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

[LocimusPrime]

abstemious

One of those words describes me precisely. The other.... not so much.

Ur the smartest Herald

 

[dallasdave]

Ur the smartest Herald

 

[Silver Surfer]

Ur the smartest Herald

I appreciate the sentiment, but half the time I can't even remember where I put my keys.

 

[dallasdave]

I appreciate the sentiment, but half the time I can't even remember where I put my keys.

That's all of us

 

[plasticman]

Jim Harbaugh with the 'Niners.[/QUOT

Jim Harbaugh with the 'Niners.

Jim Harbaugh didn't instill a culture of team first. If he had then that culture would have still been there after he left.

The 49er drafts were awful while Harbaugh was there. I don't know his level of influence but nothing was built in any case.

Harbaugh took an inherited team deep into the playoffs. He was an example of the flash in the pan coordinator. The offense was the same one Singletary had, they replaced a predictable quarterback with an enigma who became innefective once DC's figured him out.

Harbaugh, a "contracter", then left when he wanted more authority.

In the end, what did Harbaugh accomplish? Where are they now?

 

[Macnalty]

The vast majority of players in the draft will have very similar grades throughout every team in the league.

It's not like Bobby Carpenter was projected to go in the 4th round (or even the 2nd round). Had McClay been a part of the team back then, we would have likely drafted Carpenter. The same goes for Marcus Spears, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick (who was drafted prior to McClay), etc.

The difference is the coaching. The ingredients are the same, but the coaching is different. Now, with somebody like Garrett who comes from an offensive background and has done a great job of developing the offense as a HC, that may force us to draft more defensive players because the offense is in good shape. But a defensive minded coach that develops a good defense like Mike Zimmer may end up directing their draft towards offensive players. But those players are likely to be drafted right about where the rest of the league has them graded upon.

Furthermore, our top players on this team are mostly pre-McClay players:

Dez
Beasley
T-Will
Witten
Tyron
Leary (I know he's gone, but he's been the starting guard since 2013)
Fred
Free (again, I know he's retired)
Sean Lee
T. Crawford
Jeff Heath
Scandrick

Even with Elliott we still had the most productive NFL RB with Murray, who came here prior to McClay. And Dak just replaced Romo who came here in 2003 (and supposedly Dak was wanted more by Garrett than by McClay).

Nobody in this league really has this magic 'eye' for talent.

Wade is one of the league's best X's and O's coaches, but he's terrible at developing talent. When he inherited Parcells' developed talent, he was able to take the X's and O's and make for a very good team. But as years went by, Wade's inability to consistently develop talent came back to haunt us





YR

The ingredients are not the same, it is not that simple, yes the talent level may be graded similar but there are vast differences in players football desires. This small nuance has a huge impact on the team's ability to extract the most from each player in a team situation. Great/good coaches have the gift of extracting that desire consistently and on demand. I agree on the no magic eye for talent theory, but maybe a intuitive advantage of players viability, I think of it as the difference between a good gambler and a professional gambler. I never meant this discussion to put McClay on a pedestal espousing his accolades, your opinion is that the coaches are the difference makers(2017 DB's coaches are exceptional), I see McClay as part of the difference more than most. A "magic" coach does not exist(Jimmy you were so close except for that ego) we should be able to work around with our deficiencies and not be out coached in our division(i.e. Giants). My history is stigmatized with talent who played for the love of the game, that is becoming less and less a trait that is quantifiable these days(Jason Witten/Sean Lee not included). Still there is only one goal, win in the playoffs, claw and fight to get to the Superbowl for a chance in the one and done playoff format that defines the NFL. May we continue to have this discussion for many more seasons with McClay managing the grocery list like he has of late and these opinions populating the zone.
I cannot turn a blind eye to Garrett and some of his weaknesses they are too bold. No one would say we have extracted the most we could get out of Dez, his ability to run decisive routes after being in the league 7 years is pathetic. How has the QB coach held onto his job, Wade Wilson some of us noticed? His development and coaching skills should've come under a microscope, a couple of years ago when Romo went down(Brad Johnson, Weeden,McGee) and the talent level he was fostering was exposed along with time wasted. Good Head coaches/GM fix those issues quickly and move forward(note Bill O'Brien Houston and Brock O). The wonderful thing about this discussion is that it can only take place about a team that is in a very good place, we are in nirvana compared to most teams in the league these last five years.
A poor head coach is difficult to detect on a poor ingredient team and we have plenty to diagnose with the cowboys. I can live with Red as long as he is learning, this time management issue of his makes me cringe along with his lack of killer instinct which keeps opponents viable, these may be traits he cannot accomplish. You save injuries and energy so I am curious why it is not more important unless those issues are not part of his overall game strategy.
In the meantime, I am nervous about the LG position and the explanations that the front office is marketing.

 

[DFWJC]

Pugs are so cute! Even at parties!

(In all seriousness, your post is dead-on, Silver!)

 

[DFWJC]

Here's a fun fact:

"Facetious" is one of two words in the English language that contains all five vowels in alphabetical order.

 

[haleyrules]