My Head Coach Thoughts

[bluemagic4ever]

I read some comments on bleacher report, or on this site or just having conversations with people saying Dallas should keep MM because there isnt an better option. Everything has their own rationale for why he should stay or go but for the guys who say he should get another chance bc of he is the better option. This thinking has handicapped us a few times. Todd Bowles who has a Super Bowl has interviewed with us in a few cycles, and he has a Super Bowl ring. Dan Campbell interviewed with us in two different searches and we see what he has been able to do in Detroit. When you look at Sirianni in Philly, Ryans in Houston, LaFluer in GB, Mike McDonald in Seattle, Kevin O Connell in Minnesota, like these guys where OC/DC who took first time head coaching jobs and have had success. It comes with ups and downs but you have to get out of that retread thinking of these old coaches who have years or success ages ago, or become outdated and cant keep up with todays game. You miss out on todays next great head coaches, staying lost in past success and then you see how their methods, thoughts, relationships, preparations and etc have passed them by. I am not saying that MM is that coach in all those ways but some things have passed him by. If you look at teams that are having success, or turnarounds they arent going to find retreads, if they are older coaches, they have adjusted with their approach on and off the field or they have staff that are in current in the trends of things. Some times, you can have someone and be content with who and what they are but GB wouldnt be the same GB they are now if they had held on to MM and its that same time to buck the trend and actually facilitate a thorough search to see who is the best option, young, experienced or etc to coach this team bc MM time has come and gone and we need some new perspective and energy.

 

[RS12]

Its not that there isnt a better option. Someone off the McVay or Shanahan tree for example. It is that why would a yoing up and coming coach want work for a senile ego maniac where you are set up to fail?

 

[Doomsday]

It is nonsense that there aren't better options and it is the GM's job to find those options.

 

[jazzcat22]

There are better options. But the FO refuses to make the necessary changes.

I never minded MM as HC. But it is time for a change. 5 years and nothing. Yes some competitive teams but fail in the playoffs or in big games.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Some of these coaches can get lucky if they inherent a team that's ready to give the coach the kind of team they need to have success

 

[Miller]

Here is my deal! I want MM gone. He’s done well but his job was to move us further and he didn’t in 5 years. But I also acknowledge that whomever the choice would be would be hamstrung by Jerry. But at this point I’m only thinking “blind squirrel finds a nut” one day.

 

[Stash]

There are better options. But the FO refuses to make the necessary changes.

I never minded MM as HC. But it is time for a change. 5 years and nothing. Yes some competitive teams but fail in the playoffs or in big games.

That first sentence sums up the real problem.

Because of the dysfunction and meddling by ownership, the Cowboys head coaching position isn’t a sought after job.

 

[Praxit]

Here is my deal! I want MM gone. He’s done well but his job was to move us further and he didn’t in 5 years. But I also acknowledge that whomever the choice would be would be hamstrung by Jerry. But at this point I’m only thinking “blind squirrel finds a nut” one day.

..here's the take on this. A winning year is not guaranteed in NFL. The coaches Dallas have held within last 20 yrs have been sporadic.

Lots of average years, with few good ones in between. McCarthy brought to Dallas three consecutive wining seasons, almost a fourth this year barring injuries.

Jerry understands this. I know, the post season is the stigma. But its nice to feel you have a shot every year, by getting to post season first.

 

[thunderpimp91]

I don't have much of an issue with targeting the young coordinators in coaching searches, but I think its a mistake to dismiss the older guys too. There are an awful lot of HCs over 50 that will be coaching in the playoffs a week from now...many of them retreads.

Reid - 66
John Harbaugh - 62
Jim Harbaugh - 61
(Probably) Todd Bowles - 60
(Probably) Sean Payton - 60
Dan Quinn - 54
Mike Tomlin - 52
Sean McDermott - 50

Just give me a HC who loves football, understands how to communicate with both staff and players....then give me a front office that is actually dedicated to winning championships.

 

[Risen Star]

It is nonsense that there aren't better options and it is the GM's job to find those options.

It's nonsense to act like McCarthy isn't one of the most successful coaches of his era.

But you know what even more nonsensical? Still blaming coaches after 30 years.

 

[sdfidaho]

It is nonsense that there aren't better options and it is the GM's job to find those options.

No offense, but “the GM’s job to find those options” made me laugh out loud.
Then it just made me mad/sad.

 

[darthseinfeld]

It's nonsense to act like McCarthy isn't one of the most successful coaches of his era.

But you know what even more nonsensical? Still blaming coaches after 30 years.

Well Campo did suck

 

[Creeper]

I have not seen anything in Jerry's history, since Jimmy Johnson who was a friend, that indicates Jerry will hire anyone who is not an experienced head coach. Don't expect some young thinker from college or currently working as an NFL coordinator (unless he was a HC at one point) to be the next HC of the Cowboys. That is very unlikely to be Jerry's choice.

I also do not think this team is committed to winning anymore. Stephen is cheap and will not spend the money on the players we need to compete. For a team to be successful the whole organization has to be committed to winning. I think the Joneses want to win. They just don't want to put in the effort to make it happen. It's like the athlete who wants to compete and excel, but would rather hang out with his friends than work out at the gym.

 

[Tabascocat]

Jerry won’t hire the head coach(s) that we want but I bet many are terrified of him hiring the HC that most don’t want. It won’t be the new up-and-comer but it will be another retread. This is where Mike comes into play. Is there a better retread that Jerry would hire? McCarthy just might be the best option for an inept front office.

With that said, I want a new HC too but the next guy will probably be much worse.

 

[AstroPilota]

My thoughts.....
The first year of professional football was 1892 - that's 132 years that coaches have had to draw up plays. IMO, there are not many new ways to move the damn ball down the field that everyone doesn't already know. So when I see threads about getting a young coach with new or fresh ideas, that's laughable, to me. What makes a HC good or bad is how well he can motivate and/discipline his players. The age of the HC won't matter - it's the personality and their ability/experience to get the most out of the player on the field and to evaluate potential talent.

Over the past 30 years, (arguments can be made here and there), the Dallas Cowboys have had some very qualified HC's - MM included. The problem has NOT been the HC. The problem is the wanna-be HC that is also the GM and owner, getting in the way. You can put Belicheat, Lombardi, Landry, whoever...... it will not matter as long as the current owner of this team is running the entire show! JJ is hell-bent on proving he was the reason the Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls and not Jimmy Johnson. It's his gig and he can afford to play it his way.

edit... Want a parrallel? Look at the past history of Al Davis and the Raider's woes. Same dysfuntional story, Cowboy's fans are not the only fanbase to suffer the plight of inept ownership.

 

[DallasEast]

I have not seen anything in Jerry's history, since Jimmy Johnson who was a friend, that indicates Jerry will hire anyone who is not an experienced head coach. Don't expect some young thinker from college or currently working as an NFL coordinator (unless he was a HC at one point) to be the next HC of the Cowboys. That is very unlikely to be Jerry's choice.

Neither Jason Garrett nor Dave Campo obtained meaningfully experienced head coaching before Jerry Jones hired them as such. Technically, Garrett gathered two years assistant head coaching and a little over a season interim head coaching experience--all under Jones' on-the-job training program but he was never a true head coach. Heck. His entirely brief coaching experience was sparse before Jones hired him as an offensive coordinator.

 

[fivetwos]

Honestly, since they admitted to having “not thought about it,” it’s gotta be either Zimmer, who wants to quit, Moore, who they probably can’t get, or throw more money at Mike than they want to.

Nothing against Mike but we need a Parcells situation to fix this, and Jerry isn’t ready for that, so hopefully it’s only a two year deal for MM because you know he will be here for every single second of that contract, and isn’t the answer.

The way this league is shaping up lately….the teams that can’t win it all seem to be fine being really bad until they can truly turn it, add in another 8-10 that are always clearly better than Dallas, we are absolutely stuck in mediocrity for at least the next few years, as they continue to beat up on the bad teams and get blown out by the good ones.

Mike and Dak ensure that, and Jerry will continue to truly believe they are oh so “close” and continue to sell sell sell that way, and defend the job they are doing.

How long before the typical casual fans that don’t hang around places like this stop buying his crap? I’d say about midway through 2026…if we are lucky.

If nothing else it should be fun when the team is getting worse and he is becoming more defensive and grumpy.

 

[thunderpimp91]

My thoughts.....
The first year of professional football was 1892 - that's 132 years that coaches have had to draw up plays. IMO, there are not many new ways to move the damn ball down the field that everyone doesn't already know. So when I see threads about getting a young coach with new or fresh ideas, that's laughable, to me.

This part is probably a very underrated comment. Granted I don't want to dismiss the idea that things can't be done new/fresh/better, but especially over the last 20 years or so I really don't see a major shift in how the game is being played. Its really changed more due to rule changes and player body types changing than the Xs and Os are. What we are really seeing more of are short fads that are dying out than actual sustainable evolution of the game. Chip Kelly had everyone thinking the hurry up offense and turning the whole game into a 2 minute situation was the future and that died out quickly. RPOs were the hot topic for a short stint but were quickly shown to not be a sustainable form of offense. The last couple years motion rates have been the hype, but the data there seems to suggest the results there are coming back down to the median.

There is a decent argument that zone blocking schemes have evolved a decent amount, but you're still seeing the same 8 primary run concepts off of those. In the pass game the formations are getting mixed up a bit, but the exact same routes are being ran post snap....everyone runs stick...everyone runs double slant, smash, levels, etc. The idea that teams are inventing all these innovative routes and route combinations just doesnt seem to hold up. Similar defensively where I think the primary objective has changed in that every evaluation of every position in your front 7 starts out with how do they create pressure on the QB. Ultimately though its the same blitzes, same stunts up front. The only real difference you see is how its packaged pre snap. A lot more overloading the LOS, and simulated pressures, but neither of those ideas are new, just used more as the league has been more passing dominated as the rules changed to favor the offense more and more.

 

[cowboyec]

we don't have a coaching problem.
we have a GMing problem.
until that dynamic changes...about the best we'll get is double digit win totals...winning the east...and an occassional wild-card win.
that is all this GM knows how to build.
mccarthy is the best coach we've had here since parcells.
and in my opinion...except for pete carrol...is the best option right now to figure "around" jerry.
i'd love ben johnson.
or chris shula.
but i'm not the owner.
if he does move off mccarthy,i just pray we don't end up with kellen moore...or ron rivera...or marvin lewis.
and we probably will because our GM is a moron at football stuff.

 

[Dalmations202]

Job of Head Coach: Motivate, Discipline, Monitor - let players and coaches know what they are doing good and bad. Be where the Buck Stops -- stand in front of the media on the good and bad days. In the unique case of head coach of the Dallas Cowboys -- the most important job is to not take any of the credit or limelight from Jerry Jones when the Cowboys do good. Also to be the "end" to coaches differences.

Job of Coordinators: Watch film and setup game plans to match your teams strengths to their teams weaknesses. Make sure the position coaches are teaching correct form and technique. Making sure that you have the correct groups working in synch....ie you don't want DL shooting the same gaps that LBs are blitzing. Build terminology, playbooks, and make sure everyone is on same page. These guys should be able to know strengths and weaknesses of both their own team, and be able to watch film and "write the book" on how to attach the other teams weaknesses. Guys who are great strategist, are not always great motivators and disciplinarians.

Job of Position Coaches: Teach correct form and technique. Great teachers aren't necessarily great strategist nor great motivators/leaders. Al Harris is a very good teacher, but I have no clue if he is a strategist or motivator/disciplinarian.

IMO, Head Coach is pretty simple to find. Find a leader of men who is a great motivator and disciplinarian. Honestly that seems like Vrabel to me. I think Mike Irvin would make a great HC as well.
Excellent coordinators would be harder to find, IMO. There are some very good coordinators out there, but most are wanting to be paid, so they want to be the next failing HC (always about the Benjamins).
Give me: (and YES I know the Jerry Jones would never be comfortable with this or do it)
Mike Vrabel as HC.. disciplinarian and has been there done that.
Robert Saleh as DC.... reminds me of young Wade Phillips.......excellent coordinator and motivator, but will probably never be a great HC.
Kurt Warner as OC...... he understands the game and what it takes. This one would be fun.
..... pay these men a good base pay and X amount per WIN. Then let them get the position coaches they need. Hold all accountable, but let them be the highest paid IF they win the Superbowl. There is no salary cap on coaching presently. Stop the being the best marketed team and become the best FOOTBALL team. No clue if Vrabel, Saleh, and Warner could work together, but if they could.......WOW