The Evolution of Jerry Jones The Cowboys GM In The Red Garrett Era

[Aurican]

I can only go by the evidence available. Jerry has made a minimum amount of dump moves since Garrett has been the Head Coach as compared to what Jerry did before.

If the team starts having success, then Jerry will automatically get more attention. Unlike Parcells or Jimmy, Jerry will want the world to praise Garrett because Garrett is his project.

I disagree, under Garrett the team has had one of the worst defenses in history and a horrible offensive line not to mention a carousel of coaching changes. I would also include the hiring of Garrett himself as one of the dumb moves as he has been unable to show he has the ability to be a successful head coach. If this team has improved as much as it has been made out how is it unable to make the playoffs in such a weak division?

In the end I believe Jerry will be Jerry no matter who the coach is, he will always think he's a player away from a championship and will make dumb moves based on advice from his drinking buddies. Jimmy and Parcells were the only exceptions and there were special circumstances under them but even with Parcells we saw the Peerless Price, Drew Henson and TO moves.

 

[Richmond Cowboy]

I was expecting a Jimmy Fallon dance skit based on the thread title.

 

[xwalker]

So I guess your stance is basically that Garrett isn't great but he's better than a Phillips type which is only our only other option? Isn't it bad that we have to get by with a below average coach just to appease an unqualified GM?

Basically, Yes.

I think most people just don't see how bad it was to have Wade Phillips as the Head Coach.

With Jerry as the GM, he really needs a Head Coach that takes on some of the GM duties. Wade not only was clueless in that area, but he also failed at the #1 requirement of a Head Coach under Jerry and that is to keep the team playing hard and to have a good locker room mentality. Wade let the inmates run the asylum and many developed an inflated sense of entitlement. Once you let players develop that attitude (like Ratliff) it's almost impossible to reverse it. The one player that did seem to go from a sense of entitlement under Wade to trying to be a leader under Garrett was Hatcher.

I know people wanted an instant turnaround like with Harbaugh in SF, but that team has a really good roster situation before Harbaugh arrived. Singletary at least instilled a sense of discipline in the team. It was really a terrific situation for Harbaugh to step into and drastically different than the situation that Garrett inherited.

Due to contract and cap issues, the changes with the Cowboys have had to come slowly. They were in a hole and are just know on flat ground. They can now really focus on building the team without all of the shuffling around of players with big contracts and the salary cap. The 2009 draft and the Roy Williams trade also had them in a hole at the beginning of Garrett's tenure.

I like where they are now in comparison to the past few years. The roster has several quality young players and several more young players with possible upside combined with a much better future cap situation than at any time in the past several years. They need a good draft and then they need to develop stability within the defensive scheme during the season.

 

[birdwells1]

who said to promote him? you misread the post. he is not a good coach. but he maybe better as a GM than a coach. didn't mean to say he is going to make a good GM. geez folks. I don't like garrett neither but enough with the hate. its not him. its Jerry. Jerry hire him. jerry promoted him. jerry gave him the job. jerry is sticking by him. what is garrett suppose to do? oh yeah, the noblemen here will say, just quit and say I suck and step away!!! how many coaches have done that? seriously folks.

This is a contradiction, I don't hate Garrett I just think that he got a job that he didn't earn and therefor is in over his head.

 

[birdwells1]

Nah, I got this place. Its great therapy. Laughter is like medicine and its unlimited here.

Don't seem like it's working to well, you're still obsessed. smh

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

This is a contradiction, I don't hate Garrett I just think that he got a job that he didn't earn and therefor is in over his head.

its not a contradiction. he maybe a better gm than a coach. "Better" doesn't mean "Good".

and I agree that he is probably over his head. learning on the job and making mistakes along the way. has done some good things. has done some wrong things.

 

[dallasdave]

I didn't know Jerry joined Evolution, when did that happen?

 

[Wolfpack]

In the end I believe Jerry will be Jerry no matter who the coach is, he will always think he's a player away from a championship and will make dumb moves based on advice from his drinking buddies. Jimmy and Parcells were the only exceptions and there were special circumstances under them but even with Parcells we saw the Peerless Price, Drew Henson and TO moves.

Don't forget Eddie George on the list. I hated seeing Eddie seething on the sidelines because Parcells wouldn't play him. You can tell who thought Eddie was a good idea and it wasn't the Tuna. I loved Eddie but he was out of gas by the time he got to Dallas.

 

[Beast_from_East]

And simply making the playoffs in a league where almost half the teams make it each year is some kind of significant accomplishment?

Compared to watching at home on the couch................................yes..............................and if it is so easy to make the playoffs, why cant Garrett?

 

[Beast_from_East]

LOL, you are 100% correct!! All the Campo hate and Garrett love around here and they don't even realize Campo and Garrett are the only two coaches in Cowboy's history to not make the playoffs. At least Campo's team didn't have a QB. Garrett does not have that excuse!!

Campo had expansion talent compared to what Opie was handed.

Also will throw this out there..............the fact that Parcells took a team with Quincy Carter at QB to the playoffs and Garrett cant with Romo at QB is very telling.

Both Mickey Spagnola and Nick Eatman have called that season the greatest coaching job they have ever seen.................there is a reason Parcell's bust is in Canton right now.

Only way Garrett will ever see Canton is when he buys a ticket and takes a tour.

 

[DallasEast]

Again...

February 25, 2019 will be the 30th anniversary of Jones buying the franchise.

He can get there if he keeps his cholesterol in check, exercise and not drown his remaining brain cells in alcohol.

Yee haw.

 

[Miller]

Basically, Yes.

I think most people just don't see how bad it was to have Wade Phillips as the Head Coach.

With Jerry as the GM, he really needs a Head Coach that takes on some of the GM duties. Wade not only was clueless in that area, but he also failed at the #1 requirement of a Head Coach under Jerry and that is to keep the team playing hard and to have a good locker room mentality. Wade let the inmates run the asylum and many developed an inflated sense of entitlement. Once you let players develop that attitude (like Ratliff) it's almost impossible to reverse it. The one player that did seem to go from a sense of entitlement under Wade to trying to be a leader under Garrett was Hatcher.

I know people wanted an instant turnaround like with Harbaugh in SF, but that team has a really good roster situation before Harbaugh arrived. Singletary at least instilled a sense of discipline in the team. It was really a terrific situation for Harbaugh to step into and drastically different than the situation that Garrett inherited.

Due to contract and cap issues, the changes with the Cowboys have had to come slowly. They were in a hole and are just know on flat ground. They can now really focus on building the team without all of the shuffling around of players with big contracts and the salary cap. The 2009 draft and the Roy Williams trade also had them in a hole at the beginning of Garrett's tenure.

I like where they are now in comparison to the past few years. The roster has several quality young players and several more young players with possible upside combined with a much better future cap situation than at any time in the past several years. They need a good draft and then they need to develop stability within the defensive scheme during the season.

Why do I keep seeing the bolded? Hindsight makes people think SF was so good but badly coached so I was easy to turnaround. Those players had something to do with the work getting them 2 wins. Garrett inherited a team that was not far removed from a playoff season and that had talent...talent that was years younger on D with Ware, etc and a pretty loaded offense. Did Carroll get lucky in Seattle too? What about Mike Smith in Atlanta, who took over a team that had a coach quit on them and who was in the middle of a dog fight scandal. How did he have 5 straight winning seasons? Stop the excuses.

Also, please stop the "teams don't quit on Garrett." 99% of the league doesn't quit on coaches. They get paid. They're pros playing for contracts. It is rare to have a Phillips season. I heard this refrain while living in Houston about Kubiak. The players LOVED him. They never quit. Too bad he was never a good head coach and they wasted talent and years.

The reality is building slowly in the NFL is not needed anymore. Teams change playoff fortunes yearly. It's not uncommon. The great ones do it consistently. Many turn it on a dime...even in our division. We are the only ones thinking a process I needed. That's called a plan to be .500

 

[gimmesix]

Not to mention

- taking playcalling away from him
- hiring a new defensive coordinator for him
- ignoring him in the draft room last year
- firing his brother

And citing Melton as a reason is pretty weak, too. So Marinelli got a former player... So did Parcells with Ferguson and Anderson and Bledsoe and several others, Wade with Olshansky, Ryan with Coleman. Nothing new there at all.

So yes, it's very easy to refute these arguments. People are just seeing what they want to see.

It's funny though, the author also claimed every area of the roster except maybe D-line has been improved under Garrett. So if the players are better, and the division is worse... Why are we losing more?

The only real change I've seen is not tying up the cap to keep Ware. There does seem to be an actual attempt to not pay age, but not because of anything Garrett has done IMO, simply because the Joneses have been burned by it too many times and injuries have especially been a problem the last few years.
Jerry will make concessions when Jerry needs to make concessions. (He did for Jimmy obviously, for Parcells ...), but he's only a changed man when something (other than him being GM) makes it clear to him that it isn't working.

Hiring bad seeds like Pacman Jones, Terrell Owens and Tank Johnson didn't work, so Jerry started wanting less disreputable players, which means Garrett gets RKGs. (Notice that not all RKGs are created equal.)

Having an older offensive line wasn't working, so Jerry conceded to let it get younger, which also took some weight off the cap.

Paying older guys didn't work, so Jerry is now letting some of them go instead of rewarding them for past success.

Those kind of moves are going to look favorable for the head coach, but Jerry is always only going to do what he feels is best for this team. (Although I don't think he ever truly believed that letting Jimmy go was for the best.)

I don't say this to bash Jerry, simply to say let's deal with the reality of having him as owner/GM. It's his team to control and he's going to go with it where his judgment at the time takes him. It's up to the head coach to know how to use those shifts in judgment.

 

[dallasdave]

So was it Triple H who got Jerry to join Evolution ?

 

[ConstantReboot]

My post was about the Jerry/Garrett relationship and how Jerry has done things while Garrett has been the Head Coach.


As you can see, the questionable moves that I listed are Jerry moves that happened while Garrett was the Head Coach.

My entire point was focused on Jerry and how the Head Coach influences him.

While Parcells was HC, Jerry had to get attention by signing TO and couldn't wait until Parcells was gone to make a big splash by trading for Roy Williams and giving him a new contract.

It was the opposite under Wade. Wade barely got involved in issues like the draft. The only time Wade was ever reported to have input was when he wanted to draft Jason Williams because he could run really fast.

With Garrett as the Head Coach, Jerry has slowly started doing things more like a real GM. There have not been any trades to give away 1st round picks for mediocre players. They've quit holding on the players forever. The draft process seems to have some direction. The salary cap is set to be in better shape in 2015 than it's been in many years.

Would I like to get a coach like Harbaugh? Yes; however, as soon as he started getting attention, Jerry would start making Jerry moves to get the attention back on Jerry and the next 10 years of 1st round picks would be traded away for a Ham Sandwich.

I like your point of view but I somewhat disagree with your point. The reason why I disagree is because Parcells and Garrett's influence on Jerry is very different. I prefer how Parcells ran things because he brought in a winning philosophy. Got rid of the deadbeats and the processes that didn't equate to winning. He installed his own style and brought in players that worked with his system. He was also the only coach that wasn't afraid to confront Jerry and in many ways, did things that Jerry didh't agree with. Sure Jerry was able to do things like sign TO but I can assure you that he still had to walk on eggshells when Parcells was in charge. Basically, Parcells brought results and brought back respectability to what the star stands for.

Now compare this to Garrett's influence on Jerry.

Jerry handpicked Garrett because he was part of the 90s team and has a history with the Cowboys. Although Garrett was new to coaching, Jerry thought highly of him and have already envisioned him as a future coach in the making. He even gave him the tag " genius" which he doesn't really deserve. To Jerry Garrett is like his personal son and will do anything to make sure he succeeds. But is that what you want as a real coach for the Cowboys? Garrett is new and is terrible at game management. He gets his way with Jerry because Jerry wants him to succeed in anyway possible and to prove the world that he made the right decision with Garrett. Its not about Garrett being a good coach or anything like that. Its about Jerry not wanting to be proven wrong with his selection Garrett. That is why he wants to make sure that Garrett succeeds.

Thus I still believe that Parcells was a better coach. He brings in the results and Jerry respected him as a coach. On the otherhand, Garrett is being treated like a son rather than a coach. Garrett is like a child in Jerry's eyes and he gets to have anything he wants because Daddy Jerry wants to make sure his son, Garrett succeeds as coach.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Does Bellichek coach his offense?

Now take Brady, Gronk and two of his olineman out for kicks.

Does Harbaugh run his defense?

Remove both Smith's and his inside backers, are the Niners a playoff team?

There isn't a head coach alive who is responsible for more than a single unit (if any) , Garrett's team has suffered massive injuries to his front seven in consecutive years....there is no denying that. All I am saying is that the team would have made the playoffs last year had they had a healthy Ware and Lee nevermind the rest of the group.

You keep going back to Costa like he was the only problem on the team. Obviously the staff thought he had potential and he was young enough that the potential could translate. Very few young centers have the impact Frederick did a year ago, most especially smallish ones (see Jeff Saturday, Chris Myers etc.) take time to develop. The Colts thought enough of Costa to give him a pretty decent contract and a chance to center for a team with a very important asset playing QB.

What about Bellicheck coaching the offense?
What about Harbaugh running his defense?
Whats your point?

Your saying that we didn't make the playoffs because of injuries.Well I say that nothing but an excuse.

We were 8-8 for 3 consecutive years and each year we could have made the playoffs by winning the final game of the season. That was all that Garrett needed to do. He just needs to win the final game. But no he completely failed in doing so. He can't find ways to win important games. Heck he can't even win close games.

Basically, is the only coach in the NFL right now who has failed to win the final game of the season 3 years in a row to send us into the playoffs. To me thats very disturbing and a strong indication on Garrett's ability to coach.

Him not being to win the big games is not because of injury at all. We played the Eagles in that final game pretty well. It was Garrett who failed to provide a cohesive game plan in winning that game. He doesn't provide an advantage. In fact, he provides no advantage at all and its the one main reason why I believe Garrett will not become a good coach.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

He doesn't provide an advantage. In fact, he provides no advantage at all and its the one main reason why I believe Garrett will not become a good coach.

Agree!

I think we pretty much know by now what we have in Red _. Its possible he could get better, but not very likely IMO. If he lets some good coordinators do the game planning and play calling he may become a much better HC in spite of himself.

 

[jobberone]

Why do I keep seeing the bolded? Hindsight makes people think SF was so good but badly coached so I was easy to turnaround. Those players had something to do with the work getting them 2 wins. Garrett inherited a team that was not far removed from a playoff season and that had talent...talent that was years younger on D with Ware, etc and a pretty loaded offense. Did Carroll get lucky in Seattle too? What about Mike Smith in Atlanta, who took over a team that had a coach quit on them and who was in the middle of a dog fight scandal. How did he have 5 straight winning seasons? Stop the excuses.

Also, please stop the "teams don't quit on Garrett." 99% of the league doesn't quit on coaches. They get paid. They're pros playing for contracts. It is rare to have a Phillips season. I heard this refrain while living in Houston about Kubiak. The players LOVED him. They never quit. Too bad he was never a good head coach and they wasted talent and years.

The reality is building slowly in the NFL is not needed anymore. Teams change playoff fortunes yearly. It's not uncommon. The great ones do it consistently. Many turn it on a dime...even in our division. We are the only ones thinking a process I needed. That's called a plan to be .500

1-7 speaks volumes.

 

[Miller]

1-7 speaks volumes.

So basically you ignore a whole post of facts and take something that wasn't disputed and use it as truth. 1-7 doesn't mean people quit on teams often. As I said, the league is full of bad teams yearly that don't quit. Garrett isn't special because his team does what 31 others do...and ends up at .500.

 

[junk]

Basically, Yes.

I think most people just don't see how bad it was to have Wade Phillips as the Head Coach.

With Jerry as the GM, he really needs a Head Coach that takes on some of the GM duties. Wade not only was clueless in that area, but he also failed at the #1 requirement of a Head Coach under Jerry and that is to keep the team playing hard and to have a good locker room mentality. Wade let the inmates run the asylum and many developed an inflated sense of entitlement. Once you let players develop that attitude (like Ratliff) it's almost impossible to reverse it. The one player that did seem to go from a sense of entitlement under Wade to trying to be a leader under Garrett was Hatcher.

I know people wanted an instant turnaround like with Harbaugh in SF, but that team has a really good roster situation before Harbaugh arrived. Singletary at least instilled a sense of discipline in the team. It was really a terrific situation for Harbaugh to step into and drastically different than the situation that Garrett inherited.

Due to contract and cap issues, the changes with the Cowboys have had to come slowly. They were in a hole and are just know on flat ground. They can now really focus on building the team without all of the shuffling around of players with big contracts and the salary cap. The 2009 draft and the Roy Williams trade also had them in a hole at the beginning of Garrett's tenure.

I like where they are now in comparison to the past few years. The roster has several quality young players and several more young players with possible upside combined with a much better future cap situation than at any time in the past several years. They need a good draft and then they need to develop stability within the defensive scheme during the season.

There is no doubt that Phillips was sub par as a HC. I don't agree that we should settle for something comparable to that just because that is all we can hope for when it comes to working with Jerry. At least Phillips got to the playoffs.

If Garrett gets kudos for the good, he needs to get criticism for the bad. Garrett compounded the cap issues (or was at least party to) during his time with the constant restructuring approach. I don't think this year's moves were part of any sort of long term orchestrated plan. Their hand was forced by poor salary cap management and they realized they had to do something if they wanted to keep their young players long term (Dez and Smith, in particular)

Hatcher was contract year motivated, not Garrett motivated.

As far as the draft, you can say that every year (and we do). Oh, we really need to nail the draft this year. Shouldn't that be your plan every year?