Marvez: Cowboys Used Senior Bowl As Intelligence Experiment

[Alexander]

How Cowboys tossed out the book, used Senior Bowl as intelligence experiment
Refusing to give prospects playbooks and instead making them take notes created plenty of panic, provided plenty of insight, too


By Alex Marvez @alexmarvez Feb 22, 2016 at 11:50p ET

The Dallas Cowboys employed an unorthodox method toward coaching talent last month at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.



No playbooks.



Yes, there is a joke in there about maybe this being the reason for the 2015 Cowboys finishing with a 4-12 record. But this is no laughing matter when it comes to Dallas’ scouting evaluation of the players on the Senior Bowl’s North squad in Mobile, Ala.




Stanford inside linebacker Blake Martinez told co-host Phil Savage and me Monday on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Dallas coach Jason Garrett and his staff handed players blank notebooks at the beginning of a full week of Senior Bowl practices and meetings.



“Their whole evaluation for us was, ‘How well can this guy take notes?’” Martinez said. “They didn’t give us a playbook. They basically explained it on the board. They expected us to write down good enough notes to go back to our rooms, study, and have the diligence to step on the field the next day and perform at the high level they wanted.”



This was no problem for Martinez, who said he filled a notebook throughout his standout college career.



“I have it with me still because I pride myself on having it,” said Martinez, who is projected as a mid-round pick heading into this week’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “To learn what I was doing is actually helping me out in the long run is pretty cool to see.”



Savage, who is the Senior Bowl’s executive director, said franchises coaching in the college All-Star game traditionally provide “some semblance of playbook.” Martinez said some of his peers struggled in adjusting to a technique that may help the Cowboys better determine the learning aptitude of draft prospects.



“You could see the facial expressions when we were in the meetings and (the Cowboys coaches) said, ‘We’re not giving you playbooks. Take some notes,’” Martinez said. “It was like, ‘Oh … I’ve never done that before.’

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...-senior-bowl-made-prospects-make-notes-022216

 

[darthseinfeld]

Interesting method, Ill say that

 

[Jarv]

Just beat your man one on one and Romo will run around until he finds you

 

[EST_1986]

At least the offensive guys had an easy week

 

[bsheeern]

So it is Romo who is calling all the plays

 

[Teague31]

Too bad they didn't do that with Mo. We would have avoided that dumpster fire

 

[Bullflop]

Sounds like they took advantage of an opportunity they wouldn't ordinarily have to test their prospective candidates for smarts. Let's hope it pays off on draft day.

 

[Alexander]

I guess it is unique, but it makes you wonder a little bit.

The wonder being they are looking for players that are not stupid and are self starters/studious.

That begs the question on how they teach, how firmly they hold to what they do versus fitting what they do and how they teach to the talent on the roster and exactly how many on this roster didn't "get it" last year.

I realize the Stepford coach mantra is "execute". That puts most of the burden on the player and if things do not work, well it is more on the player.

What we seem to be going after are SPARQ athletes first, at least on the surface. But the thing is, not every player will be like Byron Jones, who is not only smart, but incredibly athletic.

It will be curious what this approach ends up doing, especially if we end up drafting players from the North squad.

 

[VACowboy]

Lots of high school and college teams do it this way.

 

[kazzd58]

Too bad they didn't do that with Mo. We would have avoided that dumpster fire

FAILURE IS THE BEST TEACHER

 

[Dodger12]

I guess it is unique, but it makes you wonder a little bit.

The wonder being they are looking for players that are not stupid and are self starters/studious.

That begs the question on how they teach, how firmly they hold to what they do versus fitting what they do and how they teach to the talent on the roster and exactly how many on this roster didn't "get it" last year.

I realize the Stepford coach mantra is "execute". That puts most of the burden on the player and if things do not work, well it is more on the player.

What we seem to be going after are SPARQ athletes first, at least on the surface. But the thing is, not every player will be like Byron Jones, who is not only smart, but incredibly athletic.

It will be curious what this approach ends up doing, especially if we end up drafting players from the North squad.

I think it's stupid for a number of reasons and it's just another example of a coach that thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. I'm not sure how you properly evaluate players on the field when some of those players may not know the plays. Sure, it may tell you which players are more book smart or have better study habits but it won't tell you which player can pick up the playbook, learn it and execute it.

And it also strikes me as very selfish (for lack of a better term) on Garrett's part. These players are playing for their future and their livelihoods. The least our red headed dolt can do is to get these kids prepared to play and execute in front of scouts and other NFL teams. There was only a limited amount of time to practice and it just seems like wasted time trying to get the team on the same page. It's really not surprising to me Garrett's team lost and Wentz and company looked so ineffective. Just stupid.

 

[Alexander]

And it also strikes me as very selfish (for lack of a better term) on Garrett's part. These players are playing for their future and their livelihoods. The least our red headed dolt can do is to get these kids prepared to play and execute in front of scouts and other NFL teams. There was only a limited amount of time to practice and it just seems like wasted time trying to get the team on the same page. It's really not surprising to me Garrett's team lost and Wentz and company looked so ineffective. Just stupid.

It is odd though. Observers noted Dallas ran the better practices, up tempo and energetic, the South less structured and regimented.

On the other hand, the South team obviously used a playbook and won the game. Who wins is not important of course, but the two approaches were very different.

I suppose it helps identifying the smarter players, etc. But sometimes the smarter players are not the better players.

I am more of a fan of molding the scheme around the players, not try to find players that fit the scheme.

Being coachable is a separate construct to me, that their ability to take notes. Everyone learns differently.

 

[Risen Star]

From the title, I thought they were experimenting with being intelligent this year. They've tried everything else.

 

[Future]

One of the reasons they loved Chaz Green was because he took notes during his initial interview with Pollack and was then able to go back to them when they interviewed him again later. Seems like they're trying to apply that strategy to the entire draft.

 

[DeaconMoss]

SMH. No comment.

 

[Longboysfan]

I suppose it helps identifying the smarter players, etc. But sometimes the smarter players are not the better players.

I am more of a fan of molding the scheme around the players, not try to find players that fit the scheme.

Being coachable is a separate construct to me, that their ability to take notes. Everyone learns differently.

Yes. The players that can adapt to change and learn quickly.
With one week to get to know 50 or so players. molding a scheme around them would be next to impossible.
Yes. Everyone learns differently. But mid game or at half time when you need to adjust you would want a smart player that can pick up on adjustments.

 

[munkee]

This type of innovation is fantastic. It adds a new dimension to the evaluation process. Measures whether the player has the mental acumen to understand the playbook. If his notes are clear and he studies he will get it. The coaches will see the results if the player is lazy in his note taking, lacks the mental ability to take proper notes, or fails to study them later.

 

[Alexander]

From the title, I thought they were experimenting with being intelligent this year. They've tried everything else.

So we get us some more Caleb McSurdy types?

 

[CowboyRoy]

Just beat your man one on one and Romo will run around until he finds you

Yep, and that's probably why they lost. LOL

Make them all look bad, so no one drafts them.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I think it's stupid for a number of reasons and it's just another example of a coach that thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. I'm not sure how you properly evaluate players on the field when some of those players may not know the plays. Sure, it may tell you which players are more book smart or have better study habits but it won't tell you which player can pick up the playbook, learn it and execute it.

And it also strikes me as very selfish (for lack of a better term) on Garrett's part. These players are playing for their future and their livelihoods. The least our red headed dolt can do is to get these kids prepared to play and execute in front of scouts and other NFL teams. There was only a limited amount of time to practice and it just seems like wasted time trying to get the team on the same page. It's really not surprising to me Garrett's team lost and Wentz and company looked so ineffective. Just stupid.

Yep, you nailed it. Garrett the Ivy league genius playing it like he can over think the football guys. Football is a very simple game. Garrett just doenst get it. Thats why he gets beat week in and week out by guys a lot dumber than him. Football guys.

They have playbooks for a reason. Been doing it since the game started. But Garrett knows better and is smarter right? God, when will this horror show end?