Rate the Cowboy head coaches...

[CooterBrown]

Landry- 20 consecutive winning seasons. He made the Cowboys.
Jimmy Johnson- So intense he burned himself out, and some of his players too.
Bill Parcells- Gave a disorganized mess a focus and hope for the future.
Jason Garrett- changed a team's attitude after the season was lost and got them to play hard with nothing to play for except pride. (I include him here because Interim or not, he has been a Cowboy head coach.) It will be interesting to do this list again after the next NFL season, whenever that is.
Chan Gailey- Troy Aikman didn't like his offense, and the team got old and slow.
Wade Phillips- Nice guys don't always finish last, but rarely finish first. Aw shucks.
Dave Campo- Nothing to work with. A puppet coach chosen out of loyalty rather than qualifications.
Barry Switzer- Moose said it, "we won the Superbowl against Pittsburg despite the coaching, not because of it." He was one of 500 coaches who could win the superbowl with this team, but any one of the remaining 499 choices would have won at least two superbowls.

 

[thechosen1n2]

I understand the legend, and I know i will get blasted and I was as pissed as the next fan the day the announcement was made that the hat was gone

BUT

Coaches 1-4

1. Johnson (3 rings, yes im including switzers as his)
2. Landry (2 rings and a legend)
3a. Phillips (slightly above parcells because he got first playoff win in years)
3b. Parcells (key part of wades success)
4. Jason Garrett (seriously, Jason Garrett)

The other Coaches-

1. Jerry Switzer-(held it together long enuf to win a ring...shoulda been 2)
2. Chan Jones- (hey at least some of his gimicky offense was sometimes fun)

The Worst-

Dave Campo- Mr. 15 of 48. This guy brought nothing to the table. The others were better than jerry and were drug down by his involvement, Campo made Jerry look worse than what he is.

 

[Stautner]

I understand the legend, and I know i will get blasted and I was as pissed as the next fan the day the announcement was made that the hat was gone

BUT

Coaches 1-4

1. Johnson (3 rings, yes im including switzers as his)
2. Landry (2 rings and a legend)
3a. Phillips (slightly above parcells because he got first playoff win in years)
3b. Parcells (key part of wades success)
4. Jason Garrett (seriously, Jason Garrett)

The other Coaches-

1. Jerry Switzer-(held it together long enuf to win a ring...shoulda been 2)
2. Chan Jones- (hey at least some of his gimicky offense was sometimes fun)

The Worst-

Dave Campo- Mr. 15 of 48. This guy brought nothing to the table. The others were better than jerry and were drug down by his involvement, Campo made Jerry look worse than what he is.

I knew someone would do this.

The thing that makes it unfair to put johnson ahead of Landry is that Johnson never showed he could sustain success over time. Landry built the Cowboys from even less than Jimmy started with and maintained a high level of success over the cours of many years, and he was the guy that guilt the team that built the Cowboys legend. The job Jimmy did was remarkable, but coming in, having success and leaving in 3 years says nothing about an ability to maintain success while dealing with changes over a long stretch of time. The fact that Landry did that should easily put him over jimmy.

 

[DallasEast]

I understand the legend, and I know i will get blasted and I was as pissed as the next fan the day the announcement was made that the hat was gone

BUT

Coaches 1-4

1. Johnson (3 rings, yes im including switzers as his)
2. Landry (2 rings and a legend)
3a. Phillips (slightly above parcells because he got first playoff win in years)
3b. Parcells (key part of wades success)
4. Jason Garrett (seriously, Jason Garrett)

The other Coaches-

1. Jerry Switzer-(held it together long enuf to win a ring...shoulda been 2)
2. Chan Jones- (hey at least some of his gimicky offense was sometimes fun)

The Worst-

Dave Campo- Mr. 15 of 48. This guy brought nothing to the table. The others were better than jerry and were drug down by his involvement, Campo made Jerry look worse than what he is.

Directing a team to a Super Bowl appearance is an supreme achievement in itself. Tom Landry did not secure five rings, but the three which slipped through his grasp were lost at combined score of eleven points. E-l-e-v-e-n. 11. 3 + 4 + 3.

I don't know what else to say. If Jimmy Johnson is going to be elevated over Landry for going 2-for-2 in Super Bowls, it really shortchanges what it really takes for a head coach to just GET his team in position to win any. Maybe I would feel differently if Johnson had gotten the team to four or five Super Bowls, but he didn't.

 

[thechosen1n2]

Directing a team to a Super Bowl appearance is an supreme achievement in itself. Tom Landry did not secure five rings, but the three which slipped through his grasp were lost at combined score of eleven points. E-l-e-v-e-n. 11. 3 + 4 + 3.

I don't know what else to say. If Jimmy Johnson is going to be elevated over Landry for going 2-for-2 in Super Bowls, it really shortchanges what it really takes for a head coach to just GET his team in position to win any. Maybe I would feel differently if Johnson had gotten the team to four or five Super Bowls, but he didn't.

Okay, okay, I dont truly believe Johnson is better than Landry, but everyone was saying Landry so i needed to add some spark to this thread. Yall called my bluff, and I would feel stupid arguing the point any further. I see I was not able to sway anyone.

 

[DallasEast]

Okay, okay, I dont truly believe Johnson is better than Landry, but everyone was saying Landry so i needed to add some spark to this thread. Yall called my bluff, and I would feel stupid arguing the point any further. I see I was not able to sway anyone.

This site has a LOT of members. It may still happen.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

This should spark a lively discussion...

rate the Cowboy head coaches from best to worst:

Tom Landry
Jimmy Johnson
Barry Switzer
Chan Gailey
Dave Campo
Bill Parcells
Wade Phillips

Johnson
Parcells
Landry
Switzer
Phillips
Gailey
Campo

 

[Stautner]

This site has a LOT of members. It may still happen.

Yep, it happened.

Surely CCF is just rying to stir things up and really isn't putting Landry behind Jimmy and Bill.

Johnson
Parcells
Landry
Switzer
Phillips
Gailey
Campo

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Nope, Parcells turned the team around in one season. Landry didn't have to deal with free agency, players with egos the size of Texas and he choked in big games far more than most.

His last 9 seasons with the Cowboys were disasters and he steadfastly refused to change despite the fact the game was passing him by.

Yes he was the face of the franchise for the first 20 years but the last 9 he lost more than he should have lost.

Parcells went to the playoffs 2 of 4 years despite having no names as QB (other than Bledsoe), he never had the luxury of a Don Meredith or Roger Staubach.

Johnson has to be ranked higher, he went from 1-15 to the playoffs in two years and back to back SBs. He rarely lost a big game.

 

[TwentyOne]

This should spark a lively discussion...

rate the Cowboy head coaches from best to worst:

1. Jimmy Johnson
2. Wade Phillips
3. Bill Parcells
4. Chan Gailey
5. Barry Switzer
6. Dave Campo

I can't rate Tom Landry.

 

[DallasEast]

Yep, it happened.

Surely CCF is just rying to stir things up and really isn't putting Landry behind Jimmy and Bill.

A LOT of members = increased chances of something becoming true.

 

[Stautner]

Nope, Parcells turned the team around in one season. Landry didn't have to deal with free agency, players with egos the size of Texas and he choked in big games far more than most.

His last 9 seasons with the Cowboys were disasters and he steadfastly refused to change despite the fact the game was passing him by.

Yes he was the face of the franchise for the first 20 years but the last 9 he lost more than he should have lost.

Parcells went to the playoffs 2 of 4 years despite having no names as QB (other than Bledsoe), he never had the luxury of a Don Meredith or Roger Staubach.

Johnson has to be ranked higher, he went from 1-15 to the playoffs in two years and back to back SBs. He rarely lost a big game.

I'm guessing you are young.

First, you are wrong - Landry was the face of the Cowboys for the first 28 years, not 20. You are apparently under the impression that the mid to late 1980's made up almost half his career and defined him as much as the success, and that's simply not true.

As for building a team, Landry had to start a team from scratch. Not from a subpar group of players like Parcells and Jimmy did, but from scratch - no players at all.

And he did it as a rookie head coach. Had never even been a head coach at any level before.

He not only built the team, he made the playoffs more and won more games than anyone over a 20 year period. 20 YEARS, not just a few years like Bill and Jimmy.

As for egos, apparently you don't know much about Don Meredeth, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, Duane Thomas etc ..... surely you don't really think Landry's era was free from prima donnas.

And he won 2 Super Bowls, got to 3 others that he lost by a collective total of 11 points, and made it to one NFL Championship game (pre Super Bowl. Not only that, he was one of the true defensive innovators in the history of the NFL, having invented the 4-3 and flex defenses.

How many championships did Bill win in Dallas? For that matter, how many playoff games did he win?

As for choking in big games, are you really going to say that losing tight games to a Pittsburgh team that won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970's was the result of Landry choking? Or a team that actually challenged the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut Green Bay Packers of the 1960's the result of Landry choking? Hell, he did that in just his 6th year as a head coach with a team only in its 6th year in existence.

The fact is, Landry put them in the championshiop game 6 times in 13 years - try and grasp that.

I'll grant you that it was time for him to retire in the late 1980's, but the majority of his career was so remarkable that it's just plain BS to judge his career by that time. Hell, Jimmy and Bill never even hung around long enough to see if they were capable of maintaining success over even half of Landry's career.

 

[Chuck 54]

This should spark a lively discussion...

rate the Cowboy head coaches from best to worst:

Tom Landry
Jimmy Johnson
Barry Switzer
Chan Gailey
Dave Campo
Bill Parcells
Wade Phillips

Tom Landry
Jimmy Johnson
Bill Parcells
Chan Gailey
Wade Phillips
Dave Campo
Barry Switzer...are you kidding me...try watching the NFL video about that SB season...guys like Woodson called it more a relief that it was over than a thrill to win the SB...Switzer was a joke to the players themselves...they all say it was a year long circus, never knowing what was going on. One player said they won the SB in spite of the coaching staff, not because of it.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Who cares how many points he lost by, he lost more big games than he won.

In the last 9 years, his teams NEVER won big games. Three straight NFC Championship losses, 1983, had division in hand, lost to the Commanders 31-10, next year, lost a possible division winner against the Commanders, blowing a 21-6lead, 1985, punked in playoffs, never made playoffs again.

It tarnished his legend. He was arguably the worst coach in the NFL the last couple of years, he had no answers.

Yeah he was a great coach at the beginning, but he wasn't in the end and that offsets the greatness.

It is a lot harder to win in a salary cap era than before.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

I'm guessing you are young.

First, you are wrong - Landry was the face of the Cowboys for the first 28 years, not 20. You are apparently under the impression that the mid to late 1980's made up almost half his career and defined him as much as the success, and that's simply not true.

As for building a team, Landry had to start a team from scratch. Not from a subpar group of players like Parcells and Jimmy did, but from scratch - no players at all.

And he did it as a rookie head coach. Had never even been a head coach at any level before.

He not only built the team, he made the playoffs more and won more games than anyone over a 20 year period. 20 YEARS, not just a few years like Bill and Jimmy.

As for egos, apparently you don't know much about Don Meredeth, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, Duane Thomas etc ..... surely you don't really think Landry's era was free from prima donnas.

And he won 2 Super Bowls, got to 3 others that he lost by a collective total of 11 points, and made it to one NFL Championship game (pre Super Bowl. Not only that, he was one of the true defensive innovators in the history of the NFL, having invented the 4-3 and flex defenses.

How many championships did Bill win in Dallas? For that matter, how many playoff games did he win?

As for choking in big games, are you really going to say that losing tight games to a Pittsburgh team that won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970's was the result of Landry choking? Or a team that actually challenged the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut Green Bay Packers of the 1960's the result of Landry choking? Hell, he did that in just his 6th year as a head coach with a team only in its 6th year in existence.

The fact is, Landry put them in the championshiop game 6 times in 13 years - try and grasp that.

I'll grant you that it was time for him to retire in the late 1980's, but the majority of his career was so remarkable that it's just plain BS to judge his career by that time. Hell, Jimmy and Bill never even hung around long enough to see if they were capable of maintaining success over even half of Landry's career.

Good post

 

[Duane]

This should spark a lively discussion...

rate the Cowboy head coaches from best to worst:

Tom Landry
Jimmy Johnson
Barry Switzer
Chan Gailey
Dave Campo
Bill Parcells
Wade Phillips

That's dead on IMO. I never thought Chan got a fair chance here.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

After thinking about it, Aikman was player/coach during the 1995 Switzer SB.
One year coaching and a SB? Maybe our best coach ever was Troy.

 

[Hagman]

Who cares how many points he lost by, he lost more big games than he won.

In the last 9 years, his teams NEVER won big games. Three straight NFC Championship losses, 1983, had division in hand, lost to the Commanders 31-10, next year, lost a possible division winner against the Commanders, blowing a 21-6lead, 1985, punked in playoffs, never made playoffs again.

It tarnished his legend. He was arguably the worst coach in the NFL the last couple of years, he had no answers.

Yeah he was a great coach at the beginning, but he wasn't in the end and that offsets the greatness.

It is a lot harder to win in a salary cap era than before.

:abuseme:

 

[2233boys]

Tom Landry
Jimmy Johnson
Bill Parcells
Wade Phillips
Chan Gailey
Barry Switzer
Dave Campo

 

[Stautner]

Who cares how many points he lost by, he lost more big games than he won.

In the last 9 years, his teams NEVER won big games. Three straight NFC Championship losses, 1983, had division in hand, lost to the Commanders 31-10, next year, lost a possible division winner against the Commanders, blowing a 21-6lead, 1985, punked in playoffs, never made playoffs again.

It tarnished his legend. He was arguably the worst coach in the NFL the last couple of years, he had no answers.

Yeah he was a great coach at the beginning, but he wasn't in the end and that offsets the greatness.

It is a lot harder to win in a salary cap era than before.

He only lost more big games than he won if you only count Super Bowls as big games.

However, for 20 years he won more playoff games than anyone. ANYONE.

I'm curious how you can downgrade Landry for not having to deal with some of the things Jimmy or Parcells did (a lot of which is false), yet you don't downgrade Jmmy and Parcells for not having to deal with the biggest obsticle LAndry did - time. Jimmy was a successful coach in Dallas for 5 years, and PArcells was a marginally successful coach in Dallas for 4 years. In what world can that compare to a coach who manages to make the playoffs and win more playoff games thatn any other coach or team over a 20 year period?

Does Terrell Davis go down as a better RB than Emmitt Smith because he had a couple of great years, or does the fact that Emmitt mainatined excellence for the better part of 15 years factor in?