-
-
-
2010-2011 Offseason: Cowboys Coaching King
Crowned And Carefully Considering Coordinators
-
- January
13, 2011
At 10:55 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
Everyone was reasonably
convinced – at the conclusion of the Cowboys’ season – that Garrett
had a 70/30 chance of seeing stars as the next Sheriff at Valley Ranch . .
. but there was that 30% chance he was going to join another NFL
franchise.
There were several interdependent coaching mysteries – a couple for
the curious and several for the serious – that Cowboys fans had
waited at least eight long games to see solved.
Who would be Dallas’ next head coach?
Would Garrett be willing to wait – for Jerry Jones to complete his
interview process – if other teams made their interest in him clear
and immediate?
Would Garrett have any recourse if Jerry refused to allow other
teams to speak to him about their own head coaching vacancies?
Who would be Dallas’ next head coach if Garrett was not the answer?
Which team would pick up Garrett and in what capacity – young head
coach with great potential or dead end quarterbacks coach?
Would Jerry be able to clandestinely meet with Cowher, Gruden, or
Harbaugh while Garrett remained under contract . . . without drawing
any Miami heat?
Would Jerry fulfill his obligation to the Rooney Rule with a
quick-and-easy token interview of someone currently on the Cowboys’
coaching staff?
Fans may never truly learn the depth of Jerry’s head coaching search
and – as always – it will only matter if his latest choice for head
coach fails miserably.
It has been a week since Jason Garrett was officially named
full-time head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
-
- Depending on your
perspective, it is good to be the King.
Garrett was stripped of his interim tag by the same person who had
originally envisioned Garrett as the head coach in waiting when he
hired Garrett back in 2007.
Jerry Jones – as most fans are aware – originally attempted to
convince Garrett to give up on his playing career and become a
coach-in-training . . . knowing that football ran in his blood and
in his family, and that coaching was simply a natural extension of
those roots.
Fans can only imagine how quickly Garrett might have been run out of
Dodge without such a pigskin lineage and without the support Jerry’s
enduring belief in him.
Garrett might have been as close to the Cowboys’ curb as he was to
the head coach’s office.
-
- Garrett instead finished
out the 2010 Cowboys season with a 5-3 record that easily could have
been 8-0, and he has been rewarded with a brand new title: Head
Coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
-
Pasqualoni
Parting
There is no debating the fact that Paul Pasqualoni was handed a
steaming divot when he was asked to take over a Cowboys defense that
was supposed to be such a well-oiled 3-4 machine under Wade
Phillips.
The Dallas defense was suddenly making interceptions hand over fist
– after making no more than eight under Phillips, if memory serves.
Phillips preferred to blitz more often than not – which tends to pry
interceptions away from even the stingiest of defensive units.
Phillips also preferred to continue down that road without much
alteration or deference to his available talent.
While it certainly seemed like Phillips was running the very same
system whether with healthy starters or inexperienced back-ups, his
expertise has always been defense . . . and it is hard to believe he
was ignoring the personnel deficiencies of his 2010 defense.
That is neither here, nor there, nor anywhere.
Pasqualoni avoided completely losing his head from lying in
Phillips’ defensive death bed.
While Pasqualoni certainly made strides with a mentally and
physically damaged defensive squad, his zone coverage scheme could
not cover up nearly enough warts on the Cowboys’ defensive backside.
Solving the Cowboys’ man coverage problems was a nice and welcome
touch, but that did not deliver enough quarterback pressures and
sacks to stop opposing offenses from scoring upwards of 20-30 points
per game in all but a few under Pasqualoni’s watch.
I asked – in my last article – whether or not Pasqualoni deserved
the opportunity to work with a healthy defensive unit for an entire
off-season. I believe he did, but with his acceptance of the
University of Connecticut head coaching position, it no longer
matters.
People tend to forget his 107-59-1 record as head coach of Syracuse.
Pasqualoni knows a little bit about football, and the man is one of
a dying breed – football coaches who can lead and coach almost any
discipline.
Was Pasqualoni perfect? No - but he performed admirably with the
brittle and dried-out clay he was asked to mold. Will Pasqualoni be
missed? He will certainly be missed as a capable and respected
football coach, but time will tell if he is missed on future Dallas
game days.
-
- Defending Dallas
-
- Everyone on Earth
understands the next Cowboys defensive coordinator will have his
work cut out for him when defending Dallas.
Everyone knows the next defensive coordinator will have to be
capable of establishing both a solid base system and being able to
flex that system towards the available talent on the roster.
Assumptions on draft day, in practice, and on game day happen.
Mental errors in practice and on game day happen.
Injuries in practice and on game day happen.
Better opposing schemes on game day happen.
All of these daily, unpredictable, moving parts command coaches in
today’s NFL to be ready for anything . . . or be fired attempting to
combat mental and physical enemies on all fronts.
I mentioned in my last article that the next defensive coordinator
should be someone who does not have a pressing urge to become a head
coach or become one again . . . as it can be an unwanted distraction
for everyone in the organization.
Players want and deserve a coach who can build and maintain a system
into which they can really sink their teeth for more than a few
years.
While it sounds impossible, it does in fact exist in Pittsburgh with
Dick LeBeau. He has been with that franchise for ages and his
infamous zone blitz system is well-taught and well-executed in most
games – almost regardless of available talent.
The Steelers have had good and bad years, and LeBeau continues to
survive, because his system is proven, it works, and it takes a
really dim defensive player to mess it up.
While LeBeau will certainly retire with the Steelers, there are
other available defensive coordinators who have plenty of proven
defensive expertise to deliver in Dallas – if they are so chosen and
if they choose to accept.
My short list includes a few but not all of the candidates
potentially being caddied around at Valley Ranch.
Eric “Man Genius” Mangini qualifies as a defensive coordinator who
has been a head coach, may want to be a head coach again, but may
ultimately be at his best when simply focusing on defense alone.
Mangini comes from good stock in New England (where he apparently
did not learn to repeat the cheat), almost got something going in
New York, and built up burnt offerings in Cleveland.
He might benefit from shelving any continued head coaching
aspirations in exchange for a deep, direct, and defensive focus for
America’s Team.
-
- Rob “The Other Son Of”
Ryan comes from one of the strongest defensive backgrounds in the
history of the NFL.
While Rob has the distinction of being the son of retired defensive
genius Buddy Ryan and the twin brother of Rex Ryan – current head
coach of the New York Jets – Rob has proven more than capable of
being a solid defensive coordinator.
Most NFL people believed he would get his own head coaching
opportunity after delivering the goods with Oakland, but it did not
happen, and he landed with Mangini in Cleveland.
-
- He is slated to interview
with Garrett sometime this week – somewhat to my surprise. His
father is – after all – hated throughout Cowboys Nation for the
“Bounty Bowls” among other things.
-
- It is hard to believe
Buddy is not giving Rob as much grief as possible building up to his
interview with the Cowboys. Maybe just maybe Buddy taught
both of his sons that a job is a job no matter where it is located
and the only way it becomes a great job is if you deliver the goods
better than the last person.
Rob could, indeed, end up being the perfect person for the job.
Dom Capers has always been a ready, steady, and solid defensive
mind. He took a detour from that well-established reputation as the
first head coach of the Houston Texans. His results were horrible,
and Bob McNair has never withheld resources to his GM, scouts,
coaches, or players.
Dom Capers – out of everyone on this short list of defensive
coordinators – seems like the only potential candidate who does not
suffer from a bruised ego. He seems to enjoy the singular challenge
of making a bad defense good, a good defense great, and a great
defense interstellar.
-
- Dom Capers could
accomplish great improvements with the Dallas defense – even with
the current players – but fans should not get excited about a coach
who has most likely not been given any permission by Green Bay to
even broach the subject with the Dallas Cowboys.
It would be still be quiet the caper to pry Dom away from the
Packers.
Mike Zimmer is as familiar to the Dallas fans and media as any other
coach in the NFL – candidate or not.
Zimmer might never have left Dallas if not for the unsettled status
of the coaching staff directly after Bill Parcells decided to
retire. Most believed – in fact – that Zimmer would have received
serious consideration to follow Parcells as the Cowboys next head
coach.
Zimmer accepted the defensive coordinator role on Bobby “Gutless”
Petrino’s ill-fated staff with the Atlanta Falcons for reasons that
I have long since forgotten. While Zimmer may certainly have taken
the job to get a fresh start, it was not the fresh start anyone in
Atlanta had anticipated.
-
- Zimmer joined the Bengals
in the same capacity and – with respect to events out of his control
– he has proven most flexible in getting everything a coach can get
out of a generally hard working defensive unit . . . that includes a
somewhat rejuvenated Roy “Horse Collar” Williams.
Zimmer – as with Dom Capers – should be expected to stay put in
Cincinnati with Marvin Lewis being renewed . . . but maybe he will
give Jerry another chance if the permission is granted and the
opportunity arises.
Dave Wannstedt is the dark horse of this bunch.
If everyone in the Metroplex knows Zimmer, then, everyone in the
international entity known as Cowboys Nation knows Wannstedt.
He is one of Jimmy Johnson’s best friends, and he was at Jimmy’s
side delivering the defensive goods at a great many of Johnson’s
coaching stops. Wannstedt – under Jimmy – proved to be a coordinator
who could follow instructions almost without fail.
Wannstedt received head coaching opportunities in part due to his
defensive acumen but in greater part due to Johnson’s praise of his
body of work to anyone who would listen – including the Chicago
Bears and Miami Dolphins.
Wannstedt – in my humble estimation – never outright pushed for head
coaching opportunities. Why would he be interested in leading roles
with the strong and reliable presence of Jimmy Johnson at his side?
Coaching roles with Johnson were practically a given and – outside
of Johnson’s drinking binges – Wannstedt always knew where he stood
with Jimmy and what the game plan was towards the players.
Wannstedt decided to give head coaching a shot in Chicago – with far
more power and control than he could handle – and the results spoke
to that end. Chicago fans will never forgive him for making poor
decisions that never should have been his to make. The McCaskey’s
loved him like a son . . . and he made decisions just like them,
too.
Wannstedt received the opportunity to rejoin the stability of a
Jimmy Johnson regime in Miami, and he delivered much better results
– with a team much better stocked and prepared than any he had in
Chicago. Once again, however, Wannstedt reached the limit of his
capabilities, and he resigned with agreement from former Dolphins
owner Wayne Huizenga.
-
- Wannstedt “took the
money” again and gave it his best shot with the University of
Pittsburgh. He delivered poor performances in general, and he is
once again back on the market.
Money – to a certain degree – can allow some people to overlook all
of the ridicule that is heaped upon them and their very high profile
jobs for which they were not prepared when they turn in year after
year of bad results.
Fans would expect Wannstedt to have learned his lesson as he
considers his next round of coaching opportunities. He has been
meeting with NFL teams who want him as their defensive coordinator –
which should indicate he is either wising up or taking what is
available in a still unpredictable economy.
Wannstedt could still be exactly what Dallas needs in their next
defensive coordinator – because they know better than to ever ask
anything more of him than that which he knows so well.
-
- While Wannstedt – on paper – may be
the least qualified of this group to run a 3-4 defense, he is just
as capable of adopting a 3-4 philosophy as an anyone and at least as
much as Zimmer.
It is the perfect situation. Wannstedt can do what he does best, and
the Cowboys can look out for his and their best interests.
-
- One way or another, defending Dallas
will be a daunting dilemma, and I am not even talking about the
offense.
-
Coveted Corner
-
- Free agency will start
sometime in the off-season, and it will be balanced against draft
day accomplishments.
-
- Struggling defensive
secondaries throughout the NFL got excited when they learned the
Oakland Raiders were not going to exercise their option on star
cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
-
- The reasoning for this
approach matters not – so long as Asomugha is not suffering from any
mental or physical issues, of course and as always.
-
- The Cowboys' defensive
secondary was an embarrassment for the better part of the season –
particularly in man coverage. NFL defenses cannot survive and
succeed on only one type of alignment. Their schemes must be
multi-faceted, and their player personnel must be equally flexible.
-
- Jason and Jerry have guaranteed
player movement this off-season – from cuts to trades to signings
and potential retirements – collective bargaining
agreement and salary cap notwithstanding.
-
- Asomugha is as close to a
"shut down corner" as their has been in some time. While he had no
interceptions in 2010, almost no one threw at him – with Asomugha
allowing just above 200 yards for the entire season.
-
- Asomugha will certainly
be on almost everyone's free agent wish list, but maybe his uniform
number provides a hint as to where his star could, should, and would
shine brightest.
-
- Tabbing Rob Ryan as the Cowboys' new
defensive coordinator may also put Asomugha's preferences for
defensive scheme and potential team to the test.
Change And
Success
-
- Wade Phillips was removed
from the Dallas Cowboys equation midway through the 2010 season –
with the hope that an elevated Jason Garrett could provide a spark.
-
- That spark needed to
deliver competitiveness at the minimum and a back door playoff spot
at the maximum.
-
- Garrett's delivered
competitiveness, almost delivered an 8-0 record, and were going to
miss the playoffs by at least two games even if they had gone 8-0.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record, and
that is just how competitive some divisions were this season.
-
- While fans always have
the right to be pleased with any kind of progress after early-season
blood-sucking results, they know better than to fly off the handle
with unrealistic expectations.
-
- Well, actually, fans do
not know better. Fans – like the current generation of teenagers
throughout the world – expect everything yesterday, no matter the
object of their desires.
-
-
-
- Fans see the owner and
coach of America's Team collectively make poor decisions in a season
that was supposed to be filled with magical success.
-
- Fans are furious. Fans
want public condemnation. Fans want retribution. Fans want heads to
roll . . . and they have the ticket-paying, team-funding audacity to
demand Wade's and Jerry's heads to be among those that are rolled.
-
- While Wade's head was
rolled right down the road – past armadillo carcasses – towards its
final destination in Houston, Jerry's head remained right where he
likes it: on top of his weary decision-making shoulders.
-
- Jason Garrett is a better
choice for some fans and a lesser choice for others. Some fans think
his lack of head coaching experience will be the team's undoing,
while others believe his fresh set of eyes and Jimmy Johnson-esque
structure is exactly what the Cowboys need for long-term sustained
success.
-
- While Garrett will certainly bring
about change – positive but maybe not with bleeding-edge immediate
success – he is still a partner to Jerry Jones in planning and
executing the future of the Dallas Cowboys.
Jason and Jerry are now the latest "two Bobs," and Cowboys fans are
still the employees complaining to them and pleading for satisfying
solutions.
Fans can be pleased in that Wade was merely a subordinate YES-man to
Jones who was only too happy to stick with what made him comfortable
and his players happy. Garrett is the opposite, and while he will
always show ultimate respect to Jerry, Garrett will tastefully tell
it like it is to avoid any possible misinterpretation.
Garrett understands that proper communication is the key to getting
what he needs and what Jerry wants – from coaches to player
personnel to the ultimate victory in the NFL.
Fans can be pleased that Garrett's efforts will be immediately and
totally focused towards long-term sustainable success. If immediate
is not so immediate, then, the long-term success that builds and
follows will be a great consolation prize to fans.
-
-
-
- Will Jason and Jerry make
functionally sweet music together like Jimmy and Jerry some 17 years
before them? Is it even fair to compare? No – but fans will do it
anyway, because they want instant gratification from people who look
like super heroes but are just as human and imperfect as anyone
else.
-
- Cowboys fans have the
right to be furious at the failed 2010 season. Cowboys fans have the
right to demand better from Jerry and his organization. Cowboys fans
– whether only watching on television, watching in the stands at
Cowboys Stadium, or watching from an expensive skybox – only have
the right to demand better.
-
- If fans do not want to
wait for Garrett to remake – or alter – the Cowboys in his cleaner,
leaner, and meaner vision, the only recourse they have is to boycott
the games . . . and not watch any games on network television (to
which all the biggest money is tied).
-
- Fans do not have the
nerve to take those steps – and one willing Cowboys fans does not
make a Cowboys Nation – so fans should accept their fate.
-
- Fans should simply take a
deep cleansing breath, relax, and allow Jason to see if he can do
more in partnership with Jerry than any of his predecessors. The
more Jason can accomplish, the longer he, his system, his players,
and his success can remain in place.
-
- Fans want change and
success to be one and the same – absolutely immediate – but fans
need change to deliver long-term success even more.
-
- Will Jason select the
right people to fill out his all-important coaching staff? One
mistake can mean another poor defensive performance.
-
- Will Jason and Jerry
select the right people in the upcoming NFL draft? Will Jason and
Jerry balance those draft selections against equally wise free agent
acquisitions? One mistake in the draft or free agency can mean a
season of pain for even the best of coaches.
-
- Will a completed
collective bargaining agreement allow and encourage any of this to
happen?
Depending on your perspective, it is good to be the King . . . but
will it be good for Garrett?
-
- We shall see. We always do.
|
