We have yet to play a regular season NFL game under the leadership of new HC Mike McCarthy, but his first offseason so far has been nothing short of outstanding. There have been numerous threads here about the great draft we had and the quality of players acquired, and how exciting this new infusion of talent and hope the MM has brought, and I agree.
But I want to focus on something I think is underrated in what has happened this offseason- a message MM has been sending that has the potential to improve the culture of our team:
- A player’s talent is more important than systems and schemes- not the other way around. Big Mike has said repeatedly that he measures players first by talent as opposed to their ability to align with the schemes we run. Under Garrett, too often it seemed we were drafting players whose scheme “fit” was more important than raw football talent and athletic ability.
- No one on this team is guaranteed anything. Another refreshing change. Let me make something clear- I like Dak and I believe he is too often unfairly bashed by some of our fans here. I believe Dak will be signed to a long term deal and I’m good with that. BUT....I was glad to see the Andy Dalton signing because it sends a message to every player on this team. No one is more important than the team as a whole. And everyone must earn their stripes.
During the Romo years under Garrett, I was bothered by how much this team protected Romo and never really put any pressure on him to deliver more. Despite Romo’s all too often lack of results when the season was on the line, there never seemed to be any difficulty or hesitancy in re-signing him or even hinting that someone else could be developed or brought in to challenge him. I liked Romo and respected him. But I felt like Jerry and Garrett coddled him.
Both Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman faced having backups that breathed down their collars for playing time and there’s little doubt it made them better.
Roger had Craig Morton and later Danny White on the roster when he played, and he said many times those guys made him better. Troy had Steve Walsh followed by Steve Buerlein to deal with. I realize in the cap era it’s more difficult to do this, but I see the Dalton signing as a good thing for Dak and this team. I know he wasn’t signed “to be the starter”, but it does send the right message.
I like what Big Mike’s leadership has brought to this team so far. It’s way too early to declare him a success before we’ve even had a single game. But the message being sent about talent and competition is a good start to a new era.
I agree with the philosophy of competition.. In fact, Roger Staubach specifically stated that what often drove him was the realization that Danny White was a legitimate talent at QB. He was accurate and extremely competitive like Roger.
By the end of the 82 season Joe Montana was the leader in all time passing rating. Roger Staubach was #2. Danny White was #3.
In other words, Danny White was good enough to be considered legitimate competition.
in my opinion, as it applies to current circumstances, this is where there is a problem. I don't believe Andy Dalton can be considered legitimate competition. I think he has physically bottomed out as an NFL QB. I think his competitive drive has also been effected. I really hope the Cowboys can avoid testing this opinion at some point in the upcoming season, particularly the beginning.
As far as the concept of gameplanning to a player's strength instead of a set philosophy, that would be the complete opposite of Tom Landry, who believed in his players adhering to his specific strategy, sometimes to the detriment of their physical abilities. He did this for the sake of continuity and because it gave lesser talented players the ability to succeed.
Landry committed to his scheme and pushed compliance to the point that there are dark stories. one of them involves the NFC championship game in the 1972 season
The main issue is there is always the possibility of injury.
Suppose you taylor your offense to the specific style of a RB. Let's say he is injured. Now what? Everything you have been doing all season with the running game has to be modified to fit the particular style of the new RB.
When you change a scheme for a particular player, your team no longer has the ability to change peices without disrupting the productivity of the entire offense. In our example, the offensive line would have to change their blocking style, the playcalling would be effected, overall consistency becomes a problem.
The reason that the Cowboys could start two undrafted rookie free agent DB's in the 1981 season and set a franchise record for INT's was because his scheme had the ability to protect them. The reason two rookies can combine for 20 INT's in a single system isn't because 30 NFL teams were dumb enough to pass up elite talent........17 times.....the number of rounds in those days. They adhered to Landry's system.
It is also how Landry was able to get to the Super Bowl with 12 contributing rookies in the first year of a massive rebuilding process.
I think the problem for the Cowboys these last seasons wasn't because they didn't scheme to talented players, it was because their system sucked. Garrett was constantly trying to build a Coryell type offense with players that didn't belong in that scheme. The Cowboys have been drafting well on paper but not winning because there is no consistent system. Its as if three different people are trying to build the team their way.
I don't know, perhaps the times have changed. Perhaps the successful teams are able to integrate both ideas into having a primary but flexible scheme with the ability to adjust quickly and effectively
