Cowboys hire OL Coach Paul Alexander

[Manwiththeplan]

Let that sink in...

And during that span, only 6 picks out of a possible 53 picks in rounds 1-3 have been spent on the o-line. Those picks were Eric Steinback (2003), Andre Whitworth (2006), Andre Smith (2009), Kevin Zeitler (2012), Cederic Ogbuehi (2015) and Jake Fisher (2015). The last two were disappointments, but the first four had very good careers.

And during that time, 5 picks out of the same 53 were spent on RBs. Chris Perry (2004) and Kenny Irons (2007) just weren't good players. Giovanni Bernard (2013) and Jeremy Hill (2014), had some success, which includes the #6 ranking you are alluding to and a few others that are in the top 15. So I would not just assume the struggles running the football are due to their o-line coach.

And fwiw, since 2009, because that's as far back as NFL.com goes, they have been in the top 10 in sacks allowed, 6 times. We have only cracked it, 4 times.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

LOL. They were the best OL in the entire league in 2016 and I still read this nonsense.

In all fairness, he has turned Washington's o-line into juggernaut's, so Callahan must be the reason we were so good up front.

 

[Seth5545]

"Alexander, who will turn 58 on Feb. 12, has coached in Cincinnati since 1994. Going into 2017, the Bengals ranked in the NFL's top 10 for fewest sacks allowed in five of the previous seven seasons. Alexander's lines led the way for a 1,000-yard rusher 14 times for the Bengals."

He seems very accomplished to me.

Your talking common sense, stop it.

 

[cern]

the only question is can he be effective coaching a 90's offense preferred by the cowboys hc.

 

[Keithfansince5]

LOL. They were the best OL in the entire league in 2016 and I still read this nonsense.

I'm sorry, this is 2018 and we just had 2017 season and they were NOT the best OL. So, what did I miss?

 

[Seth5545]

"Alexander, who will turn 58 on Feb. 12, has coached in Cincinnati since 1994. Going into 2017, the Bengals ranked in the NFL's top 10 for fewest sacks allowed in five of the previous seven seasons. Alexander's lines led the way for a 1,000-yard rusher 14 times for the Bengals."

He seems very accomplished to me.

Your talking common sense, stop it.

 

[cowboyec]

I have no issues with the hire, probably an upgrade from this guy...

He has that look...

Damn right.....you can bet atlanta won't happen again.

 

[Risen Star]

I'm sorry, this is 2018 and we just had 2017 season and they were NOT the best OL. So, what did I miss?

You missed the part where he said the offensive line has been declining since Callahan left.

Not true. Fan of Keith.

 

[Redball Express]

Colace can soften things up for you!

Eat alot of apples, too.

 

[blueblood70]

In all fairness, he has turned Washington's o-line into juggernaut's, so Callahan must be the reason we were so good up front.

I like BC but it was overblown what he meant to this line as 2014 yes Murray was great and he got better leading up to that but the drop off in 15 was romo not the line..2016 the line was about the same as 14 really great Zeke tore the league up without BIll C and this year was tough do to transition of two new postions in LG AND RT a bit of amess but we still ran pretty well sans the suspension of zeke and Smits injury..

Bill C didnt look good this year but they were playing with mostly backups most of the year so point is it takes good player and coaches to be better but if i had to choose you take the talent..

 

[Keithfansince5]

You missed the part where he said the offensive line has been declining since Callahan left.

Not true. Fan of Keith.

Well, I am the one who said it so I didn't miss anything. The OL has declined since Callahan left. Our running game especially has.

 

[Crown Royal]

Sounds good to me. Known, well versed ZBS guy. I dunno what Pollack's background was exactly, but we definitely incorporated more man and power looks after Callahan left and he took over. I'm sure that's as much to do with Linehan as anything else, but I really miss the zone stretch. Maybe this will bring it back.

 

[Risen Star]

Well, I am the one who said it so I didn't miss anything. The OL has declined since Callahan left. Our running game especially has.

Well then you shouldn't have missed what you said and you'd be wrong every time you said it. In 2016 a league rookie won the rushing title while sitting the last game and a half of the season. They kept a rookie QB clean the entire season. They were dominant. They were the best in the entire league.

There is just zero truth to the notion that the OL had been in a state of decline since the overrated Bill Callahan left.

 

[Kevinicus]

So, what draft picks were exchanged in this trade? Did we move up or down?

 

[Reality]

I'm not saying this is a bad hire, but I'm tired of raiding teams that have no winning histories (at lease not recently) for players and staff members. Browns, Lions, Bengals .. there are a lot of other teams out there with coaches and players that have some post-season success that we should at least consider hiring. If nothing else, go get some college coaches from highly successful college football programs.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I'm not saying this is a bad hire, but I'm tired of raiding teams that have no winning histories (at lease not recently) for players and staff members. Browns, Lions, Bengals .. there are a lot of other teams out there with coaches and players that have some post-season success that we should at least consider hiring. If nothing else, go get some college coaches from highly successful college football programs.

No coach is leaving a winning organization to come here, while Garrett is on the hot seat. If we rebound next year and were to make it to a conference championship, Garrett would likely get extended and we could attract better assistant coaches. However, given that this staff could get cleared out after the season, that isn't happening.

 

[doomgazer]

I'm not saying this is a bad hire, but I'm tired of raiding teams that have no winning histories (at lease not recently) for players and staff members. Browns, Lions, Bengals .. there are a lot of other teams out there with coaches and players that have some post-season success that we should at least consider hiring. If nothing else, go get some college coaches from highly successful college football programs.

To be fair - it has to work both ways. "Successful" coaches actually have to WANT to come here. Consensus (at least here) seems to be that this is Garrett's make or break year. Would you want to leave a stable job to come work for a regime that may not be in place after 2018?

 

[Idgit]

If the Bengals thought he was their answer..

they would have retained him.

This hire is a headscratcher.

I realize few coaches want to coach here unless Jerrah overpays.

Good coaches move from one team to another all the time. 23 years is a long stint by any standard, much less in the NFL. This is about the least head-scratching a move as we're likely to see with this coaching staff this offseason. It may not be exciting, but they got an established veteran zone blocking coach to plug into a position where the heir-apparent to their established veteran zone blocking guy didn't work out. We could do much worse here.

 

[cowboyec]

among other OL coaches...he is regarded as one of the best.

 

[Idgit]

Colace can soften things up for you!

I prefer them hard. It's a daily reminder to never get too comfortable.