Klayton Adams has head coach buzz because of the Cowboys run game turnaround, but his resume still needs a closer look before anyone crowns him.
The thing is, I’m not going to pretend Klayton Adams has a perfect road sitting in front of him. He doesn’t, but I’m also not going to throw the whole idea in the trash.
I see the argument for this guy, and I also see the red flags in his coaching background. Klayton Adams lands in two buckets of coaching types. He is a non-play-calling offensive coordinator. The second is he is also an offensive lineman/run game coach at his core.
The play-calling part of his coaching duties doesn’t bother as much as the offensive line coach does.
As we all know, Dallas didn’t bring Adams in because he was a hot-shot play caller. He was brought in because he knows how to build a rushing attack.
If you look back at his time with the Arizona Cardinals, his fingerprints were all over the success on the ground there before he moved to Dallas and put them in the top-10 as a rushing unit.
Now I need to know if that makes him a good head coaching candidate or a really good offensive assistant.
Non-Play-Calling Offensive Coordinators Don’t Scare Me
The easiest shot anyone could take at Klayton Adams is simple. He doesn’t call plays, so why would anyone see him as a head coach?
We have all seen that path work for coaches in the past. Nick Sirianni didn’t come to Philadelphia as some play-calling wizard who had full control of the Colts offense. That was Frank Reich’s offense.
Sirianni still got the Eagles hob, built a winner, and ended up with a Super Bowl ring.
Doug Pederson belongs in the same discussion. If you didn’t know, he came from Andy Reid’s Kansas City offense, and nobody with a brain thought Reid was standing on the sideline watching the offense run itself.
Prederson still got hired by the Eagles, won a Super Bowl, and later got another shot in Jacksonville.
Now we get to Mike McDaniel, who is a Kyle Shanahan disciple. Shanahan called the plays in San Fransisco and there was no question about that, but McDaniel had his hand in the play designs enough to get Miami’s attention.
So, I’m not killing Klayton Adams’ case because the call sheet may not be his on Sundays.
If Dallas keeps running the ball well, protects Dak Prescott, and proves that style can hold up when games get tight, I would think Klayton Adams will get some credit. Maybe enough for other teams to notice.
The Line Coach Is Where I Would Get Nervous
This may be where I would pump the brakes a bit on the Klayton Adams being a head coach.
We can see that there were winners in the non-play-calling group when they became head coaches, but the offensive line coaches turned head coaches gets pretty ugly.
Mike Munchak is the cleanest example in this catergory. He was a Hall of Fame player, respected position coach, and a football lifer. He got the Titans job after Jeff Fisher was fired and led them to a 22-26 record. He finished his coaching career as an offensive line coach.
Doug Marrone has similar roots in his journey to head coach. He was given chances and even had a big run with Jacksonville that led them to the AFC Championship Game. He ended his head coaching journey with a 37-59 record. He retired an offensive line coach.
Tony Sparano is another one of those guys. He was a tough coach with a physical style. He even turned around the Miami Dolphins in his first year as head coach. Then the wheels fell off. He ended his head coaching career in Oakland with a 32-41 overall record.
Guess what? Tony Sparano retired as an offensive line coach. It seems to come full circle with this group of coaches.
Running an entire team may not be a former offensive line coach’s forte, but one person could change that outcome.
I’m Not Sold, and I Don’t Want to Lose Him
The non-play-calling OC doesn’t hurt him. Sirianni and Pederson proved that type of coach can go on and be successful.
The trench-coach side hurts him based on history. Munchack, Marrone, and Sparano all got their shots, and not one of them turned that into long term success.
I don’t want that to be a knock on Klayton Adams, but I would think a team would look at it from that angle.
For me it comes down to one question. Is Klayton Adams a future head coach, or is he a really good run-game coach with a better title?
I’m don’t want this to be about him not being able to do the head coach thing. I’m just saying I would need more than a strong rushing attack before I crowned him a head coach.
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