Ranking the Cowboys Head Coaches

[CWR]

Parcells was a better game manager and clock manager than Red Ball. Parcells' theory was superior but his implementation of it not so much. Let's not forget he drafted Barbie Carpenter at #12 overall IIRC.

And traded down with Sjax on the board and the elusive Troy Hambrick in the backfield. I know I always bring this up but frankly Im still pissed. Parcells did alot of good.

To me there are only 2 coaches, Dave Campo and everyone else. Hard knocks baby. Sea world team trip and Chad Hutchinson strumming the guitar. Holy crap, its amazing I even got out of bed on Sunday back then lol.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

So you blame the quitters on Wade? Wade went 13-3, 9-7, 11-5 the seasons prior with relatively the same players? Do you also blame Wade for the receivers trying to get Garrett to change his play calling and game planning right before that disaster of a season too? Interesting how poorly team fared after 2009 when Garrett undercut his head coach and the offense by getting Terrell Owens cut from team.

Or do you consider the following 3 straight 8-8 seasons under Garrett to be less than quitting with The very same players that Wade took to the postseason 2 put of 3 seasons?? Just admit that you dislike Wade and your standard for him is completely unreasonable.

Otherwise you would not be so rosy about the abortions that the Cowboys fielded under Campo. Those teams allowed more 200 yard rushers than any other team in the history of the NFL, including Landry's inaugural season where he fielded a team that would not have been competitive against even middling college teams.

Yes I blame Phillips. And nope I didn't care for the hire.

Like I posted earlier, every team has quitters to one extent or another.

Garrett had less talent to work.

You seem to think the Cowboys had an "abundance" of talent during the Campo years and "quitting" caused three 5-11 seasons... That in itself makes your conclusions on the entire topic pure folly.

 

[Diehardblues]

It's the off-season so time for posts like this to past the time. This is my ranking of the Cowboys head coaches. This is based mostly on their time in Dallas.

1. Tom Landry
He's on the Mount Rushmore of NFL head coaches. Need I say more?

2. Jimmy Johnson
Personnel and leadership were his strength. If only he and Jerry could have coexisted.

3. Jason Garrett
He kept the team competitive while it was being rebuilt. He has a big influence on how the roster is constructed. He's not the best coach in the league but he does a lot of things well and he's gonna be around for awhile. I believe he's going to start reaping the benefits of the rebuilding and go on a good run of seasons. I almost put Parcells in this spot but decided to give the nod to Garrett.

4. Bill Parcells
He also rebuilt the team on the fly and had a tremendous impact on how the roster is constructed. I believe Jerry learned some things that still benefit the Cowboys today. Like Jimmy, he was here much to short a time.

Now it gets tough.

5. Barry Switzer
I believe he could have been an effective NFL head coach but he was in a bad situation here. He had to follow Jimmy, retain the old staff, basically be place holder at the position. He handled better than many would have and did win a championship. If Jerry had kept the talent coming in he might have stuck around longe

6. Chan Gailey
He took over a Cowboys teams that was getting old and was lacking talent due to some really bad drafts. I don't think he was a great hire but e did have the resume to be head coach. Also, he did take a couple of average Cowboys teams to the playoffs each of his two seasons.

7. Wade Phillips
Great coordinator, bad head coach. Talk to the guy for five minutes and you can tell he's not head coaching material. He just doesn't have that leadership skill to lead a football team. However, the team did have a lot of success for his first few years before bottoming out. Parcells built a good team but he could only win one playoff game.

8. Dave Campo
Never should have been hired. Never ... ever ... as a head coach. He had even worse leadership skills to be an NFL head coach. He was also handicapped by some really bad teams and horrible drafts .

That's my list. Feel free to disagree.

Nice job. Only change I might make is flipping Wade and Barry.

And while I like Garrett at#3 for us Bill is definitely a greater coach and set our franchise on the best course it had been since Jimmy.

 

[crashintonickdm]

I liked chan gailey. Got a raw deal in 98

 

[BAT]

Yes I blame Phillips. And nope I didn't care for the hire.

Like I posted earlier, every team has quitters to one extent or another.

Garrett had less talent to work.

You seem to think the Cowboys had an "abundance" of talent during the Campo years and "quitting" caused three 5-11 seasons... That in itself makes your conclusions on the entire topic pure folly.

I agree that the talent under Campo was dismal and became even more dismal under each of his drafts. But hiring Campo was clear sign of ownership quitting on the Cowboys and their fans. Campo was an incompetent HC in any event, the lack of talent actually helped him earn sympathy points.

But let's not pretend that the cupboard was completely bare under Campo, Cowboys still had Emmitt, Troy, Rocket, Larry Allen, Erik Williams, Stepnoski, Flozell Adams, Randal Cunningham, Leon Lett, Darren Woodson, Dat Nguyen, Ryan McNeil, Dexter Coakley, Greg Ellis, LaRoi Glover, Roy Williams for various durations under Campo's 3 seasons as HC.

Jimmy or even Wade could have gotten much more out of these players than Campo did.

 

[cml750]

I agree that the talent under Campo was dismal and became even more dismal under each of his drafts. But hiring Campo was clear sign of ownership quitting on the Cowboys and their fans. Campo was an incompetent HC in any event, the lack of talent actually helped him earn sympathy points.

But let's not pretend that the cupboard was completely bare under Campo, Cowboys still had Emmitt, Troy, Rocket, Larry Allen, Erik Williams, Stepnoski, Flozell Adams, Randal Cunningham, Leon Lett, Darren Woodson, Dat Nguyen, Ryan McNeil, Dexter Coakley, Greg Ellis, LaRoi Glover, Roy Williams for various durations under Campo's 3 seasons as HC.

Jimmy or even Wade could have gotten much more out of these players than Campo did.

The talent under Campo was indeed dismal. Campo did not inherit a team with a superstar QB or one that had made the playoffs just the previous year. Campo may have very well been considered a good coach had he been given the advantages Garrett has had and wasted so far.

 

[BAT]

The talent under Campo was indeed dismal. Campo did not inherit a team with a superstar QB or one that had made the playoffs just the previous year. Campo may have very well been considered a good coach had he been given the advantages Garrett has had and wasted so far.

Cowboys went to playoffs under Gailey the previous season, albeit with 8-8 record. And Troy was still QB under Campo. Troy actually retired because he wanted out of the Cowboys, did not like their direction. Troy has said many times he almost came back out of retirement to play for Philly.

But I agree, Garrett inherited star players in their peak, unlike Campo.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I agree that the talent under Campo was dismal and became even more dismal under each of his drafts. But hiring Campo was clear sign of ownership quitting on the Cowboys and their fans. Campo was an incompetent HC in any event, the lack of talent actually helped him earn sympathy points.

But let's not pretend that the cupboard was completely bare under Campo, Cowboys still had Emmitt, Troy, Rocket, Larry Allen, Erik Williams, Stepnoski, Flozell Adams, Randal Cunningham, Leon Lett, Darren Woodson, Dat Nguyen, Ryan McNeil, Dexter Coakley, Greg Ellis, LaRoi Glover, Roy Williams for various durations under Campo's 3 seasons as HC.

Jimmy or even Wade could have gotten much more out of these players than Campo did.

Many of those guys were either super young or at the ends of their careers.

And there's a difference between poor coaching and "quitting".

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

It's the off-season so time for posts like this to past the time. This is my ranking of the Cowboys head coaches. This is based mostly on their time in Dallas.

1. Tom Landry
He's on the Mount Rushmore of NFL head coaches. Need I say more?

2. Jimmy Johnson
Personnel and leadership were his strength. If only he and Jerry could have coexisted.

3. Jason Garrett
He kept the team competitive while it was being rebuilt. He has a big influence on how the roster is constructed. He's not the best coach in the league but he does a lot of things well and he's gonna be around for awhile. I believe he's going to start reaping the benefits of the rebuilding and go on a good run of seasons. I almost put Parcells in this spot but decided to give the nod to Garrett.

4. Bill Parcells
He also rebuilt the team on the fly and had a tremendous impact on how the roster is constructed. I believe Jerry learned some things that still benefit the Cowboys today. Like Jimmy, he was here much to short a time.

Now it gets tough.

5. Barry Switzer
I believe he could have been an effective NFL head coach but he was in a bad situation here. He had to follow Jimmy, retain the old staff, basically be place holder at the position. He handled better than many would have and did win a championship. If Jerry had kept the talent coming in he might have stuck around longe

6. Chan Gailey
He took over a Cowboys teams that was getting old and was lacking talent due to some really bad drafts. I don't think he was a great hire but e did have the resume to be head coach. Also, he did take a couple of average Cowboys teams to the playoffs each of his two seasons.

7. Wade Phillips
Great coordinator, bad head coach. Talk to the guy for five minutes and you can tell he's not head coaching material. He just doesn't have that leadership skill to lead a football team. However, the team did have a lot of success for his first few years before bottoming out. Parcells built a good team but he could only win one playoff game.

8. Dave Campo
Never should have been hired. Never ... ever ... as a head coach. He had even worse leadership skills to be an NFL head coach. He was also handicapped by some really bad teams and horrible drafts .

That's my list. Feel free to disagree.

I say Jimmy is first, then Landry, then Parcells, Barry, Wade, Garrett, Gailey, Dumb *** Camp0

 

[haleyrules]

lol. Thats because he wasn't a Head Coach!

 

[haleyrules]

I say Jimmy is first, then Landry, then Parcells, Barry, Wade, Garrett, Gailey, Dumb *** Camp0

Easy..Partner...Easy!

 

[BAT]

Many of those guys were either super young or at the ends of their careers.

And there's a difference between poor coaching and "quitting".

So you admit that Campo and Garrett were poor coaches? I'll take it, and I'll even give you final say on "quitting" too.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

So you admit that Campo and Garrett were poor coaches? I'll take it, and I'll even give you final say on "quitting" too.

Campo was.

Jury is still out on Garret.