blitz. That's the way it is."

[bulldog]

nothing like the competitive fire, eh? :laugh:

[Dirk Diggler]

"Top 5 defense?"

Did we just hire Bruce Coslet? :laugh:

[matty dread]

That's a great way to build team unity when the coaches are going at it and not working together. Real professional, good example to set for the young guys.

[shawn]

taking a word from yourself.....are you guys janging to straws? crticizing the cowboy fans on something and then doing it yourself? then I guess both of you are the same

[Art]

Shawn,

You can't borrow a word from us when the word is janging and probably doesn't exist and has only been used by you on this board.

For the record though, we're not doing that which Cowboy fans did. You see, the situation with the Redskins was that Spurrier took the opportunity to teach his system to the offense, which requires the right play for the right defense, to demonstrate the right play against the right defense, in a passing camp in May so the players would get on the same page.

In Dallas, there's a "custom" of tipping off personnel groupings, which itself is not altogether strange, but, what is strange is you have defensive players and coaches who are critical of Coslet not sharing because he's making the offense look good in situations that are unfair to the defense.

You see the distinction?

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm willing to bet we have a debate on our hands :gus:

[RiggoDrill]

It sounds like Coslet may alienate his players with his attitude. They may do what they're told, but they might not play their hearts out for him

[Utah]

You know, I played ball for almost 14 years, I have coached the last 10 and I am going into my 25th year in football.

When your running offensive drills in practice or defensive drills in practice, you always script the plays. You, as a coach, have to see if your guys are making the right reads and are able to get to the spot that they need to be in for the play to be successful. Thats football. Everyone does it. It is the only way a coach can see on the field and later in film whether a play can succeed vs certain defenses. Its called practicing execution. If you can't practice what it is your going to face and make sure that when you see it, you do it properly, you up $hits creek and your team looks like idiots and then your team rebels against you because they never saw that particular defense to run against and it just destroyed them. Now you get fired.

Imagine now if a coach isn't any good at adjusting. Now your shot dead by the fans before the game is even over.

BTW, this is training camp stuff. Your working on guys knowing their own plays vs their own defense. This isn't getting ready for a particular team. This is for guys to prove that they can handle their own basic offense and basic defense. Typical camp stuff and it provides some good natured competition.