Cowboys should add these extra coaches to help Mike McCarthy
By Riley Donald
Cowboys Coaching Option: Joey Halzle
Former Oklahoma QB and current QB coach at University of Tennessee
I would begin my search for this coach in the college ranks of former quarterbacks that were great in college and have turned to coaching. Halzle is working with a super speed offense at Tennesee that puts up points and understands that they need to maximize efficiency.
Prior to Tennessee, he has experienced nothing but success throughout his career. He was a three-time Big 12 Champion as a player. He followed that with two more years as a quality control analyst there and then went to the University of Central Florida, where he was an offensive analyst for an offense that was top-15 in nearly every major statistical category.
Halzle has won and won a lot. His role at Tennessee is to know the value of possessions, as they are the fastest-moving offense in the country. While the Cowboys don’t need to go that fast, he definitely knows the importance of quick decisions.
Nate Scheelhaase
Former Illinois QB and current run game coordinator/RB/WR coach at Iowa State
Scheelhaase had one of the more underrated outstanding careers in college. He was a four-year starter at the University of Illinois, where he is among their top-three leaders in every major quarterback statistic and saw bowl success.
Upon finishing up his playing career at Illinois, he spent a few years on their staff before heading to Iowa State in Ames. While there, he has helped construct some of the best Cyclones offenses in school history around current Chicago Bear David Montgomery and future NFL starter Breese Hall. Scheelhaase was also ranked on the 30 Under 30 list for rising coaches. He is going to be good.
Scheelhaase has the pedigree of playing and understanding the game at a very high level. Pair that with evidenced success wherever he has gone, and he instantly becomes a candidate if he is looking for that NFL shot.
Halzle and Scheelhaase each excelled at the college level and have shown a clear desire to develop further into their coaching careers by their quick upward mobility. Each would have the ability to step into this role and succeed in owning all things game management.
As I look at a few young and rising stars, I can’t help but continue to think this role could be a trendsetter across the league and give the Cowboys a chance to be on the forefront rather than chasing. Some change is needed within the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, and I think this could be one that might not make massive media waves but could pay huge dividends in crunch time.
