PFT: On Garrett, Bowles, Pasqualoni, etc.

[theogt]

POSTED 10:31 a.m. EST, January 16, 2008​

COWBOYS HEMORRHAGING ASSISTANTS by Michael David Smith

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Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips appears to have a long month ahead of him of reconstructing his coaching staff, as he's losing assistants left and right.

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As everyone knows, offensive line coach Tony Sparano is leaving to become the head coach of the Dolphins, and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett appears to be leaving for either Baltimore or Atlanta.

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But there's more. Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that the Dolphins are focusing on two Cowboys assistants to add to their staff. ​

Cowboys secondary coach Todd Bowles is expected to leave to become the Dolphins' assistant head coach, and Cowboys linebackers coach Paul Pasqualoni is expected to become the Dolphins' defensive coordinator. Both Bowles and Pasqualoni first joined the Cowboys staff in 2005, when Bill Parcells was head coach, and both of those moves could be announced soon, although the Dolphins technically can't hire either until their contracts expire next week.

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And those might not be the last Dallas assistants to leave. It seems likely that tight ends coach John Garrett will follow his brother Jason to either Baltimore or Atlanta.

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With an exodus of assistants, the situation in Dallas is somewhat similar to what happened in San Diego last year: The No. 1 seed loses its playoff opener, and then watches as other teams hire away its assistants. That situation ultimately ended with the Chargers firing head coach Marty Schottenheimer. Phillips must be hoping things don't turn out that way in Dallas.​

POSTED 9:54 a.m. EST; UPDATED 10:00 a.m. EST, January 16, 2008​

JONES BACKED HIMSELF INTO A CORNER

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Assuming that reports are true that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has offered to match any financial package presented to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett in order to keep him in Dallas, Jones' gesture could create all sorts of unwanted consequences.

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For starters, if the Ravens or the Falcons offer Garrett more than $3 million per year and Garrett decides to stay put, he'll be making more money than Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips.

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Next, such a move essentially tattoos the phrase "lame duck" on Phillips' forehead. Though Phillips seems to have the ego (or lack thereof) to live with such a label, there could be trouble in the locker room if things get tough and the players don't know who's really running the show.​

And all of this could have been avoided if Jones had merely gone to Garrett before he interviewed for any other job and worked out a deal that pays him very well for now and guarantees that he'll become the head coach when Phillips leaves, with specific payments due to Garrett is he's not the head coach as of, say, March 1, 2009, March 1, 2010, and so on.

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By waiting, Jones allowed Garrett to build leverage. Now Garrett has it. And he's using it.

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Finally, we still can't understand why there's such a scramble for Garrett. With all due respect, he's a one-year coordinator who might or might not have the skills to be an NFL head coach. Meanwhile, it's a buyer's market this year, and five of the final eight teams were coached by guys who had head-coaching experience before joining their current teams.

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We're not saying that Garrett doesn't deserve to be a head coach. But we're struggling to comprehend how he has become the prom queen of the 2008 hiring cycle when plenty of other guys are available -- including guys who have NFL head-coaching experience.​

 

[Cowboy Bill Watts]

Finally, we still can't understand why there's such a scramble for Garrett. With all due respect, he's a one-year coordinator who might or might not have the skills to be an NFL head coach. Meanwhile, it's a buyer's market this year, and five of the final eight teams were coached by guys who had head-coaching experience before joining their current teams.

We're not saying that Garrett doesn't deserve to be a head coach. But we're struggling to comprehend how he has become the prom queen of the 2008 hiring cycle when plenty of other guys are available -- including guys who have NFL head-coaching experience.​

it is a good point, although hot assistants have a small window of opportunity (see mike zimmer...)

 

[Big Dakota]

This was, for the most part, Bill's staff anyway, so IMHO this gives Wade a chance to bring in guys of his choosing.

 

[AmishCowboy]

This was, for the most part, Bill's staff anyway, so IMHO this gives Wade a chance to bring in guys of his choosing.

Wade's two hires of Stewart and Sherman turned out OK.

 

[CantonBound08]

Would Todd Bowles be that big of a loss? Our defensive backfield hasn't exactly been steallar...

 

[khiladi]

Cowboys secondary coach Todd Bowles is expected to leave to become the Dolphins' assistant head coach, and Cowboys linebackers coach Paul Pasqualoni is expected to become the Dolphins' defensive coordinator. Both Bowles and Pasqualoni first joined the Cowboys staff in 2005,

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Look out for the Miam Dolphin opponents making a living out of eating up the LB squad of the Dolphins with a passing attack because Miami will be playing Cover-2 all day..... Don't you guys remember the LBs with Bill Parcells, how they were exposed constantly in the middle of the field, especially Bradie James? It took Wade to come in here and fix Bradie, not Pasqualoni.... We couldn't stop the deep ball last year...

Seriously, look at our overall weaknesses this year:

1. Our LBs in the passing game
2. Our nickel packages with Reeves and Roy Williams
3. Our run-blocking

The coaches that are leaving all had a few years to lay their imprint on the Dallas team, and look what happened...

It is gonna be damn boring watching the Dolphins play....

 

[theebs]

Wade's two hires of Stewart and Sherman turned out OK.

He also brought in skip peete, wes phillips, dat nguyen and of course read.....read has to be looked at closely.

I trust phillips can fill the defensive staff out very well.

I am not so sure without sporano and the two garrets that we dont take a bump, but then again this years staff turned out well and garrett may not be leaving.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Hello, I'm Mike Florio and I didn't think that out very well.

All Jones has to do is give Phillips a raise if Jones was to give Garrett $3 million per year. He could make Wade a $4 million-$5 million/year head coach, something Jones could easily afford.

Not to mention that Garrett may not even being offered $3 milion/year given his lack of coaching experience.

It's not that hard to figure out.



YAKUZA

 

[ddh33]

Wasn't Florio the same guy who ripped this coaching staff to shreds when they were assembled last year? I mean, Jerry screwed up so bad last year too. *rollingeyes*

 

[Randy White]

For starters, if the Ravens or the Falcons offer Garrett more than $3 million per year and Garrett decides to stay put, he'll be making more money than Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips.

and the problem is ?

 

[Hostile]

I do agree about the lame duck tattoo.

 

[DCBoysfan]

This was, for the most part, Bill's staff anyway, so IMHO this gives Wade a chance to bring in guys of his choosing.

My thoughs excatly those were Bills guys so Wade can have a chance to bring in some of his own people. So I dont see this as a really big deal

 

[big dog cowboy]

I do agree about the lame duck tattoo.

Isn't every HC in the NFL a lame duck? Their life span as a HC isn't much different than that of a politician.

 

[Randy White]

I do agree about the lame duck tattoo.

Yea, but, I repeat:

and the problem is ?

 

[SMCowboy]

I do agree about the lame duck tattoo.

Like he wasn't a lame duck already? Everyone knew from the beginning that the intention was for Wade Phillips to keep the seat warm till Jason Garrett was ready to take over.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

what a spin our coach may have to deal with.......wow

 

[Doomsday]

I do agree about the lame duck tattoo.

The players seem to respect and buy into what Wade is trying to do that is the most important thing.

 

[BigDFan5]

Someone needs to let Florio know that those assistants CANT leave unless the team allows them to. If we want to keep them, we will

 

[theogt]

Someone needs to let Florio know that those assistants CANT leave unless the team allows them to. If we want to keep them, we will

He points out that their contracts expire next week.

 

[CoCo]

Wade & Jason has been an unconventional situation from Day 1 since Jerry hired Garrett first and even reportedly considered him as a HC candidate then. The predicted doom & gloom of that strategy has of course failed to materialize in large part because of how the two individuals handled themselves.

Now you have more potential unconvention. Yes, it adds some challenges but unconventional approaches are not certain indicators of defeat, just things you need to account for.

I see nothing about Garrett staying for whatever $ that is insurmountable or a certain problem. Just something to manage.