Staubach recalls when Landry installed shotgun for Cowboys

[Bullflop]

You are making me appreciate the old coot even more!
Too bad his drafting largely failed him in the end.

Yessir. The onset of the scouting organizations made other teams far more capable in the drafts than they'd been in the past. Gil Brandt was an absolute marvel when the Cowboys were in their younger days but competition and improved scouting made things much tougher decades later.

 

[DallasEast]

"That's when it really came into vogue," said Herm Edwards, who played against Landry's Cowboys as a defensive back for the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in the 1970s and 1980s, then coached in the NFL. "It was a different look and, for a while, it messed up your way of looking at the quarterback's drop and defining that drop."

That's good info. That's how you support and supplement the information you're disseminating to the public. Solid perspective from a different yet acknowledgeable angle. Concise and smart article from the Associated Press' Howard Fendrich.

 

[Alexander]

I think people wrongly believe innovation is done in football. That there's nothing new that can or should be tried.

That is true in a way and perhaps innovation is the wrong word. What does happen is the legends took old concepts and modified them in ways that were unexpected. Moreover, they were able to continue to adapt and got execution to continue. Big difference between the recent Wildcat and zone option fads that bloomed for a year then quickly fizzled out.

 

[Established1971]

Staubach recalls when Landry installed shotgun for Cowboys

All these years later, Roger Staubach remembers quite clearly what his initial reaction was when Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry approached him about making the shotgun formation a recurring feature of their offense.

"I thought he was crazy or something," the former quarterback said with a snicker during a telephone interview this week. "I mean, we're talking about 1975. Nobody used the shotgun."

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Ive been dealing with Cowboy hate for so many decades. I remember at the time the haters used this against Staubach to me "oh he needs special help to play well, and now he doesnt even call his own plays, his daddy has to call his plays for him" It was pathetic

 

[percyhoward]

Landry did not invent the shotgun formation

I know. "No one was using the term 'shotgun' going into the 1975 season" doesn't mean "Landry invented the shotgun."

 

[T-RO]

That is true in a way and perhaps innovation is the wrong word. What does happen is the legends took old concepts and modified them in ways that were unexpected. Moreover, they were able to continue to adapt and got execution to continue. Big difference between the recent Wildcat and zone option fads that bloomed for a year then quickly fizzled out.

Fair point. I'll just say this:
The best franchises aren't afraid to do things a different way. Teams stuck in tradition usually end up at the bottom.

 

[Alexander]

Fair point. I'll just say this:
The best franchises aren't afraid to do things a different way. Teams stuck in tradition usually end up at the bottom.

Don't doubt it. The Patriots reinvent themselves every year.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

I remember when they first started using the shot gun. Calvin Hill, a bruising RB, had recently left the team. An announcer said, "When you lose cannons like Calvin Hill, you bring out the shotgun."

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

There will never be another tom landry

Genetically, no.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Yessir. The onset of the scouting organizations made other teams far more capable in the drafts than they'd been in the past. Gil Brandt was an absolute marvel when the Cowboys were in their younger days but competition and improved scouting made things much tougher decades later.

Longtime fan of Brandt in his era.

 

[Jake]

Cutting edge. Trend setting. Inovation.

Dallas Cowboys.

I remember thinking the shotgun as so cool when I first saw it as a kid back then. I never imagined it would become the predominate formation, especially in college football. Landry was always thinking ahead.