2012 Will Come Down to Coaching

[fanfromvirginia]

Whether or not the Cowboys win the division next season is going to primarily be a function of coaching. Coaching is of course always a big factor in success but this coming season in particular I expect it's going to be the primary factor in determining whether or not the Cowboys win the division, for a number of reasons:

• The division this year was close so no matter how many pieces the Cowboys are still missing and how imperfect their offseason acquisition of talent is, the Cowboys should have enough to have a shot at it if the coaching is good.
• The team has 20-25 million to play with and eight draft picks, including the 14th overall. This doesn't make them uniquely capable of filling every hold but it is enough resources to make several significant additions.
• There are very few key players not already under contract.
• Age can sometimes play a crucial role but with the likely release of Newman, Brooking, possibly James and Kosier, and the retirement of Kitna, this is going to be a significantly younger team. At the same time, with the presence of guys like Romo, Witten, Ware, Sensabaugh and Ratliff it isn't green either.
• Injuries could wind up being the deciding factor but that is unpredictable and always the case.

So what does this imply? For one, the answers to multiple unanswered questions are going to be critical and, therefore, very interesting to keep an eye on. Will JG's discipline and approach to team management and motivation pay off during the offseason? Will his game day decision making improve? Will his playcalling payoff? Will the new OL coach have an effect? How will the D respond to RR's system with a full offseason? How will RR respond to likely having a number of new faces on the D? Does RR's system have what it takes to create and maintain an above average D?

 

[DBOY3141]

Coaching will be fine.

We need better players. Especially on defense.

Parcells, Wade, and Ryan couldn't/have not yet made this defense good. Common factor is mainly the same players.

Get rid of the trash, just like the o-line last year.

Newman
James
Brooking
Ball
Coleman
Elam
Spears
Spencer

We are two years away from being a real contender. Resigning Spears/Hatcher/Coleman and letting Bowen walk was a mistake. Hopefully they start correcting those mistakes this off-season.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Until we don't win, at which point we won't have any players.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

Coaching will be fine.

We need better players. Especially on defense.

If coaching will be fine then we have a decent chance of winning the division. Because several of the players you mentioned in the list *will* be gone because we have the resources to replace them. Nobody, I mean nobody, on CZ is arguing to keep these characters. So my theory stands.

(I suppose there is a chance that JJ could decide to stand pat again in FA but I seriously doubt that.)

 

[fanfromvirginia]

Until we don't win, at which point we won't have any players.

Not sure what you mean here.

 

[Risen Star]

I can't say it's going to be about coaching. That's like assuming the other teams in the division aren't well coached.

Maybe the Giants will beat the Cowboys because they're just better.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

I can't say it's going to be about coaching. That's like assuming the other teams in the division aren't well coached.

Maybe the Giants will beat the Cowboys because they're just better.

Of course there are other possibilities. We don't how the other teams' offseasons will go. But none of the other teams are really that good. Of course the NYG are playing great now but they didn't this season and as good as they have been under Coughlin, they have been wildly inconsistent from year to year.

Part of my point, which I didn't clearly lay out, is that we are almost certainly going to have a lot of resources at our disposable to use on filling holes. Not all of them will get filled to anyone's satisfaction but most teams have glaring holes, even those that contend, and definitely every team in this division. Assuming we use most of those resources, we are going to fill enough holes that we have a real shot at the division.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Of course there are other possibilities. We don't how the other teams' offseasons will go. But none of the other teams are really that good. Of course the NYG are playing great now but they didn't this season and as good as they have been under Coughlin, they have been wildly inconsistent from year to year.

Part of my point, which I didn't clearly lay out, is that we are almost certainly going to have a lot of resources at our disposable to use on filling holes. Not all of them will get filled to anyone's satisfaction but most teams have glaring holes, even those that contend, and definitely every team in this division. Assuming we use most of those resources, we are going to fill enough holes that we have a real shot at the division.

So what you're saying is this: assuming we do a good job at identifying the right players to target, and assuming we get the players we target, and assuming all the players stay healthy, then it comes down to coaching. Can't argue with that.

 

[Idgit]

I'm going to agree with everybody else. This current roster has holes. We'll have to see how they're filled before we can say what the season is going to come down to. I don't expect we're going to blow our long-term cap position on an offseason surge.

I do expect and hope to see game-day coaching improve, though. Eliminate dead-ball penalties. Fewer completely blown coverages. Hopefully not too many obvious poor coaching decisions when it comes to two-minute offense or defense.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

So what you're saying is this: assuming we do a good job at identifying the right players to target, and assuming we get the players we target, and assuming all the players stay healthy, then it comes down to coaching. Can't argue with that.

No, that's not really what I'm saying. I'm saying that we have enough holes to fill and enough money to fill them that we are very likely to fill enough of them to have a shot, despite still being clearly flawed, at what is likely to be a flawed division.

We will almost certainly miss on some of the picks and almost certainly fill some groups of holes better than others. Which holes get filled better than others (my god, this post is full of 'that's what she said' opportunities) is unpredictable. Focus on the OL, for example, and the offense will be relatively improved and the defensive will be relatively unimproved and vice versa. But we are financially healthy and capable enough that both will be improved from a personnel perspective.

After all of the debates about JJ and JG and RR and OL v. D and any other combination of acronyms/abbreviations you want to measure against each other is over, at the end of the day this is a squad that just missed winning the division and is about to spend a fair amount of money on personnel upgrades.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

I'm going to agree with everybody else. This current roster has holes. We'll have to see how they're filled before we can say what the season is going to come down to. I don't expect we're going to blow our long-term cap position on an offseason surge.

I do expect and hope to see game-day coaching improve, though. Eliminate dead-ball penalties. Fewer completely blown coverages. Hopefully not too many obvious poor coaching decisions when it comes to two-minute offense or defense.

I am making the assumption that we will spend much/most of our available cap money. If that turns out to be untrue, then my argument falls apart.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Not sure what you mean here.

At 7-4 and the clear division leader, we had enough talent this year to do better than 8-8. But once we didn't, it became the players' fault.

If we spend resources on the OL and the D as we all expect and don't play to our new potential, you can bank on people claiming that the players weren't that good after all, or they need more time together, or something.

 

[Idgit]

I am making the assumption that we will spend much/most of our available cap money. If that turns out to be untrue, then my argument falls apart.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. I think we're building for the long term with Jason and the team's going to make one or two moderate signings at positions of need. Center, if there's one there who's a clear upgrade and not at a ridiculous price, and CB, because we have to replace a starter there. The rest will come through the draft and street FAs.

 

[Idgit]

At 7-4 and the clear division leader, we had enough talent this year to do better than 8-8. But once we didn't, it became the players' fault.

If we spend resources on the OL and the D as we all expect and don't play to our new potential, you can bank on people claiming that the players weren't that good after all, or they need more time together, or something.

Was the collapse this year considered the players' fault? I don't know about that. There were clear coaching mistakes in the AZ game. And plenty of people blamed Garrett earlier in the year for play calling in DET and, especially, in NE.

I think people who don't like Garrett want to believe that there's a conspiracy to not evaluate him fairly. But the reality is, he's rumored to be doing a great job during the week. He's made some obvious game-day mistakes. He has a decent roster with holes in the secondary and at pass rush and, to a lesser extent, in the interior OL. Otherwise, the jury's still out on how he'll perform and we just have to wait and see what moves we make in the offseason and how his game-day coaching does or doesn't improve.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Well, maybe the coaches have learned something. Maybe Garrett learned that it is NOT ok to ice your own kicker. Maybe Ryan has learned that you don't blitz EVERY SINGLE DOWN when you don't have the DBs to cover. Maybe Coach D has learned that you MUST teach the rules to the coverage teams AND instill discipline.

Maybe.

 

[visionary]

Until we don't win, at which point we won't have any players.

i think jerry will sign some in FA and we have the draft so talent will get upgraded

no, i think the mantra for the next year will be "there have been a lot of player changes so they havent had time to gel"

 

[big dog cowboy]

2012 will come down to Romo and his ability to stay healthy all year.

 

[Doomsday]

This off season moves will have as big of an impact on next season as anything.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

It'll come down to coaching, but also whether we upgrade our talent or not.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Oversimplification does not lead to a better understanding. What does 'it comes down to coaching' even mean?