How John Madden would coach Kyler Murray

The same way he coached all of his QBs in Oakland, like Lamonica, Blanda and Stabler

To reiterate what I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I have been thinking a lot about John Madden these days.

These days…

“Well, I’ll keep on movin’, movin’ on —- Things are bound to be improving these days

One of these days —- These days I’ll sit on corner stones

And count the time in quarter tones to ten —- my friend

Don’t confront me with my failures —-I had not forgotten them”

(Jackson Browne, 1973)

The best gift that John Madden gave me during the summer of 1993, other than the five glorious hours I spent with him in his NYC abode at The Dakota, was a signed copy of his “Man to Man Football” that he used as a teaching guide whenever he gave coaching clinics.

Funny, but due to time, exposure to the sun and the numerous front-to-back readings that I have given the book, the cover of the manuscript has faded —- yet Coach’s signature still looks brand new in blue.

This morning, I felt an urge to flip the book open and read whatever page popped up.

Imagine this:

This is what I was greeted with: (from page 106)

“I have always favored a system in which the quarterback calls his own plays. That is the only time when a total quarterback is running his team.”

“Today about 75 percent of the NFL quarterbacks get their plays from the bench. Coaches who advocate this system have four main reasons for using it:”

“1 —- The coaches believe they prepare longer for the game, watch more films, study longer in the off-season and are better prepared for the task.

2 —- When the coaching staff calls the play, they know what is going to happen and can follow its execution better so that even if the play doesn’t work, it might be successful later in the game if the faults are corrected.

3 —- The coaching staff has better control over play on the field in relation to the game plan.

4 —- The quarterback, being relieved of the decisions of play calling, can concentrate better on execution.”

“A lot of good teams use this system, perhaps the most outstanding of these is the Dallas Cowboys, where Tom Landry sends in the plays to Roger Staubach.”

“On the other side of the fence, there are quite a few outstanding teams whose quarterbacks call the signals. The leading advocate of this system is probably the Pittsburgh Steelers where Terry Bradshaw calls his own plays. Bradshaw has won 4 Super Bowls. Down in Miami Don Shula has Bob Griese call his own plays. And in Oakland, over a 10-year span, Daryl Lamonica, George Blanda and Kenny Stabler always called the plays while I coached.”

Having read this —- a lightbulb illuminated up the room and I knew that if John Madden were coaching or advising other coaches today —- there is no doubt —- that in the case of the 2025 Arizona Cardinals —- he would have Kyler Murray call the plays.

Here are the reasons in general that Coach provides from his book:

1 —- “Quarterbacks have a better feel for the situation on the field. They know, firsthand, how their players and the opposing players are feeling and sometimes are able to call plays that work, that by the book should never have been run. Still those plays often make 40 or 50 yards and a touchdown.”

(Note: I had a hunch in the Bears game last season on a 3rd and 5 situation near midfield with 15 seconds left in the 1st half with the Cardinals leading 14-9 that Kyler called the audible for this draw to Emari Demercado, hoping that Emari could run it into FG position —- instead it resulted in an electric 53-yard TD to put the Cardinals up 21-9 at half-time)

2 —- “On other occasions, I have sent in plays that backfired, lost yards and even the ball.”

3 —- “The quarterback who calls the plays is also forced to think more about the whole game. He must study films, discuss the game plan constantly with the coach and be familiar with the whole situation.”

4 —- “The quarterback is called the field general. How can he be a field general if he is waiting for instructions from the bench between plays? That would destroy some of his control.”

5 —- “When the quarterback calls the play, he and the other 10 men on the team are doing it together. It is a play “we” called. With the QB in charge, it is “we” and “us.” If the bench calls the play that fails, it is “their” play and it is too bad. “They” had better send in another one.”

Why, in my opinion, giving the play calling responsibilities to Kyler would be a brilliant idea:

1 —- Kyler would relish this kind of challenge and see it as a huge vote of confidence.

2—- Calling his own plays in the game would feel like the ultimate chess match for him.

3 —- My high school football coaching mentor, Dexter Morse, told me so wisely that the secret to being a great play caller is cultivating the ability to think 2-3 plays ahead. That’s the same type of ability that great chess players hone.

4 —- I have often felt that Kyler’s emotions get the better of him at times during the games and those emotions tend to affect his focus. Having to focus instead on what he is going to call during the next possession should keep his head squarely in the game. In essence, Kyler would have to toss aside his emotions in order to do his job.

5 —- The levels of communication and ownership that Kyler would have to generate with his teammates would be at an all-time high. Communication on the field, on the sidelines and in practice is the key to success in team sports.

6 —- Something needs to happen in order for Kyler to elevate his game to a level that he and the team have yet to reach. Having him call the plays could be the catalytic converter that he and the team needs.

If John Madden were advising Kyler, here are the 4 kinds of passes that I believe Coach would ask Kyler to try to minimize:

1 —- Passes short of the sticks on 3rd and 4th downs.

2 —- Fades and other 50/50 balls on 3rd and 4th downs.

3 —- Inside the red zone, particularly inside the 10-yard line, passes short of the goal line —- go ahead and take many more shots into the end zone.

4 —- In the two-minute drill, 5-yard passes over the middle to the running back, which take far too much time off the clock for such minimal yards.

Imagine that —- Kyler Murray calling the plays.

John Madden concluded his chapter on his belief that QBs should call the plays with these prescient words (Note: he wrote this manuscript in the late 1970s):

“The men on the playing field have no time for philosophy. They’re in a war where the rule is hit or be hit and they know what is happening in a way the people on the bench can never understand.”

“On top of this, I am afraid that we are moving farther and farther toward taking the human element out of the game in which is basic played between two groups of people. There are too many sideline calls, too many computers, too much talk about instant replay.”

“I can foresee the day when a coach will stand on the sidelines, punch a computer, listen to bells ring and then hear that wise machine say, “Run off tackle!”

“I don’t want that. Until I started doing color for CBS, I never knew how far detached the press box is from the field. The game belongs to the men down there and they are the people who should run it.”

“There is no such thing as a dumb player so far as I am concerned, and certainly no dumb quarterbacks. People once called Terry Bradshaw, one of the best men at his job, not too smart. The accusation was not only unfair, it was untrue.”

ROTB Poll:

By the way, two of the Cardinals’ greatest QBs of all time, Jim Hart and Kurt Warner, called their own plays.