News: DMN: Sturm: How The Cowboys Were Built

[CATCH17]

I don't know if either player was really overpaid. Carter is worth the 4.5 million/year cap hit so long as he stays healthy for a team like the bucs. He isn't a superstar but he does alright in the passing game.

Harris is likely overpaid by some, but he is fantastic on special teams. He is just never going to be a full time offensive player.

I'm glad we didn't sign those guys, but they will certainly bring value to their clubs. I'm mostly worried about how we are going to replace Harris, but I think McCray will help with that.

Agreed, but i'm ready to see some new blood in the return game.

We'll definitely miss him on punt and kick coverage but we could potentially hit more big plays in the return game.

 

[erod]

I don't know if either player was really overpaid. Carter is worth the 4.5 million/year cap hit so long as he stays healthy for a team like the bucs. He isn't a superstar but he does alright in the passing game.

Harris is likely overpaid by some, but he is fantastic on special teams. He is just never going to be a full time offensive player.

I'm glad we didn't sign those guys, but they will certainly bring value to their clubs. I'm mostly worried about how we are going to replace Harris, but I think McCray will help with that.

Carter doesn't love football. You could tell. He played hard in a contract year, but now that he's paid, he'll lay down. Just watch.

McCray will improve on Harris coverage wise, but yeah, Dallas needs to find a productive punt returner in this camp, and it better not be Beasley, Dunbar, or Dez.

 

[Crown Royal]

Agreed, but i'm ready to see some new blood in the return game.

We'll definitely miss him on punt and kick coverage but we could potentially hit more big plays in the return game.

Bisaccia had a pretty bad year last season. The blocking units were pretty rough and we had 1-2 unforgivable ST gaffes. I want to see our ST improve this season.

 

[Crown Royal]

Carter doesn't love football. You could tell. He played hard in a contract year, but now that he's paid, he'll lay down. Just watch.

McCray will improve on Harris coverage wise, but yeah, Dallas needs to find a productive punt returner in this camp, and it better not be Beasley, Dunbar, or Dez.

I agree on Carter. I'm more concerned about his injury than anything - if I could be guaranteed to get him for 14-16 games at that price I'd probably pay it. Having Lee, McClain, HItchens, Carter and the new blood as your LB depth is pretty solid. I still remember the days of having to find an Ernie Sims to come and play.

I think Harris is a fantastic ST player. On all aspects. We will be fine on coverage but I loved his returns.

THAT BEING SAID maybe we will start taking some knees on kick return when it's near the back of the end zone lol.

 

[erod]

THAT BEING SAID maybe we will start taking some knees on kick return when it's near the back of the end zone lol.

Bingo. Drove me nuts, some of the balls he brought out.

 

[Stash]

The idea was that our offense was pretty good and getting stronger, we just needed someone to come in and give us that over-the-edge attack on defense mentality. What I remember, though, is the very first game Phillips coached where the offense completely out performed the defense. That was kind of a theme throughout his tenure. That and not churning the roster very well.

It would have been great if somehow Dallas could have just 'ported over' the entire staff that got fired in San Diego. With Turner at OC and Phillips the DC. Schottenheimer was smart enough to know his role as walk around coach, hiring good coordinators to work with him.

Garrett is now thankfully in that same role, where he functions best. And it's working out great for everyone.

 

[Matts4313]

7 of the 22 starters on O and D are not from Garrett's era which is still a big percentage. Having said that I think Garrett's drafting has been really good. I could see him being a GM someday which IMO he would be great at.

7? If you consider the 2010 class developed under Garrett (they were, 6 months with one guy, 5 years with the other) then please name them.

 

[Crown Royal]

It would have been great if somehow Dallas could have just 'ported over' the entire staff that got fired in San Diego. With Turner at OC and Phillips the DC. Schottenheimer was smart enough to know his role as walk around coach, hiring good coordinators to work with him.

Garrett is now thankfully in that same role, where he functions best. And it's working out great for everyone.

God that staff was good. That team was good. If there is a team outside of the Cowboys I would have been happy to see win a superbowl it may be those San Diego teams.

 

[Crown Royal]

Garrett, unlike Wade (and lots of other poor managers) realize that you cannot truly succeed and improve people who aren't willing or able. You can't make someone better who doesn't have both the desire AND the talent, at least not significantly or permanently. No amount of coaching can make Carter live up to his physical potential. No amount of coaching will make Mike Jenkins shoulder better or make him battle hardened. No pep talks or film room or yelling at or encouraging is going to make Ratliff permanently happy.

Sometimes it's the person, sometimes it's just a bad match. A guy like Garrett decides that instead of trying to make due with what he has, that over time he is going to bring in guys that match his vision, personality, and can be coached to their best ability, but are internally motivated to succeed. It means he can focus on the things that are important like game planning, tactics, strategy, etc.

I have worked with some really talented people, but as soon as they, as managers, start talking about their jobs as teachers and how they are going to improve the team by 'teaching them", I ask them to look at who they have. If you are going to spend all your time trying to fix people who just don't fit, you will fail. Garrett gets that so much better than Wade ever did, and in a way, better than Parcells even.

 

[Wolfpack]

I always saw it as wanting to get a 3-4 defensive coordinator and essentially giving Phillips the head coach title in name only. Jones knew that he could effectively cut the duties in half between Phillips on defense and Garrett on offense. And Phillips - being an easy going enough guy desperate for another head coaching job - would be fine with going along with that structure.

The thing that drove me crazy as much as anything else at that time was the amount of 'status quo' that was happening. Other than Jerry chasing infamous 'names' like Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson, the team seemed to do little in terms of roster shuffling and beating the bushes with tryouts.

I still think that Jerry saw himself as HC during that time period.

 

[viman96]

7? If you consider the 2010 class developed under Garrett (they were, 6 months with one guy, 5 years with the other) then please name them.

Garrett was not the HC in 2010 so he does not get "credit" for drafting players from that year.

Here is your 7 of 22 starters on O and D

 

[xwalker]

To be fair to Wade... He really didn't get to hire his own staff so it's Jerry's fault more than Wade.

Until last year, we hadn't seen a team in Dallas play as good as his 2007 and 2009 teams did.


Under Garrett, until last year, all we did was invent ways to lose with sloppy sloppy football.

The #1 job of the Head Coach is to keep the team motivated and playing hard. Wade failed miserably in that role. You can't blame that on the assistants.

 

[Stash]

I still think that Jerry saw himself as HC during that time period.

And Wade let him!

 

[erod]

Sturm needs to learn the art of brevity.

And yes, that's coming from me of all people.

 

[jday]

Phillips is a good DC, just like Marinelli. However, being a good coordinator and being a good HC are not necessarily linked, and definitely not in those two example cases.

It is an interesting case study, because I am honestly starting to think that Garrett is a much better Head Coach than he was an offensive coordinator. Of course, the outcome of this season will certainly go a long way to solidify that into a belief.

 

[Crown Royal]

It is an interesting case study, because I am honestly starting to think that Garrett is a much better Head Coach than he was an offensive coordinator. Of course, the outcome of this season will certainly go a long way to solidify that into a belief.

They truly are completely different skill sets. And I agree, I like Garrett as a HC far more than I like him as an OC.

 

[Crown Royal]

BTW - IF garrett does continue to be a good HC

then 100% credit to Jerry Jones for recognizing that talent AND nurturing it. That's one that you can never point at Stephen and say it wasn't really Jerry.

 

[jrumann59]

Bisaccia had a pretty bad year last season. The blocking units were pretty rough and we had 1-2 unforgivable ST gaffes. I want to see our ST improve this season.

I think injuries and cap issues first manifests itself on special teams. Cap issues the more dire the more of the team it affects. hopefully this year we have our cap mostly squared away that the overall talent on the roster translates to better ST.

 

[skinsscalper]

I don't know if either player was really overpaid. Carter is worth the 4.5 million/year cap hit so long as he stays healthy for a team like the bucs. He isn't a superstar but he does alright in the passing game.

Harris is likely overpaid by some, but he is fantastic on special teams. He is just never going to be a full time offensive player.

I'm glad we didn't sign those guys, but they will certainly bring value to their clubs. I'm mostly worried about how we are going to replace Harris, but I think McCray will help with that.

I'm concerned, also, but I won't let it could what I saw last year, either. Harris was no longer the return man that he used to be, He was tentative in his decision making and not once did he hit the seam last year like he had in years past. He looked, to me, like he was running scared from the moment he caught the ball. What's really weird about that is that he didn't have the same cautious nature as a gunner. He still covered kicks like a bad motha-shutyomouth. That's where I'm concerned about replacing him (the coverage game). His return game, quite frankly, didn't have it anymore and it was time to see something different, IMHO.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The #1 job of the Head Coach is to keep the team motivated and playing hard. Wade failed miserably in that role. You can't blame that on the assistants.

On top of that, it seems as though the coaching staff had far too much pull when it came to drafts during the Wade Phillips era. The 3rd pick was a Phillips' "pet cat". The 4th round pick Brewster was a Houck "pet cat".

And then to rub salt in the wounds I remember someone from the media asking Phillips about the blown pick on Williams and Phillips had the gall to use some retort to the effect of "Oh well easy come easy go" when it came to draft picks.