Video: Fish: Aikman as GM? A new NFL angle for Cowboys legend

[Bullflop]

I seriously expect Troy is at his best when kept right where he is! To my thinking, he's better suited as a commentator!
Even David LeFleur agrees! Aside from that, he has a comfy job and is very well paid, with minimal time spent.

 

[jterrell]

I really like McClay, but his job is player evaluation......ie from my perspective he really seems to be a Director of Scouting and Player Personnel, and he is good at it.

I asked this question before, because I see a GM as the guy who picks the coaches. The guy who develops the plan to get to the Superbowl. The guy who works with the cap specialist, and lawyers on contracts. The GM is the guy who watches a game and sees a need and a player, and has the contacts to make a deal with any other team. The GM should be the one who holds all accountable, and lets the owner know where the team is on its progression to the SB, or if they need to blow it up. The GM is the one who has the vision and has to be able to work with everyone -- Coaches, Owners, Players, Money guys (cap specialist), and other GM's to get his team to the top. He is the guy who is accountable for any of the failures -- and the reason that when Jerry fails at the GM role, we get 25 years of mediocrity. Because the GM is responsible and accountable, he needs the power to put into place the pieces needed to complete the mission. Jerry can't fire himself, and won't hold himself responsible. Jerry is an awesome owner, who sucks as a GM.

McClay is a Jones type GM without the title. Not necessarily a legit GM if I were the owner.

Troy would need to be a different GM type for sure.

The good move SF made was the Shanahan hire which preceded the Lynch hire.
Since then the talent acquisition has been questionable at best with the primary move being the trade for Jimmy G.
The drafts have been spotty but you did find elite talent in Kittle/Bosa to balance some massive busts of far beyond Taco caliber.
All in all no one should be all that eager to repeat the Lynch hire or the Mayock hire.

The GM job is to be have excellent people in all those roles below them and to manage them. Virtually none of those people talk to broadcasters.
Broadcasters sit down with a couple players and coaches then go from there.
It's a totally different job.

 

[jterrell]

I seriously expect Troy is at his best when kept right where he is! To my thinking, he's better suited as a commentator!
Even David LeFleur agrees! Aside from that, he has a comfy job and is very well paid, with minimal time spent.

He also lives in California and has for years.
He sold his Normandy Ln home in Highland Park long ago. --one of the most exclusive streets in Dallas.

He is probably quite happy at 7.5+M a year to be a broadcaster with additional residual income from radio and TV appearances year round.

But if he wants the challenge which he hasn't ruled out he really needs to do it outside the bright lights of Dallas. Take on one of the LA teams.

 

[Dalmations202]

The good move SF made was the Shanahan hire which preceded the Lynch hire.
Since then the talent acquisition has been questionable at best with the primary move being the trade for Jimmy G.
The drafts have been spotty but you did find elite talent in Kittle/Bosa to balance some massive busts of far beyond Taco caliber.
All in all no one should be all that eager to repeat the Lynch hire or the Mayock hire.

The GM job is to be have excellent people in all those roles below them and to manage them. Virtually none of those people talk to broadcasters.
Broadcasters sit down with a couple players and coaches then go from there.
It's a totally different job.

Yes, the GM job is to have excellent people in all those positions, but Troy is more than a broadcaster. He is three time champ, who is in the hall of fame.
Does that mean he would be a good GM? Nope, but it also doesn't mean he wouldn't be a Great GM.
If you knew he was a GREAT GM, would that make him an even good Jerry GM? Nope, because he might take too much spotlight, or he might insult the way Jerry wants things done, or he might not be able to handle the position.

What constitutes a good GM, mainly depends on what the owner is wanting. Since Jerry can't fire his current GM or hold him accountable -- then the mediocrity of the Dallas Cowboys falls square on his shoulders.

Would having Troy as the GM be any worse? Not likely. Would having McClay as actual GM be any worse? Not likely.
Would either of them make things better? That would all depend on the Owner.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I'd take an independent thinker who would not be beholden to Jerry and be accountable for their decisions.

A few years ago I would have hated the idea of Aikman moving from broadcaster to GM. Ridiculous idea I thought.

I've told this story before here but I have friends who work in scouting and player personnel departments. When the 49ers hired John Lynch I called one and asked what the heck were they thinking.

He told me I was looking at all wrong. Lynch, a smart guy on his own, his dad ran sports radio stations, went to Stanford, etc., had spent the last several years seeing the inner workings of every NFL team as they do their prep and interviews the days leading into broadcasts. He saw what the successful teams were doing and what the poorly ran franchises were doing. He's been fairly successful in his short time as a GM.

When I listen to Aikman, I see and hear some of that. He spends a lot of time talking about what coaches and teams are doing, how they are getting better, what their plan is. I certainly do not know for a fact that Aikman will be good but I definitely get the sense he wants to be good at it.

The fact that he wouldn't solely depend on Jerry for his livelihood (he has his own money), would make me more optimistic than promoting a former Arena league coach who either agreed with or stayed quiet on some of the awful personnel decisions we have made the last few years.

You think Troy would be a independent thinker lol? To Jerry? Yeah good luck with that lol. The structure in San Fran is nothing like in Dallas. They would never relinquish control of that GM Title but if they somehow did.....it would just be in title. Jerry has already stated he runs this team like he does his businesses. He's not letting Troy or anyone else be a "independent thinker".

And with the stupid stuff Troy says during the telecast...I have a feeling he'd probably be worse than Jerry.

 

[tyke1doe]

Whut? Jerry give up power?

 

[CouchCoach]

Troy may make a good gm, if he got to hire the HC, and also he might not.
Just being a good player who won SB's does not mean he would be a good gm or HC.

He is a huge Mike McCarthy fan.

 

[CouchCoach]

I seriously expect Troy is at his best when kept right where he is! To my thinking, he's better suited as a commentator!
Even David LeFleur agrees! Aside from that, he has a comfy job and is very well paid, with minimal time spent.

Unlike Riddick who needs a GM job and not to be a commentator. I don't know if he'd be a good GM but he'd be better at that than commentating.

 

[jterrell]

Yes, the GM job is to have excellent people in all those positions, but Troy is more than a broadcaster. He is three time champ, who is in the hall of fame.
Does that mean he would be a good GM? Nope, but it also doesn't mean he wouldn't be a Great GM.
If you knew he was a GREAT GM, would that make him an even good Jerry GM? Nope, because he might take too much spotlight, or he might insult the way Jerry wants things done, or he might not be able to handle the position.

What constitutes a good GM, mainly depends on what the owner is wanting. Since Jerry can't fire his current GM or hold him accountable -- then the mediocrity of the Dallas Cowboys falls square on his shoulders.

Would having Troy as the GM be any worse? Not likely. Would having McClay as actual GM be any worse? Not likely.
Would either of them make things better? That would all depend on the Owner.

Lots of truth in there for sure
Owner has to desire what they bring.
If you hire Troy what you are really hiring is a pretty face of the Org.
I mean that both figuratively and literally. He's associated with winning, tall, blond hair blue eyed boy.
He has zero experience in ANY area associated with being a GM. He's never managed any scout/coach/player. He's never scouted or coached.
That is a far larger leap to hiring someone who has done this job.

I am a technical engineer for cloud computing.
I have managed people but I hate it.
I routinely turn down mgmt opps for this very reason.
It's a totally different skillset and it requires patience/people mgmt I do not have.
I am quite good with just a putty session and keyboard getting things configured but as my posts here indicate if you are outside dealing with logically I am lost.
Many people step into roles and are just built for them.
Troy would fare very well with media and on camera.
Some owners would really value that.

I simply wouldn't. I'd far prefer a guy that has studied or been introduced to analytics and also have scouting ties of some sort.
I'd want a guy that can identify coaches.
Will McClay to me checks a lot of those boxes that Troy doesn't.

 

[jterrell]

Unlike Riddick who needs a GM job and not to be a commentator. I don't know if he'd be a good GM but he'd be better at that than commentating.

Riddick is really good identifying college kids that can play.
He routinely points out young guys that excel later on.
He's an interesting candidate who may not always say the right things but has real talents a team could leverage.

 

[KingintheNorth]

McClay's GM-ship the last 4 years strongly outperforms Lynch's.

The 49ers have been to a Super Bowl.

The Cowboys have not been to a Conference Championship game.

Your personal metrics for "performance" are seriously flawed.

 

[Valkyr]

I'll take anyone who can actually be fired and held accountable. All the crappiest GMs in the world, from Matt Millen, to Ryan Grigson, to Sashi Brown all got canned for incompetence.

But Jerry will even more decomposed than he is now before he would ever let anyone get credit for building a Super Bowl team other than himself.

 

[bodi]

bring him in

 

[jterrell]

The 49ers have been to a Super Bowl.

The Cowboys have not been to a Conference Championship game.

Your personal metrics for "performance" are seriously flawed.

No, your championing of Lynch is flawed.
He's now made the playoffs 1, Uno, solo season in his career as GM.
He's never hired a Head Coach.
He's busted out with pick 3 overall in a draft class.
He's missed on his franchise QB.

Lynch was hired by a then bad 49ers org and he was a decent flier.
He's been spotty at best but he did get to a Super Bowl.
If he's fired mid-season next year exactly zero people other than you would be shocked.

And Troy Aikman has done zero things in his life to lend to being a good GM.
He played 25+ years ago in a different era.
He's kept very few good friends in the league.

And no Troy isn't some independent thinker. He walks the line and always has.
It was a common complaint of him in Dallas as a player.
He's done the same at Fox.
He'd want control I'm sure but he'd do what the owner told him to IF he took the job.
But even with total control he'd bring the expected. He is not a fount of fresh thoughts or data.
He's consistent in his throwback ways.

The one thing he would have done that helps is extend Dak.
But anyone without Stephen Jones meddling would have done that as well.

 

[kevm3]

We just need to give McClay full GM duties, including hiring the coaching staff and also having full control over FA as well. Isn't McClay getting paid like a GM but in some kind of draft specialist role?

 

[KingintheNorth]

He's busted out with pick 3 overall in a draft class.

So you're saying he inherited a pretty bad team?

but he did get to a Super Bowl.

in only a couple of years?

Hmmm? He has been spotty. You're right.

And Troy Aikman has done zero things in his life to lend to being a good GM.

Also, and what has the current GM done?

 

[Redball Express]

I'm gonna take a guess and say that NFL GMs typically make much less than Aikman while working 90 hour weeks.

Job security in Aikmans case is way better in the booth.

Jerry would agree to do this before Aikman would.

Aikman will never work for the Cowboys as long as Jerrah is part of the Dallas staff.

If that changes..mayby.

 

[conner01]

Lynch has been in SF 4 years.
His 4 draft classes have rated soft to very poor.
His very first draft pick was Soloman Thomas. He backed that up with a 2nd R1 guy, Reuben Foster.
He went out and got Jimmy G for a high 2nd and paid him like a franchise guy. He's completed more than 6 games only once in his 4 seasons in San Fran.

The 49ers have won 6, 4, 13, 6 games in his 4 years.
They made 1 Super Bowl but I wouldn't call the Lynch period successful by any measure.

Anyone who thinks Aikman is more deserving of a GM job than McClay is just foolish. McClay earned every job he got in Dallas by crushing the role before.
He was a winner as AFL coach and then he was the most effective scout.
They promoted him to pro scouting and Dallas began plucking cheap, FA like Laurent Robinson.
They moved him to be over the draft and that turned around to provide fairly immediate returns as well.

McClay's GM-ship the last 4 years strongly outperforms Lynch's.

Elway hasn’t been great either
Being a great player doesn’t mean a great HC, or GM

 

[jterrell]

Elway hasn’t been great either
Being a great player doesn’t mean a great HC, or GM

My philosophy on this isn't just at GM. It's any job.
I think in general you should hire people who have proven skills and experience directly related to the job you are expecting them to do.
There are 32 GMs in universe for the NFL, I want a guy who's spent 20 years in front office and/or back office work if possible.
Else I'd want a guy with 5+ years experience that blew the doors off that first 5 years with innovative thinking.
I'd definitely not want a guy that hasn't been part of any NFL organization or P5 college in the last 20+ years.

Ex-players can be really good at many things.
Tony Romo is elite in a broadcast crew.
Ozzie Newsome was a tremendous GM.
But you'd have to come in and prove that by doing personnel or some other position for me to hire you.

If Jerry left me (in his will) the Cowboys I'd hire Dane Brugler as my personnel guy day 1. He'd be in charge of draft boards.
I'd promote Will McClay to GM and he'd break all ties.
I'd hire a new capologist to work directly with Will and Dane to determine value a player has versus possible replacements. --i.e. if FA or the draft has better answers at far lesser costs. Using some WAR like metric.
This capologist position would need to be well versed in analytics to help determine player/positional values.
I'd also hire a process review person who could study the moves we made and post mortem them a year later. See if process is an issue or if we were somehow biased beyond the pale.
This person would need zero NFL background but have serious quality control experience.

 

[jnday]

Did i miss the boat here on Aikman's qualifications..?? i just get John Elway vibes on this, and that ain't good. Yes Lynch with the 49ers is the other side of it, but i don't know here. My suggestion is get a real GM, no time to have training wheels on a GM, especially when you have a weak HC. That's all we need, three blind mice.

Didn’t Elway build a Super Bowl winner in Denver?