Quality of the assistant coaches

[Cowboy06]

Just a question for my fellow fans. Tom Landry, Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson were very good coaches who understood how to build a team and won championships. They also had several coaches who went on to be very good head coaches, both college and professional. Do we have any coaches on the staff that could leave to be head coaches and be very successful? Do we need to hire better assistants? Or are we just fine?

 

[Idgit]

I'm not sure your assumption that good assistants make good head coaches holds true. There are a lot of really good assistant coaches who never succeeded or never wanted to try to be head coaches.

Overall, I think the quality of our coaches is 'pretty good.' None of them are exceptional, but they're experienced guys, two of them with HC experience, and they seem to get along and to complement each other pretty well.

 

[Cowboy06]

I'm not sure your assumption that good assistants make good head coaches holds true. There are a lot of really goo assistant coaches who never succeeded or never wanted to try to be head coaches.

Overall, I think the quality of our coaches is 'pretty good.' None of them are exceptional, but they're experienced guys, two of them with HC experience, and they seem to get along and to complement each other pretty well.

No assumption about all good assistants, but some do hold true.

Tom Coughlin, Bill Belichick, Dan Reeves, Sean Payton, Norv Turner (though this is not the best argument, but sound coaching techniques), Butch Davis and Dave Wannstedt.

What is interesting are the coaching trees.

What's a better question is would anyone in the league want our current assistant coaches as an assistant coach on their respective teams?

 

[Idgit]

As assistant coaches, Marinelli would have some demand. Linehan might not be a hot prospect, but he'd have another gig pretty quickly. Bissachia, too. He's been a coordinator in this league for almost 15 years.

Now, if our fans were doing the hiring, that would be another story, but our fans don't get that privilege. And for the most part that's a very good thing.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I know we ran him off, but I still think Wade Wilson was/is decent as a head coach and a defensive coordinator. Hope he gets another chance some day at HC in the NFL.

 

[Idgit]

I know we ran him off, but I still think Wade Wilson was/is decent as a head coach and a defensive coordinator. Hope he gets another chance some day at HC in the NFL.

Wade Phillips?

First the Super Bowl ring, now this. That poor guy can't buy the recognition he deserves.

 

[CCBoy]

Wade Phillips?

First the Super Bowl ring, now this. That poor guy can't buy the recognition he deserves.

I'll gladly accept any invitation to one of his ranch barbeques.

 

[cml750]

When the HC is as bad as Garrett is it is hard to evaluate the people under him. I believe most would make a better HC than Garrett but that is not saying much.

 

[Cowboy06]

When the HC is as bad as Garrett is it is hard to evaluate the people under him. I believe most would make a better HC than Garrett but that is not saying much.

Strong words. I don't know if Garrett is that bad. I often wonder if the Jones family gave him free reign for a year or two if he couldn't be better off. In the first years of ownership seemed Jerry and crew left Jimmy to run the show. Just my opinion.

Do you think Garrett has learned enough to be a better coach elsewhere? I do for one....

...but I do believe he may not be the best fit for the Cowboys, but then again who is a good fit for this team?

 

[cowboyblue22]

the quality of the dallas cowboys coaching staff is average at best as there record of the last few years indicates.

 

[cml750]

Strong words. I don't know if Garrett is that bad. I often wonder if the Jones family gave him free reign for a year or two if he couldn't be better off. In the first years of ownership seemed Jerry and crew left Jimmy to run the show. Just my opinion.

Do you think Garrett has learned enough to be a better coach elsewhere? I do for one....

...but I do believe he may not be the best fit for the Cowboys, but then again who is a good fit for this team?

No I do not believe Garrett would be a good HC anywhere and I can almost guarantee he would not be offered the same position anywhere else. He only has the position do to nepotism.

 

[Risen Star]

I don't believe any of these assistants would make for a good head coach with the exception of Ben Bloom, who I think is probably headed toward a Vince Lombardi type career elsewhere..

 

[jobberone]

I don't believe any of these assistants would make for a good head coach with the exception of Ben Bloom, who I think is probably headed toward a Vince Lombardi type career elsewhere..

What has Ben Bloom done to warrant this or is this just a fishing expedition.

 

[Idgit]

What has Ben Bloom done to warrant this or is this just a fishing expedition.

Fishing. And I he got a live one on the hook.

Though, Eberflus has a job as a DC coming at some point. Who knows if he keeps going after that.

Either way, it doesn't matter. We've got an accomplished group of coaches and a pretty good staff overall right now. The fact that Marinelli and Linehan failed as HCs doesn't really mean much in terms of how we ought to evaluate their abilities as coordinators.

 

[jobberone]

Eberflus got my vote but I don't know how much he knows the Xs and Os; although I have to suspect pretty damn good. That means he's up there with all the quality asst coaches in the NFL though not something special. I doubt any of us actually know what it takes to be a great HC. I know it when I see it but I can't define it. Garrett is a better than average HC not great. Enough people who actually know say he'll be great one day. I hope they're right.

 

[big dog cowboy]

What has Ben Bloom done to warrant this or is this just a fishing expedition.

You really had to ask?

 

[Idgit]

No I do not believe Garrett would be a good HC anywhere and I can almost guarantee he would not be offered the same position anywhere else. He only has the position do to nepotism.

He'd be an NFL coach again, probably immediately, but at most after 2-3 years. I'm not sure I've seen anybody who's not a fan or a media member have anything but great things to say about Jason Garrett and how he handles the team at any point. That includes his players, his staff, his former coaches, his current employers, his past employers, and anybody actually in the league who's ever interacted with him in any professional capacity.

It's some of the media, and some of the fans who have a problem with him. The fans, for a whole variety of bad reasons that mostly boil down to the organization's won-loss record. The media, because they're the media. And even the criticism of him as a coach usually doesn't have anything to do with how he actually coaches. It's about second guessing the outcomes of plays that didn't work or vague criticisms like 'he should have had a better backup QB' or 'we need to draft better in the later rounds' and other things he doesn't necessarily have direct control over.

 

[Plankton]

I think that the overwhelming majority of fans and media have little to no idea who is a quality assistant coach and who isn't. We have little to no insight as to what these guys do in the meeting rooms, in game plan preparation, in actual teaching sessions on the field, and actual talent evaluation.

People tend to make their judgments based on statistical results, which don't always show the proper amount of context.

I have my opinions about who is a good coach on the team, and who could stand to be replaced. I like Marinelli (appreciate his hard nosed approach) and Gary Brown (coaxed performance out of a number of players). Scott Linehan is a good coach who had a bad season last year. They did a really poor job of adjusting to losing Romo. Matt Eberflus is thought of very highly by a number of people in the league, but, aside from Sean Lee, I can't see his impact in making a lot of guys better. Jerome Henderson didn't have a good amount of talent to work with in the secondary, so it's hard to know how much of the struggles were due to coaching or just subpar personnel. Rich Bisaccia has been meh - the kickers have done well, the return units have been mediocre, and the coverage teams have had breakdowns at bad moments (see second Giant game). Frank Pollack has helped develop the young linemen, but I think they lost a lot when Bill Callahan went out the door. Mike Pope was a very good coach who didn't develop Escobar as well as I would have hoped. Steve Loney is a good, solid veteran assistant who brings a lot to the OL coaching to assist Pollack.

Don't know enough about Greg Jackson, Ben Bloom or Joe Baker to state a thorough opinion on their abilities.

Leon Lett seems to work well with Marinelli, but I think that the DT position has been a team weakness. Falls into the talent vs coaching debate. Crawford has developed nicely under his coaching, though. Derek Dooley catches a lot of heat, and with the performance of the WRs after Bryant got hurt, it's justified. I do think that he's done a nice job in teaching the WRs how to block - because, as a unit, they are very well schooled.

The one coach that I absolutely do not like or think is quality is Wade Wilson. I really don't know what it is that he does.

Again, all opinion, and very likely invalid due to missing a lot of critical data necessary to give an informed opinion and analysis.

 

[cml750]

He'd be an NFL coach again, probably immediately, but at most after 2-3 years. I'm not sure I've seen anybody who's not a fan or a media member have anything but great things to say about Jason Garrett and how he handles the team at any point. That includes his players, his staff, his former coaches, his current employers, his past employers, and anybody actually in the league who's ever interacted with him in any professional capacity.

It's some of the media, and some of the fans who have a problem with him. The fans, for a whole variety of bad reasons that mostly boil down to the organization's won-loss record. The media, because they're the media. And even the criticism of him as a coach usually doesn't have anything to do with how he actually coaches. It's about second guessing the outcomes of plays that didn't work or vague criticisms like 'he should have had a better backup QB' or 'we need to draft better in the later rounds' and other things he doesn't necessarily have direct control over.

We will see when he gets fired in the next few years probably after Romo retires. Fans and media who have an issue with him just look at the facts which speak, no shout, volumes. We do not let our homer vision get into the way like you and others. it's okay, I sort of understand and also realize people like you will blindly jump on the bandwagon of the next coach. The homer in you just can't bring you to call things like they are.

 

[Idgit]

We will see when he gets fired in the next few years probably after Romo retires. Fans and media who have an issue with him just look at the facts which speak, no shout, volumes. We do not let our homer vision get into the way like you and others. it's okay, I sort of understand and also realize people like you will blindly jump on the bandwagon of the next coach. The homer in you just can't bring you to call things like they are.

Weren't you saying that before his big extension?

Fans and media are the arbiters of impartiality. Got it. Interesting take. And for the record, Wade got treated poorly here, but I was never a fan of his hiring. Parcels put Jerry in a tough situation on that one. Speaking of which, Parcrls was a hall of fame coach I have tremendous respect for who I never wanted in Dallas (though I ended up really enjoying him while he was here). There goes the thoughtless homer criticism that's always trotted out and never actually proven to be accurate. The people you like to collectively call "homers"criticize the team. They just don't criticize everything about it, blindly.

The reality is that most fans are reactionary and irrational and base their like or dislike for a coach off of won-loss record. This is why you guys were falling all over yourselves explaining to me how much Jason Garrett had learned about football in 2014. And then subsequently how much he forgot again in 2015. So much for not having homer vision.