FRISCO, Texas- Amidst the chaos of media and assistant coaches at the Star, some familiar faces received a homecoming of sorts including running back’s coach, Skip Peete.
Peete served as the RB’s coach in Dallas from 2007-2012. In his first year with the club, he helped Marion Barber earn his first career Pro Bowl nod and led another pupil to success. DeMarco Murray averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his rookie campaign in 2011. Peete went on to join the Bears in 2013 and the Rams in 2016.
During his tenure with the Rams (2016-2019), he developed Todd Gurley into one of the league’s most elite backs. He was a two-time All-Pro and the 2017 Offensive Player of the Year under Peete. He has a proven track record of success in player development and creating the foundation on offense for a solid ground attack. The Rams ranked in the top 10 in rushing in 2017 and 2018. He now brings his talents back to Dallas.
He will now inherit another premiere RB, Ezekiel Elliott.
“ I saw him up close when we played here in December, “ Peete remarked on Zeke. “…Very explosive, talented player. Exciting to watch so I’m excited to have an opportunity to work with him. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
Zeke was named to his third Pro Bowl following the 2019 season and finished with 1,357 rushing yards. He is the predominant workhorse for the Cowboys but the club has another star in the backfield, Tony Pollard. In his rookie year in 2019, Pollard had several explosive runs, including a 44-yarder, where he easily avoided tackles and broke to the second level.
He showed promise and I asked Skip Peete what his impression is of the young back. Of course, he can easily recall after the week 16 game between the Cowboys and Rams where Elliott (117) and Pollard (131) both amassed over 100 rushing yards.
“ Besides just really the game that we played against them, I think he had a big day against us in L.A. He’s an exciting runner, explosive, so I’m really looking forward to working with him. I think it’s gonna be a good combination of two talented running backs in the same backfield, so I’m excited to get a chance to work with them to see where this goes. “
His plan is to share the workload and have both skillsets on the field at once to confuse defenses. Opponents no longer have to create a game plan to stop Zeke, but also Pollard. He adds his speed to the mix. Having both involved will help spread the ball around in 2020 and set up the passing game.
Right now, the coaching staff is in the building phase and deciding, “ what we want to be.”
“ Seeing what plays we want to utilize and scheme we want to utilize and that’s really what you do at really the start of every staff. So, it’s not any different anywhere you go. It’s just the verbiage and what you wanna call plays, but at the end of the day most plays are universal, everybody kinda has them. But just how you want to call them, how you want to block them. Those are the things we are going through right now.”
