Rich:
I noticed you like the Cowboys, I've been a die-hard fan since I was 10 yrs old myself. Its getting harder and harder to watch these guys, and I spend a lot of time reminiscing about the good old days in the early 90's when Jimmy Johnson was in charge and also the late 70's when Tom Laundry was HC.
This is off topic in this thread (sorry !) but who would be some of your top "fantasy choices" for the Cowboys head coach once they get rid of the current administration ? Assume (and its a big assumption) Jerrah would reduce his meddling.
I'm actually not a Jerrah hater and generally think he has done a very good job as owner of the team and as GM of the team. One of the things people forget about the Jimmy years was that Jimmy going to the NFL was considered a bad joke, just like Spurrier or Petrino going to the NFL. Then they made a gazillion trades during the draft, another 'joke' that the league presumed Jerrah would run the team into the ground.
Then they went 1-15.
Pretty much every owner in the NFL would've fired Jimmy after that season, except for crazy, don't know nuthin' about football, meddling Jerrah. And Dallas reaped the rewards in the end. But instead of having some gratitude, Jimmy's ego just got bigger and then claimed his dream was to really coach the Dolphins when Shula left.
Jimmy should've never been fired as booze clouded Jerrah's decision that fateful night he claimed that 'anybody could coach the Cowboys', which was true, but not best for the team in the long haul. But I could see why Jerrah was pissed at Jimmy because for all of the bluster Jimmy has, I'd love to see him name me one owner that would return a coach that came off a 1-15 season. It just doesn't happen in the NFL. And the thanks Jerrah got for it was 'my dream is to coach the Dolphins.' Jerrah needed to put his ego in check, but I don't think I'll quite ever forgive Jimmy for that. And Jimmy got his wish and his team couldn't make it past the first round of the playoffs with Dan freaking Marino and had the biggest loss in NFL playoff history.
I've got some decent contacts with the Cowboys organization. A family friend of mine worked with the Jets throughout my high school years. Some really good stories, and let's just say that Bill Belichick is a dickhead that nobody liked in the Jets organization when he was an assistant there.
That mushroomed into other contacts eventually and got me some decent contacts/sources inside my favorite team which is pretty cool. Although I'd say as far as a valid source, they are 'decent', but not 'really good' as they've been wrong many times, but I don't think they've ever personally tried to lie to me.
The general idea I get is that Jerrah isn't as meddling anymore as people think. He gives Wade and in particular, the scouts a lot of autonomy. However, if he wants a player or if he wants something done a certain way, he'll make sure he gets it. But it's not all that frequent and he always gives the staff a chance to see if they are right. Like the entire Barber-Felix role thing. Jerry wants Felix to be the feature back, Garrett wants Barber to 'set the tone.' Jerry has wanted this for quite awhile. But he gave Garrett the chance to prove that and it hasn't worked, so Jerry stepped in and said that Felix needs to be the feature back.
So Jerry isn't always wrong. And the media, particularly in Dallas is fucking ridiculous. I'd say most of them are liars and make stuff up. Ed Werder is the biggest liar of them all and if he didn't work at ESPN, other reporters would call him out (because newspapers are dying, ESPN is more or less the main sports media outlet and most reporters are desparate to parlay their career into employment with ESPN. I have about 8 friends who work in the sports media, 6 of them are writers and a couple of them work for the AP, so they are the ones that tell me this. And with Werder working for ESPN, it's well known that you do not bash ESPN employees under any circumstances if you want a job with the company).
So the media more or less makes the fans think that Jerry is insisting that Barber starts because of the contract that he paid him, when it's really so untrue it's not even funny (Jerry is a giant Felix fan, mainly since he's from Arkansas).
Does Jerry tick me off?
Sure. Going back on HBO's Hard Knocks ticked me off. Holding open practice where fans can watch for $30 before the Bears game ticks me off.
Jerry loves the spotlight and basically feels that there's no reason why his team can't be in the spotlight and win. I'll give him credit for understanding now that most football people don't quite work that way and he's tapered off that philosophy some.
But the issue with the Cowboys is that a player has 1 good year and then they get an absurd amount of hype and they start buying into that hype, then they disappoint and then they'll have 1 good year, followed by a bad year, then a good year, then a bad year.
From an attitude perspective, that's our main problem. We need a coach that has no issue with 'staying on these guys.' Parcells did, but at his age he lacked the stamina to keep doing it week after week, year after year.
That's what Jimmy did really well. That and the players thought he was fucking crazy and if they dared cross him or piss him off enough, he'd get them blackballed from the entire league. That's why Jimmy worked so well with talented, but troubled players. He scared the shit out of them and then they were just left to playing their asses off.
From a coaching perspective, Wade is still a very good defensive coach. Garrett is regressing to the point of being perhaps the worst playcaller in the league. From a play 'design' perspective I think he's very sharp. But from a playcalling and motivating players perspective, I think he's the drizzling shits.
For Wade, he just doesn't have it in him to 'keep on these guys.' He actually did in '09 and it worked. But once they got the playoff win against the Eagles, he just reverted back to his old self.
What Dallas needs is a younger guy who is in it for 20 years if need be. We need to stop getting these coaches that are set to coach for 4-5 years and then 'hand over the reigns.' We also need a blend of Parcells and Wade. Somebody who can 'keep on these guys' week after week and year after year and understands the importance of a focus, disciplined team and from a scheme and playcalling perspective, understands fundamental football. But we also need some Wade like characteristics because under Parcells he was using bland schemes, calls and gameplans from 1988. And somebody who just isn't completely stubborn about stuff and doesn't make everybody walk on eggshells after *every* loss.
We actually need a blend of the two with the press because the media really causes a lot of shit with this team. The positives about Parcells with the press is that the press was careful on how they would treat him because if they got vicious with him, he'd take them behind the woodshed on TV. But the problem with Parcells is that he really loved the press and loved the spotlight and people asking him on how things should be.
He could've nipped the TO saga in the bud by just saying 'I wanted TO here because I think he's an explosive player that could help us win games. So I discussed with Jerry and Stephen about acquiring him and we all agreed and found a way to bring him here to Dallas.' Instead Parcells just hemmed and hawed about it. One second saying he wanted Owens here, the next second implying he wasn't happy about it. Even if he didn't want him here, his ego got in the way of what was best for the team.
Wade's strengths with the media is that he'll say what he thinks will be best for the team and from day one he nipped the TO stuff in the bud. And TO still loves Wade (he hates Garrett though). But unlike Parcells, Wade doesn't have the ability to take the media behind the woodshed when they get out of line and they really dog him and are unbelievably unprofessional at times (calling Wade a fat idiot, etc).
Anyway, my leader of the pack is.....
San Diego D-Coordinator Ron Rivera
I know, crazy. Rivera has been a success as a coach everywhere he's gone so far. He had unbelievable defenses in Chicago, but they fired him because he was crazy enough to look for a HC gig. Well Rivera got the last laugh as Chicago's defenses haven't been the same since. He unfortunately had to take a lesser job at SD as the linebackers coach all the while Ted Cottrell (one of the most overrated D-Coordinators ever), started ruining their defense. Cottrell was fired mid season of 2008 and Rivera had to overhaul the defense.
That didn't take until this year and their defense is really excellent, forces a ton of turnovers and is dong it with mostly average to no-name guys. Hell, Kevin Burnett is playing like an All Pro for them and he couldn't make it out of the nickel package in Dallas. I think he would 'be in it for 20 years if needed', I think he's a motivator and I think he'd be a blend of Parcells and Wade for the most part. I'm not sure how he would handle the media, and as much as I hate to say it, he could play the race card against the media if they started getting out of line (and I mean it when the media in Dallas gets out of line, these guys resort to childish insults all of the time, I've really never seen anything like it and I've read pretty much every city's major newspaper at one time or another).
We could also bring in SD tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski to be the O-Coordinator. I am friends with one of Rob's family members, so I always followed his career. Chud had 2 years as an O-Coordinator with the Browns and in his first year (2007) he turned a perennial awful offense into one of the league's best with Derrick freaking Anderson, Jamal Lewis, Braylon Edwards, Joe Jurevicius and KWII. The next season the Browns fell back, but what are you going to do with Derrick Anderson and they had a myriad of injuries on offense.
So there you go.....Rivera and Chud. I'd give them autonomy on the assistants that they want and go from there.
3JACK