A Contrast In Culture: The Futility Of The Rams May Illustrate What Is Right About The Cowboys

[waving monkey]

Coming off a 13-3 regular season and their second NFC East crown in three years, the Dallas Cowboys seem to have things headed in the right direction. Although they had their playoffs rudely ended twice by the Green Bay Packers, the returning talent and some exciting new rookies offer hope that the two decades plus of postseason futility may finally come to an end. It all comes down to whether Dallas can sustain things rather than just be a flash in the pan. How to maintain the recent success is the all-important question.

The answer to that, ironically, may be in a recent article by Michael Lombardi at the Ringer. The irony is because he writes about the continuing futility of the Los Angeles Rams. And in documenting what he believes has caused that long string of abject failure, culminating in the dismissal at the end of last season of head coach Jeff Fisher, he lists some attributes that look like the exact opposite of what is going on with the Cowboys.

A winning culture for all successful sports teams is grounded in a recognized mission and shared team goals. It places the good of the team above all else — winning matters more than personal goals or making money, and no one is bigger than the team. Everyone works toward one common purpose, guided by a leader with great knowledge.

\link/https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...t-is-right-about-dallas-cowboys-jason-garrett

 

[Silver Surfer]

The underlying reason he fails to mention: For some reason, in recent years Jerry's been willing to accept the staff's (Stephen/Jason/Will) peace offering that allows him (Jerry) to make the second round pick every year in exchange for his promise to stop meddling in the process of running the team.

 

[diefree666]

The underlying reason he fails to mention: For some reason, in recent years Jerry's been willing to accept the staff's (Stephen/Jason/Will) peace offering that allows him (Jerry) to make the second round pick every year in exchange for his promise to stop meddling in the process of running the team.

I really wish I could argue with that but I can't because it makes all too much sense when dealing with Jerry.

 

[waving monkey]

Have the drafts vastly improved ,hooray the peace offerings

 

[dallasdave]

Coming off a 13-3 regular season and their second NFC East crown in three years, the Dallas Cowboys seem to have things headed in the right direction. Although they had their playoffs rudely ended twice by the Green Bay Packers, the returning talent and some exciting new rookies offer hope that the two decades plus of postseason futility may finally come to an end. It all comes down to whether Dallas can sustain things rather than just be a flash in the pan. How to maintain the recent success is the all-important question.

The answer to that, ironically, may be in a recent article by Michael Lombardi at the Ringer. The irony is because he writes about the continuing futility of the Los Angeles Rams. And in documenting what he believes has caused that long string of abject failure, culminating in the dismissal at the end of last season of head coach Jeff Fisher, he lists some attributes that look like the exact opposite of what is going on with the Cowboys.

A winning culture for all successful sports teams is grounded in a recognized mission and shared team goals. It places the good of the team above all else — winning matters more than personal goals or making money, and no one is bigger than the team. Everyone works toward one common purpose, guided by a leader with great knowledge.

\link/https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...t-is-right-about-dallas-cowboys-jason-garrett

Cowboys are Winners

 

[Thefeelofcotton]

Every single word of what Lombardi wrote is true. I coach in high school, and I've been apart of two completely opposite coaching staffs and cultures.

One staff had a first year head coach who was too nice of a guy and let his OC step all over him, causing several verbal spats between myself and the OC because I wouldn't stand for it. We didn't win a single game that year, the whole staff was fired and I ended up where I am now.

This current staff I'm on now is the exact opposite. The head coach is a hall of famer (already inducted), has been with the school for 10 years, and makes the playoffs every single year. Last year, I was the OC of the freshman team and we went undefeated because we relayed the culture the HC has put in place. The whole staff does, this way the kids know what to expect as they move up.

If you have disarray and too many chiefs and not enough Indians, it will lead to failure. Look at the successful college and NFL teams. Clemson: Dabo Swinney has been the HC since the mid-2000s and he just won a national title. The steelers don't throw out coaches for a bad season or two, in fact they've had 3 coaches in the super bowl era: Chuck Knoll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. Stability and unity breed success at any level in any sport and in any career.

The Cowboys have adopted that (I think) finally and its starting to pay off big time. They've had a clear plan from Garrett's first year: get younger all around and more talented. If they can get someone with more talent, get someone who's more athletic. Athleticism is a big factor in football, and it is starting to show in the W-L column.

TLDR: Lombardi is 100% correct.

 

[AsthmaField]

They've had a clear plan from Garrett's first year: get younger all around and more talented.

Garrett wanted to get younger, hungrier players, like you said. Also, he wants guys who play a physical brand of football. Tough guys. He likes athletes that love to play football and are competitive. Self-motivated, hard workers who football is important to.

We have seen the change in the types of players the team bring in (drafts) and the resulting change in culture. The locker room dynamics of this Cowboys team is as good as I've ever seen in all my years of playing, watching football.

It has been an amazing transformation and it started with Garrett's vision and with the front office buying into it.

I couldn't be happier with the direction of the franchise.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I really wish I could argue with that but I can't because it makes all too much sense when dealing with Jerry.

Except it's completely not true.

The Manziel pick situation was Jerry and Stephen making a little joke that doofus Peter King took seriously.

It's a collective agreement...even on 2nd round picks like Gregory...when it comes to the draft. Jerry doesn't outweigh the rest of the coaching staff and the scouts. Garrett doesn't outweigh Jerry, Stephen, the assistant coaches and the scouts. The scouts don't outweight the coaches, Jerry and Stephen, etc.

But, if they can't come up with a majority decision...Jerry is the tie breaker.

Thankfully, we've come up with majority decisions lately, particularly with McClay in charge. THAT is probably McClay's best attribute so far. Some groups may not have liked the pick (i.e. Frederick), but enough groups have agreed on a pick that Jerry doesn't have to be the tie breaker.

And what this article and so many articles miss out is that the Rams dysfunction ties back to their coaching staffs inability to develop talent and the Cowboys' success being due to the coaching staff's ability to develop talent.

Greg Robinson went EXACTLY where every team in the league graded him to go. The same with Tavon Austin, Alec Ogletree, Janoris Jenkins, Brian Quick, etc.

It's just that Scott Linehan wasn't ready to be a HC at that time (and may never be a quality HC) and Jeff Fisher may have been the most overrated coach in the past 30 years in the league.






YR

 

[casmith07]

The underlying reason he fails to mention: For some reason, in recent years Jerry's been willing to accept the staff's (Stephen/Jason/Will) peace offering that allows him (Jerry) to make the second round pick every year in exchange for his promise to stop meddling in the process of running the team.

I wish I could make wildly speculative accusations without consequence. You work on the staff?

 

[casmith07]

Jeff Fisher may have been the most overrated coach in the past 30 years in the league.

You can say that again.

 

[Macnalty]

Except it's completely not true.

The Manziel pick situation was Jerry and Stephen making a little joke that doofus Peter King took seriously.

It's a collective agreement...even on 2nd round picks like Gregory...when it comes to the draft. Jerry doesn't outweigh the rest of the coaching staff and the scouts. Garrett doesn't outweigh Jerry, Stephen, the assistant coaches and the scouts. The scouts don't outweight the coaches, Jerry and Stephen, etc.

But, if they can't come up with a majority decision...Jerry is the tie breaker.

Thankfully, we've come up with majority decisions lately, particularly with McClay in charge. THAT is probably McClay's best attribute so far. Some groups may not have liked the pick (i.e. Frederick), but enough groups have agreed on a pick that Jerry doesn't have to be the tie breaker.

And what this article and so many articles miss out is that the Rams dysfunction ties back to their coaching staffs inability to develop talent and the Cowboys' success being due to the coaching staff's ability to develop talent.

Greg Robinson went EXACTLY where every team in the league graded him to go. The same with Tavon Austin, Alec Ogletree, Janoris Jenkins, Brian Quick, etc.

It's just that Scott Linehan wasn't ready to be a HC at that time (and may never be a quality HC) and Jeff Fisher may have been the most overrated coach in the past 30 years in the league.






YR

I agree the Rams have drafted talent just not developed them to their full potential. Goff may be the exception to the talent statement.

I am not that impressed with Garrett as a head coach as his time management skills are atrocious for someone who professes to be a student of the game. His ivy league pedigree is well disguised IMO. I do want to shed some light on our new defensive backfield coaches, they seem to be made of the right stuff, Joe Baker Secondary, Greg Jackson Safeties, Matt Eberflus Passing Game Coordinator/Linebackers. I feel confident if we provide them some talent we can translate that onto the field, where in years past I do not think that was the case. Lots to look forward to this year.

If McClay pulls another outstanding draft out this year we will really be a contender for the rest of the decade. Amazing how he has made the scouting aspect of the team a real strength. What a great feeling we are blessed with these last couple of years during the draft phase of the season, knowing we are heading in the right direction with most of our picks. Gregory, Jaylon Smith were gambles IMO but not risky behavior like in the past. Like you mentioned Travis Frederick is a shining example of the McClay era mentality along with some amazing lottery luck(Shazier getting picked by steelers and Jerry talked off the ledge about JManziel) culminating with Zack Martin falling into our lap.

Here are some examples that are starting to fade from memory before McClay and one during his early days.
Bobby Carpenter 18th overall pick (Bill Parcells owns this one IMO)
Marcus Spears 20th overall pick when Aaron Rodgers was still available and all we had was Bledsoe.
Kevin Burnett in the second round after Spears
Felix Jones 22nd overall pick
The entire "Special Teams draft"
Morris Claiborn 6th overall pick injury plagued career at Dallas and this picks hangs like an albatross around the neck of the front office.

After trading away our first rounders we got THESE winners.
Julius Jones and Jacob Rogers
Quincy Carter
Dwayne Goodrich
Jason Williams

 

[Alexander]

Oh. A Blogging the Boys article.

Let's see what we have here---

An article comparing Dallas to one of the more inept franchises in the NFL in order to make us feel better?

I don't know about this.

Setting the tone and maintaining consistency may be far more important than scheme and playcalling.

Uh. Okay?

by Tom Ryle@TomRyleBTB Jun 23, 2017, 11:00am CDT

This explains everything.

{flush}

 

[diefree666]

Except it's completely not true.

The Manziel pick situation was Jerry and Stephen making a little joke that doofus Peter King took seriously.

It's a collective agreement...even on 2nd round picks like Gregory...when it comes to the draft. Jerry doesn't outweigh the rest of the coaching staff and the scouts. Garrett doesn't outweigh Jerry, Stephen, the assistant coaches and the scouts. The scouts don't outweight the coaches, Jerry and Stephen, etc.

But, if they can't come up with a majority decision...Jerry is the tie breaker.

Thankfully, we've come up with majority decisions lately, particularly with McClay in charge. THAT is probably McClay's best attribute so far. Some groups may not have liked the pick (i.e. Frederick), but enough groups have agreed on a pick that Jerry doesn't have to be the tie breaker.

And what this article and so many articles miss out is that the Rams dysfunction ties back to their coaching staffs inability to develop talent and the Cowboys' success being due to the coaching staff's ability to develop talent.

Greg Robinson went EXACTLY where every team in the league graded him to go. The same with Tavon Austin, Alec Ogletree, Janoris Jenkins, Brian Quick, etc.

It's just that Scott Linehan wasn't ready to be a HC at that time (and may never be a quality HC) and Jeff Fisher may have been the most overrated coach in the past 30 years in the league.






YR

nobody but Jerry really knows as regards the Manziel situation so a great big raspberry as regards your so called superior knowledge.

And then WHY has it seemed at the very least that our second round pick for some years has been either a reach or a big gamble.

And for all your pontifications explain the Gregory pick. All your so called experts or at the very least HALF of them signing off on a guy that failed a test at THE COMBINE where EVERYONE knows you will be tested. And you are telling me MORE red flags did NOT come up during the interviews? Gregory was a clear old wildcaters gamble. Jaylon can be viewed as the same.

 

[Pants]

isn't Johnny (lack of) Football permanently out of football? didn't we "pass" on him? why is his name still coming up

In WILL we trust

 

[Yakuza Rich]

nobody but Jerry really knows as regards the Manziel situation so a great big raspberry as regards your so called superior knowledge.

Well that and Stephen, the coaches and the scouts. But, who are they to know the joke and Peter King to be oblivious to it.

And then WHY has it seemed at the very least that our second round pick for some years has been either a reach or a big gamble.

Was Chidobe Awuzie a reach or a gamble?

How about Demarcus Lawrence?

Or Gavin Escobar?

They took Randy Gregory because he was a top-5 talent in that draft and we needed a pass rush. Gregory exasperated the problem by testing positive for weed perhaps more than anybody ever has in the entire league.

Jaylon Smith was another top-5 talent that the team knew his brother well and had their doctor tell them that the knee injury should healed in a year.

And for all your pontifications explain the Gregory pick. All your so called experts or at the very least HALF of them signing off on a guy that failed a test at THE COMBINE where EVERYONE knows you will be tested. And you are telling me MORE red flags did NOT come up during the interviews? Gregory was a clear old wildcaters gamble. Jaylon can be viewed as the same.

A lot of players fail their drug test at the combine.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/bill-polian-nfl-draft-combine-rueben-foster

And they left out Calvin Johnson as one of many that fail the drug test at the combine.





YR

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I agree the Rams have drafted talent just not developed them to their full potential. Goff may be the exception to the talent statement.

I am not that impressed with Garrett as a head coach as his time management skills are atrocious for someone who professes to be a student of the game. His ivy league pedigree is well disguised IMO. I do want to shed some light on our new defensive backfield coaches, they seem to be made of the right stuff, Joe Baker Secondary, Greg Jackson Safeties, Matt Eberflus Passing Game Coordinator/Linebackers. I feel confident if we provide them some talent we can translate that onto the field, where in years past I do not think that was the case. Lots to look forward to this year.

If McClay pulls another outstanding draft out this year we will really be a contender for the rest of the decade. Amazing how he has made the scouting aspect of the team a real strength. What a great feeling we are blessed with these last couple of years during the draft phase of the season, knowing we are heading in the right direction with most of our picks. Gregory, Jaylon Smith were gambles IMO but not risky behavior like in the past. Like you mentioned Travis Frederick is a shining example of the McClay era mentality along with some amazing lottery luck(Shazier getting picked by steelers and Jerry talked off the ledge about JManziel) culminating with Zack Martin falling into our lap.

Here are some examples that are starting to fade from memory before McClay and one during his early days.
Bobby Carpenter 18th overall pick (Bill Parcells owns this one IMO)
Marcus Spears 20th overall pick when Aaron Rodgers was still available and all we had was Bledsoe.
Kevin Burnett in the second round after Spears
Felix Jones 22nd overall pick
The entire "Special Teams draft"
Morris Claiborn 6th overall pick injury plagued career at Dallas and this picks hangs like an albatross around the neck of the front office.

After trading away our first rounders we got THESE winners.
Julius Jones and Jacob Rogers
Quincy Carter
Dwayne Goodrich
Jason Williams

Burnett went on to have a great career with the Chargers and the Dolphins. Spears, Carpenter, Felix and Claiborne ALL went where the consensus grade was on them.

Spears didn't work out because he wasn't a 3-4 DE. He was more of a 4-3 DT. Burnett just took time to develop and turned into a very good player.

Between Wade being the HC and Garrett's early struggles with developing offensive talent as the O-Coordinator, we completely screwed the pooch on Felix. Something tells me that if the Patriots drafted Felix, he would have had an entirely better career.

Claiborne was meant to be a press man corner and had a very good rookie season in that system. Once we changed to more zone coverage he struggled. He was still rated as the #1 defensive player in that draft as a general consensus.

Parcells screwed the pooch on Julius Jones by making him bigger and losing his quickness and cutting ability. He was drafted *exactly* where the general consensus had him.

Quincy was over-drafted, but also look at who was coaching him (Campo).

Dwayne Goodrich went exactly where he was rated to go, but again...look who was coaching him.

I'll take for instance...Carl Peterson who used to be the GM of the KC Chiefs. When he had Marty Schottenheimer as his head coach, the Chiefs had 'great drafts.' When they switched to Gunther Cunningham, their drafts were no longer as good. Then he hired Dick Vermeil and the Chiefs were continually churning out excellent draft classes and then he hired Herm Edwards and their drafts were putrid.

Speaking of Schottenheimer, the Chargers could almost do no wrong in the draft with Marty coaching the team. Of course, AJ Smith's over-inflated self importance had to fire Marty because it was AJ's picks making the Chargers dominant...not Marty's coaching. And then he hired Norv Turner and just like everywhere else Norv coached, their draft classes went to the toilet.

But the obvious scenario is to look at Jerry and see that when Jimmy was the HC, the drafts were excellent and then they got poorer under Chan Gailey and even worse under Dave Campo, only to get better under Parcells, get worse under Wade and now become very good under Garrett (even before McClay came to the team).

It's why the GM position is the most overrated position in the NFL. It's not unimportant, but this entire idea that some Yoda like figure has this special 'eye for talent' couldn't be more of a myth if it was written back in the 16th Century.





YR

 

[visionary]

Every single word of what Lombardi wrote is true. I coach in high school, and I've been apart of two completely opposite coaching staffs and cultures.

One staff had a first year head coach who was too nice of a guy and let his OC step all over him, causing several verbal spats between myself and the OC because I wouldn't stand for it. We didn't win a single game that year, the whole staff was fired and I ended up where I am now.

This current staff I'm on now is the exact opposite. The head coach is a hall of famer (already inducted), has been with the school for 10 years, and makes the playoffs every single year. Last year, I was the OC of the freshman team and we went undefeated because we relayed the culture the HC has put in place. The whole staff does, this way the kids know what to expect as they move up.

If you have disarray and too many chiefs and not enough Indians, it will lead to failure. Look at the successful college and NFL teams. Clemson: Dabo Swinney has been the HC since the mid-2000s and he just won a national title. The steelers don't throw out coaches for a bad season or two, in fact they've had 3 coaches in the super bowl era: Chuck Knoll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. Stability and unity breed success at any level in any sport and in any career.

The Cowboys have adopted that (I think) finally and its starting to pay off big time. They've had a clear plan from Garrett's first year: get younger all around and more talented. If they can get someone with more talent, get someone who's more athletic. Athleticism is a big factor in football, and it is starting to show in the W-L column.

TLDR: Lombardi is 100% correct.

I think you have it exactly backwards

Consistent mediocrity is still mediocrity

It is not, as you assert, that long tenured coaches somehow "become successful", it is rather that good coaches have success and THEREFORE have long tenures

Building team culture however does not take 5-10 years, great coaches come in and turn things around within a year or 2.

 

[plasticman]

This article is right on and many of his points are exactly what I have been saying for years.

All the great coaches will tell you exactly how they intend to win before their teams even take the field.

Jason has preached consistency, sticking with the plan, the right kind of guys, competition, and draft value from the very beginning.

What has been holding him back has been Jerry Jones occasionally remembering that he is Jerry Jones and certain moves like Hardy demonstrate his potential to disrupt. However, they are subsiding.

 

[Silver Surfer]

I wish I could make wildly speculative accusations without consequence. You work on the staff?

It's easy. Why limit yourself? Everybody does it. Here, let me show you: Jerry colluded with the Russians.

 

[SlammedZero]

I think there will always be picks in every draft that will not work out. It's a lottery, really.

As far as Garrett, I go back and forth on him but I will say I am glad Jerry is at least trying to have patience with consistency. Look around the league at these franchises that fire and hire coaches every couple seasons and you can clearly see how well they're doing. I get it's a Win Now League, but, I think consistency can be key. It helps build a team, an energy, and impliments a culture. Garrett was given the left overs from Wade, and even Parcells, to work with at the beginning of his tenure. Now he is finally assembling his cast, his message, and his culture and we should hopefully see some good results. Two playoff trips in the last 3 seasons isn't bad. Future is looking bright folks!

Also, as painful a season it was to watch in 2015, I think it was a blessing in disguise. Look at what it netted us in terms of players.