You can judge the HC based on his ability to develop the talent that he is given and use the talent to win games.
Nevertheless, this is all predicated on having someone higher up bring in a pool of decent players for the coach to choose from.
So is there some way we can compare how Garrett and Wade wold fare coaching the same group of players.
Oh yeah, there was that 2010 season where Wade got the whole offseason to put in his plans for the year and develop his defense. He got to start with Romo, an elite QB with Kitna an established veteran backup QB behind him. Meanwhile Garrett got that same team but after Romo was injured with the aged Kitna as his QB and Stephen McGee as his backup. Garrett also couldn't rely on having one of the best DCs in the game in his fold but had to hire one of Wade's lieutenants, a failed college HC named Paul P who had a week with Garrett to try and re-design a porous defense that just gave up 83 points in the last two weeks under the defensive genius of Wade Phillips.
Wade: 1-7
Jason: 5-3
Verdict: Garrett in a landslide
Now add on other things a HC can bring to a team like discipline, organization, culture, player development, coach recruitment, draft guidance. On these measures it is also Garrett in a landslide.
Phillips inherited a very talented roster that BP gave up on. Wade immediately saw the opportunity to build a great team by putting the offense in Romo's hands and fixing some of Parcells defense of the 80s and bring it into the modern game and voila - an explosive offense and a decent defense leading to a 13-3 record with brilliant play on the field. That very easily could have been a SB team. Then the next year things start to fall apart as Wade can't keep the team in check, Jerry has gone wild after the success of the "TO experiment" and brings in guys like Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones and drafts a guy like Marty B and Choice. The team gets off to a slow start and he can't quell the mutiny. Finally Romo gets hurt. Things get even worse when he doesn't talk Jerry out of the RW11 trade where a first and third rounder are given up for a mediocre ex-Longhorns player. Finally Romo comes back but the OL struggles with Proctor in there since Wade can't convince Jerry to invest in the OL beyond all those high paid vets who are playing mediocre ball. This ultimately culminates in the 44-6 collapse against the Eagles. But that team still had a lot of talent and with a healthy Kosier the OL is back to being pretty decent again most of the time until Colombo gets hurt but this time there is a decent backup in Free so things continue to be okay and we win the division going away and cream Philly. But then Wade decides to put Colombo back in and he struggles a bit. Then he gets demolished against the Vikings and loses us the game. Then Flo gets hurt and he can't even pull Colombo and sub in Free anymore. Then finally there is the disaster that is the 2010 season with the team in freefall.
The end analysis is Wade started with a veteran team with a rising young core of Romo, Witten, Barber, Rat, TNew, Bradie and Ware. The problem is that he only wanted to play vets but those vets got old, we got tight against the cap and couldn't buy new ones and the cupboard was bare in the developing propspect ranks. That's what happens when guys like Ware, Barber, RW11, Flo, TNew, Bradie, Hamlin, Miles and Bigg are all playing on their second contracts and not on their cheaper rookie deals. If you can't develop young players to step in for a lot of your vets and you have to pay free market payscale for Jerry's hype machine causing your players to be overrated around the whole league you're going to hit a wall at some point in time. We hit that wall in 2010 when all those previously signed players were already released and creating dead cap space or were about to be released due to fall in level of play.
Now Garrett came in charge at a different time. Most of the talent on the roster had already peaked (Ware, Witten, Romo, Spencer, Austin) or was nascent (Lee had yet to start a game, Dez was a returner and #3 WR who could only run 3 routes, AOA busted, 2009 busted, 2008 never developed). So the fundamentals needed to turn a team around weren't there - very little in the way of young and developing players, no cap space, no extra draft picks. Everyone thinks it is a given that Lee and Dez were going to be great but Lee only played 5 games last year and Dez faced numerous cries to be traded or outright release by this fan base after the 2010 offseason, the inconsistent 2011 season and the bad 2011 offseason followed by a slow start to the 2012 season. In other words, if Garrett was going to rebuild this team he had to do it the hard way - get some of the vets to play better, develop his own draft picks and UDFAs, scrape the bottom of the vet FA barrel and hope for some luck. Unfortunately the luck didn't come in 2011 with late key injuries to Holland, Murray, Austin "losing the ball in the lights", TNew's legs giving out down the stretch, Kosier's legs giving out down the stretch, JPP's blocked FGA, Bailey's misses against AZ and Balt, Dez's finger against NYG.
I think the thing that has me most convinced that Garrett is gong to be good though is the way his players are developing and the way his players fight. Everyone was convinced that Church was going to bust in 2012 but he looked great until he got hurt. People thought Costa was terrible but he looked like he had turned the corner last year when he got hurt. Mo looked good for a rookie. The lights really turned on for Dez. Spencer set a personal record for sacks in a season and really picked up his play after Ware got hurt. Hatcher picked up his play the last two seasons after Rat's play tailed off. Lee looked like an All-Pro before he got hurt in 2012. Carter looks like a future Pro Bowler after many worried he would bust and insisted a backup plan be in place (re: wasted cap dollars on Connor). Look at Hanna develop when everyone insisted that he couldn't catch the ball. Look at how Harris turned himself into a dangerous punt returner and amazing RAC WR after being released in 2011. Players all across the roster seem to be stepping up now that they have been in the system surrounded by players who work really hard and follow the leaders that have developed. Guys like Lee, Witten, Romo and Ware show these guys what it takes to be a professional on and off the field and act as models for success. This rubs off on those behind him who no longer have the goofballs and misfits to look up to anymore (TO, MartyB, Choice, Hurd, Tank, Pacman). Lee takes Carter under his wings and then he is out there flying around after Lee gets hurt keeping us in games. The other thing I admire is the fight these players have in them. The way they came back against Cinci when they were badly outmatched on the talent front after Brown's death. Or how about the way they fought back to take the lead in Cleveland, then come back after Rob Ryan blew the coverage and then won it in OT. How about how they came back against the Skins (35-3) and the Giants (23-0) or the Ravens in the second half or the Saints down 2 scores with 5:00 to go. This team just doesn't quit no matter the score and no matter how outclassed they are in talent on the field. They just keep fighting and clawing.
The way I see things the seeds of success have been planted with all the drafts and the nurturing of these players to develop them into excellent pro football players with great ability and work ethic. The next wave of Cowboys stars is going to explode so long as the injury bug goes back to its historical norm. I believe in the players we have assembled and now with Rob Ryan gone and Kiffen/Marinelli in place I believe in the coaches, too.
I so look forward to this season. An average OL should put is in the second round of the playoffs with a chance to play one of the league's best teams.
The best part of all is that I think they have developed a sustainable model of talent acquisition and player development. The last key cog will be the development of young defensive coaches to mold as the future after Kiffen and Marinelli retire. We all saw with Jimmy Robinson that even great coaches can suddenly decide they need to hang them up. Neither Eberfluss or Henderson will be ready for a couple of years. I think Eberfluss is special and is going to be a great DC - I am so happy he decided to stay here and learn under Kiffen and Marinelli.
I think we have entered a new age where this FO is thinking about sustainability instead of gambling that they are one vet away from a shot at the SB. This is a mentality that lead to moves like Bigg's signing, RW11 trade, Galloway for 2 firsts and accepting the risk of cancer with TO and Pacman. I still could see us signing a premier vet at the right price and at the right position but I think it is more likely to be on favorable terms for the team. That is how you build a sustainable winner and play for something year after year. This is the way Tex/Brandt/Landry did things and that is how you stay successful for a long time. You need to develop a core and then you need to keep renewing it. Jerry's problem has been that when he has found success he has stayed stagnant but that model will never work in football with the short shelf-lives of players and the minimal impact any one non-QB has on the team of 27 starters.
