The Dallas Cowboys hired Klayton Adams to serve as the team’s offensive coordinator under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
Adams already knows exactly what he wants to see from Dallas’ offense in his first-ever stint as an NFL offensive coordinator.
‘The same thing that I want from every player on offense, and that is to create violence in the game,’ Adams told Cowboys.com. ‘Be aggressive, run, hit, I think that every decision that we make schematically needs to lean that direction.’
‘So if there’s gray area, what is going to allow these guys to play more free and run and hit and be violent?’
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Schottenheimer’s vision for the Cowboys offense will dictate part of that. The 51-year-old is set to call his own plays in his first-ever head coaching stint after Mike McCarthy handled those duties during their previous two seasons together.
As such, Adams knows it will be key for the duo to be on the same page as they look to get the most out of a Dallas offense that ranked 17th in yards and 21st in points per game during the 2024 NFL season.
‘Trying to mesh what the vision of what he wants is because he’s going to call the plays, and so I think it would be dumb on my part to try to force a lot of things on that call sheet that he doesn’t want to call or he doesn’t feel comfortable calling.’ Adams explained about his process of tailoring his offense to Schottenheimer’s preferences.
What might that look like? One would presume it be more run-heavy than Dallas’ offense was recently under McCarthy. The Cowboys ranked 14th and 24th in rushing attempts per game during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Schottenheimer has coached five offenses that ranked top-seven in rushing attempts during his 14 years as an NFL offensive coordinator.
That should align with Adams’ tough-minded philosophy and his background as an offensive line coach. It’s also why the 42-year-old is enthusiastic about pairing up with Schottenheimer, even if it will take some time for them to get in sync.
‘We’re really excited. I’m very excited to work with him and just to continue to learn each other a little bit,’ Adams said. ‘We’re going to get out into some practices and talk through some things and I’m going to see some things differently, he’s going to see some things differently, and it’s going to be a growing process.’