Now that Cooley is on IR, he can say anything he wants (1 Viewer)

[Sammy Traveller]

LINK

Cooley: Playcalling is 'a carousel of calls'

Tight end Chris Cooley today shed some light on the Redskins' play-calling process in an interview today on "The SIRIUS Blitz" on SIRIUS NFL Radio.

Cooley, speaking with co-hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, provided insight into how the Redskins have installed their weekly game plans, practiced during the week and handled play-calling during games since owner Daniel Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, Washington's executive vice president of football operations, stripped Zorn of play-calling duties before the Week 7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Cooley said that Sherman Lewis, who was originally hired as an offensive consultant and then given playcalling responsibility, and quarterback Jason Campbell hardly interact during the week, which is highly uncommon for a quarterback and the person directing a team's offense. The Redskins have declined reporters' repeated requests to speak with Lewis.

"We have a really weird deal going on right now with the kind of rotation of who calls the plays, to where it goes, to who gets it and how it gets to Jason," said Cooley, who was placed on the season-ending injured-reserve list Monday. "It's almost unheard of. And the funny thing is the last couple weeks the offense has looked better than it has."

Schein pressed Cooley for a more detailed explanation, which he gladly provided.

"Okay, so what goes on is our coaches sit together at the beginning of the week and they design a game plan," Cooley continues. "All the coaches design the plays, they all have different responsibilities. Some coaches have third down, some coaches have the passing game, some have the red [zone], and then they all get together. So then what happens is Sherman Lewis, who is our offensive consultant [and play-caller], will install the regular game plan and then we go practice that. And then on Thursday, Jim Zorn will install the third down and then he'll also install the run game. And apparently, because I haven't really been there, is that Sherman Lewis never talks to Jason Campbell throughout the week.

"I mean, they don't have direct communication. Jim Zorn and Chris Meidt, who is Jason Campbell's quarterbacks coach, do all the coaching for Jason. So, anyway, that's confusing, I know. It was easier on TV this week when they just drew pictures of everyone. But what happens is we get to game day, Sherman Lewis sits in the box; he calls plays. He's the play caller. And he calls them down to our offensive coordinator, another person in the mix, Sherman Smith. And he looks at plays and basically calls them - they're wristband numbers - so he'll say, 'Wristband 5,' and that's what's relayed to Jason Campbell, who then looks at his wristband and calls that play. The funny thing is, is that when we want to call a run play, Sherman Lewis will call and say, 'give me a run' and then Sherman Smith has to pick a run and give that to Jason. So it's, uh, it's a carousel of calls."

I always like hearing what Cooley has to say.

 

[metoo]

LINK

Cooley: Playcalling is 'a carousel of calls'

Tight end Chris Cooley today shed some light on the Redskins' play-calling process in an interview today on "The SIRIUS Blitz" on SIRIUS NFL Radio.

Cooley, speaking with co-hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, provided insight into how the Redskins have installed their weekly game plans, practiced during the week and handled play-calling during games since owner Daniel Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, Washington's executive vice president of football operations, stripped Zorn of play-calling duties before the Week 7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Cooley said that Sherman Lewis, who was originally hired as an offensive consultant and then given playcalling responsibility, and quarterback Jason Campbell hardly interact during the week, which is highly uncommon for a quarterback and the person directing a team's offense. The Redskins have declined reporters' repeated requests to speak with Lewis.

"We have a really weird deal going on right now with the kind of rotation of who calls the plays, to where it goes, to who gets it and how it gets to Jason," said Cooley, who was placed on the season-ending injured-reserve list Monday. "It's almost unheard of. And the funny thing is the last couple weeks the offense has looked better than it has."

Schein pressed Cooley for a more detailed explanation, which he gladly provided.

"Okay, so what goes on is our coaches sit together at the beginning of the week and they design a game plan," Cooley continues. "All the coaches design the plays, they all have different responsibilities. Some coaches have third down, some coaches have the passing game, some have the red [zone], and then they all get together. So then what happens is Sherman Lewis, who is our offensive consultant [and play-caller], will install the regular game plan and then we go practice that. And then on Thursday, Jim Zorn will install the third down and then he'll also install the run game. And apparently, because I haven't really been there, is that Sherman Lewis never talks to Jason Campbell throughout the week.

"I mean, they don't have direct communication. Jim Zorn and Chris Meidt, who is Jason Campbell's quarterbacks coach, do all the coaching for Jason. So, anyway, that's confusing, I know. It was easier on TV this week when they just drew pictures of everyone. But what happens is we get to game day, Sherman Lewis sits in the box; he calls plays. He's the play caller. And he calls them down to our offensive coordinator, another person in the mix, Sherman Smith. And he looks at plays and basically calls them - they're wristband numbers - so he'll say, 'Wristband 5,' and that's what's relayed to Jason Campbell, who then looks at his wristband and calls that play. The funny thing is, is that when we want to call a run play, Sherman Lewis will call and say, 'give me a run' and then Sherman Smith has to pick a run and give that to Jason. So it's, uh, it's a carousel of calls."

I always like hearing what Cooley has to say.

The commentators doing the Washington/Philadelphia talked about this during the game and it made me shake my head.

 

[dgreen]

No new info here.

It's hasn't seemed to negatively affect the offense.

 

[Sammy Traveller]

No new info here.It's hasn't seemed to negatively affect the offense.

as if there isn't anything left to negatively affect.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

give me a run play?

why does the official "play caller" not pick specific running plays? why can't he talk to the QB at all?

so bizarre.

 

[dgreen]

give me a run play?why does the official "play caller" not pick specific running plays? why can't he talk to the QB at all?so bizarre.

When Zorn arrived, he said he was going to keep Gibbs' running game and go to a WC passing game. I've heard nothing since then that indicates they have switched to a WC running game. Sherm Lewis was brought in as a consultant with expertise in the WCO. If they are still using the foundation of a Gibbs running game, Lewis wouldn't be familiar with those plays.I don't think it's that Sherm Lewis "can't" talk to Jason Campbell during the week, it's just that he doesn't. He's not the HC. He's not the OC. He's not the position coach. He simply picks whether to run or pass and picks which pass to call.Another factor is that this is all likely a result in how Cerrato handled the change in play callers. He embarrassed Zorn by making this so public. Zorn was probably open to the idea of someone else calling some plays, but that someone else, in Zorn's mind, should have been Sherm Smith and not Sherm Lewis. So, I'm guessing Zorn has used what little power/authority he has to interject Sherm Smith into this process.

 

[moondog]

No new info here.It's hasn't seemed to negatively affect the offense.

The new info is what a clown show it is. 'Give me a run' - whatever they are paying Sherman Lewis it's not enough - LOL.

 

[Maroney=Sped]

It's working people. We should hire more consultants!

/Cerrato

 

[dgreen]

No new info here.It's hasn't seemed to negatively affect the offense.

The new info is what a clown show it is. 'Give me a run' - whatever they are paying Sherman Lewis it's not enough - LOL.

Nope, that's not new either. That info's been available for a couple weeks now.

 

[Dexter Manley]

It's working people. We should hire more consultants! /Cerrato