Roy Williams said what?

[sago1]

Frankly I just think it's tough on a DC to go from a career 4-3 coach overnite to a 3-4 where he's supposed to be teaching/implanting this new system even tho the HC himself was a master 3-4 coach--back in his day.

Unlike some here, I'm still not down on our defensive players. I think Parcells drafted well and signed some good FAs. The fact other organizations throughout the NFL felt we underachieved this year could be do to ppoor plays at critical times by some players but could also be due to not only a conservative gameplan but also lack of a pass rusher opposite Ware.

Count me as one of those pleased by Phillips hire (although Cowhere would have been my first choice if he were available) simply cause our defense really needed help--particularly include from the coaching staff. Somethings wrong when in December of the 2nd year in the 3-4 some of our players are still confused.

Ideally I also wanted Norv to come here but as an OC which fully realize would not be possible but kinda admit I think both Norv & Phillips guiding this team could make us a big time legit SB contender. Oh well, we will see what Soprano and Garrett can do.

Will be interesting to find out who Phillips intends bring in as his DC unless he okay with Bowles who the players seem to like.

Looking forward to the 3 minicamps new HCs allowed to have. Phillips supposedly a teacher, etc., and should be able resolve the confusion problems our players might have felt.

Also can't wait for FA to begin (only about 3 weeks away). I'd love to pick up at least a quality young FA RG who can immediately start/improve our OL. Also saw where Damon Huward--a 9/10 year vet with 98 rating is FA. While it entirely possible he gets an offer as a starter, sure would like to see him come to Dallas as Romo's backup but whose also a QB who could challenge Romo if is has problems.

Want us to resign Gramatica, Gurode & Colombo and also be as sure as we can be that MCquistan is legit potential LT starter. If we unsure, we should draft another OT just in case. If Henry is moved to FS (giving Watkins time to develop) then we must pick up a good CB in first 2 rounds. There probably also several other spots that need upgrade particularly at backup & concern at NT but will be interesting to see Phillips view of our players once he gets a chance to view last year's film (if he hasn't already done so while sitting at in SD waiting for JJ's phone call).

 

[CF74]

Not a big fan of reading into what people say, much less what is apparent in their pauses. It's a phone interview. That's an awful lot of "interpretation" ...more commonly known as BS. They couldn't teach the two-gap system to this group of players, oh well. Maybe he didn't want to throw our moron players under the bus. That pause and subsequent reply could mean anything, and in most cases, your interpretation will be based on what you want it to mean.

It's probably better left uninterpreted. Face value is much better, particularly on phone interviews.

The bottom line is that the teachers were not getting through to the pupils...

 

[Fernando Fernandez]

I'm just happy Wade Phillips is the mastermind behind the Cowboys defense now! From a player aspect I think the Cowboys have equal or more talent than the Chargers had this past year so I'm extremely optimistic.

right on!

 

[MetalHead]

He might not have been the entire problem, no.

But I cannot believe that there was one root cause for all the symptoms.

Coach Parcells was too rigid in his belief in his system. I will acknowledge that. But it has worked before. It just did not work with this set of players.

Mike Zimmer was too uneducated in the scheme to be able to convince his team when it's cerebral nature overwhelmed them.

There was a communication breakdown, somewhere. It is only obvious.

It is harder to blame several factors blended together. So people just pick the one they prefer.

Fair enough.
I still think it was all Duane's doing.
I'm fired up about how the D will bounce back and be dominant.
There is plenty of talent in this team,plenty.

 

[Kilyin]

Hey, is it September yet?

 

[StevenOtero]

All in all... this crap better be clear to them. I will not have another season of crappy defense. I'm sure we won't w/ good ol' wade.

 

[MetalHead]

:fact: Yes. This defense got much better the day Zimmer was fired. His basic no attack containment 3-4 defense sucked badlyand was a waste of talent.

:fact:Zimmer was not fired.
It was Parcell's 3-4,with his groceries in it.
Not ONE move in this team was made without Duane's approval.
Fact.

 

[theebs]

Zim from recent exit interview:

'"Well, we couldn't cover anybody for (the last) four weeks," Zimmer added. "Teams were spreading it out on us, and we were attempting to stay in base coverage."

Why? After a long pause, Zimmer said, "I don't have an answer for that."'

- Interpretation: Bill didn't attempt adjustments, I would have tried to. Zim's saying he either a) really couldn't understand why Bill didn't attempt adjustments or b) Bill was set in his ways and Zim just didn't want to disparage him in this interview. -

Obviously those comments went over your head.

This is a dig at Todd Bowles. Zimmer and bowles didnt get along. That is why zimmer has taken shots at the secondary three times since he has left....

Trying to put th onus on bowles.

 

[Rack]

did i hear talks on the radio yesterday that, the players were confused on the 3 4 and was asking questions even in December?

i remember Newman was frustrated on the radio and saying " they should let us play the game and stop worrying about stuff. Guys should just go out and play". I might be true they were real confused. damn 2 years of waste

I think that was in reference to Zimmer being overly anal about technique. Zimmer is infamous for being anal about the tiniest details about their technique and other small details. It's the reason I always say he turns players into robots. He never knew how to use a players instincts.

 

[Clove]

The bottom line is, this team was un-organized. The offensive guys complained about who was calling plays and the confusion there - The defensive guys complained about not knowing where to be and being confused, and it showed in several games where guys were wide wide open.

I know some of us hate to admit this, but just like super star players eventually start to deterioate, so do super star coaches. You just can't play forever, you just can't coach forever. It's sad but it's true.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Frankly I just think it's tough on a DC to go from a career 4-3 coach overnite to a 3-4

All the more reason he overstayed his visit.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think that was in reference to Zimmer being overly anal about technique. Zimmer is infamous for being anal about the tiniest details about their technique and other small details. It's the reason I always say he turns players into robots. He never knew how to use a players instincts.

I think the cries about Zimmer not being aggressive are wrong, because he does like to blitz. But I totally agree on this point. Supposedly Zimmer would chew guys up and down for having a foot turned 10 degrees off the angle he wanted. I get that you have to use good technique, but that's going so far overboard it's insane. And it will turn you into a robot who never takes a chance and thinks about perfect technique over making a play on the ball.

Question now is, have Roy and Newman been permanently damaged. I hope not.

 

[BrassCowboy]

:fact:Zimmer was not fired.
It was Parcell's 3-4,with his groceries in it.
Not ONE move in this team was made without Duane's approval.
Fact.

hang on, let me enter in the data:

remove all the innuendo, take out the 'save face' stuff, translate the hogwash talk and you get [pause]

c: You're Fired!

sorry, computers don't lie....

 

[Jarv]

He might not have been the entire problem, no.

But I cannot believe that there was one root cause for all the symptoms.

Coach Parcells was too rigid in his belief in his system. I will acknowledge that. But it has worked before. It just did not work with this set of players.

Mike Zimmer was too uneducated in the scheme to be able to convince his team when it's cerebral nature overwhelmed them.

There was a communication breakdown, somewhere. It is only obvious.

It is harder to blame several factors blended together. So people just pick the one they prefer.

On the bolded part, who do you blame, Jerry or Bill ?

I personally don't think Zim was to blame for having to implement a system he had never coached. Jerry or Bill should have stuck with the 4-3 with Zim as DC or gotten a DC with experience in that scheme.

Thats like saying I'm a Unix expert in my Datacenter and my manager and owner of the company decided to switch to a Microsoft platform, then blame me when there are problems, outages and such when I have very little experience in the platform, neither do the technicians I hired with Unix certifications. So we got one 1st year guy with Microsoft experience (Canty), but the rest were converted Unix guys.

All of the end users (fans) say the technicians suck. When in actuality it was they way the manager and owner decided to implement the new platform.

Anyhow, I got the blame and my contract was not renewed but I got a new gig at a Unix datacenter and I'm very happy about that.

 

[THUMPER]

That's what I got out of it too. Bill was commanding Zim's puppet strings. That said, I'm glad they're both purged and Wade is now commanding the Defense. Wade will take these guys from laughing stock to scary scary presence quickly. He's a true 3-4 teacher that has a track record of success with aggressive schemes and quick implementation of his defensive scheme as well. The guys on D that "get it" next year are going to have some fun on the field.

Then how do you explain the fact that our defense had the same problems BEFORE Parcells arrived?

Zimrod was the DC under Dave Campo for 3 years and our defense had the same problems: no pass rush, gave up big plays, couldn't stop anyone late in games.

Before Zimrod took over as DC, Dave Campo was the DC under Chan Gailey, and guess what, the EXACT SAME PROBLEMS!

These problems have been around since Campo took over as DC in 1995 (the last time we had a good defense). After that we have had no pass rush, give up big plays, and can't stop anyone late in games.

The problem isn't just Parcells, or Zimmer, or Campo but the entire defensive philosophy that Campo brought in and has continued through Zimmer and Parcells, and that is the "read and react", "bend but don't break" style that tries to limit what the offense can do. They don't make adjustments to the defense because that doesn't support the basic premise that the base defense should be able to do its job.

The coaches have continually blamed the players for lack of execution yet they never take any responsibility for the failure of the defense themselves.

This year we will finally see what many of us have been saying all along, that Zimrod/Campo/Parcells have the WRONG mentality for playing defense in today's NFL and that what we have needed was an attacking style of defense that doesn't try to LIMIT what an offense CAN do but to DICTATE to it what it CAN'T do.

That doesn't sound like much of a difference but in reality it is HUGE. And we will see that difference in 2007.

OK everyone repeat after me: "The problem existed BEFORE Parcells got here and had nothing to do with the 3-4." Repeat that to yourself the next time you think about posting a comment about how poor Zimmer didn't know the 3-4 and how Parcells thrust it upon him and it was all Bill's fault.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

ZIMMER is gone, therefore, we shall see the improvement next year!

 

[Bleu Star]

Then how do you explain the fact that our defense had the same problems BEFORE Parcells arrived?

Zimrod was the DC under Dave Campo for 3 years and our defense had the same problems: no pass rush, gave up big plays, couldn't stop anyone late in games.

Before Zimrod took over as DC, Dave Campo was the DC under Chan Gailey, and guess what, the EXACT SAME PROBLEMS!

These problems have been around since Campo took over as DC in 1995 (the last time we had a good defense). After that we have had no pass rush, give up big plays, and can't stop anyone late in games.

The problem isn't just Parcells, or Zimmer, or Campo but the entire defensive philosophy that Campo brought in and has continued through Zimmer and Parcells, and that is the "read and react", "bend but don't break" style that tries to limit what the offense can do. They don't make adjustments to the defense because that doesn't support the basic premise that the base defense should be able to do its job.

The coaches have continually blamed the players for lack of execution yet they never take any responsibility for the failure of the defense themselves.

This year we will finally see what many of us have been saying all along, that Zimrod/Campo/Parcells have the WRONG mentality for playing defense in today's NFL and that what we have needed was an attacking style of defense that doesn't try to LIMIT what an offense CAN do but to DICTATE to it what it CAN'T do.

That doesn't sound like much of a difference but in reality it is HUGE. And we will see that difference in 2007.

OK everyone repeat after me: "The problem existed BEFORE Parcells got here and had nothing to do with the 3-4." Repeat that to yourself the next time you think about posting a comment about how poor Zimmer didn't know the 3-4 and how Parcells thrust it upon him and it was all Bill's fault.

Are you disagreeing with me when I say I am thankful Zimmer and manboobies are now gone or agreeing? I'm having a hard time distinguishing which stance you take from your post.

I didn't get THAT deep about it. Zimemr sucks. Parcells is way over the horizon. Good riddance... I like to keep things simple.