FiniteMan!
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I was ready for Jerry to dump Parcells all season until the emergence of Romo. When Romo emerged, I still thought Parcells should just finish out the year. He was clearly burnt. Then Romo started getting very sloppy with the ball. It occurred to me that we should bring Parcells back for one more year to ensure we had a head coach who could get and hold Romo's attention, and so our staff, scheme, and playbook would remain unchanged at this early stage of Romo's development.
Then Parcells decided he would not come back. I am greatly disappointed in how this all came about. 3 years ago, the plan was for Parcells to be replaced by Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer, who made a name for himself as a star defensive coordinator under Dave Campo. Zimmer was the lone retainee from Campo's staff. Parcells respected his fire, work ethic, and the fact that he was a "football guy".
Zimmer ran the 4-3 with Roy Williams attacking the line of scrimmage with great regularity. As the years passed, Parcells drafted players that fit his crappy, pansy 3-4 scheme, and began to insist the cowboys play that dog scheme. All year pass coverage has been spotty at best and towards the end of this season, you saw the cowboys defense totally melt down as the players lacked the skillset and confidence to execute Parcells' defense. As the losses mounted, Bill seemed to sour on Zimmer. As Bill had Jerry's ear, (or perhaps coincidentally) so, it seems, did Jerry.
When the season ended, it was said it would be about 5 days until we heard Parcell's decision on whether or not to return. It turned out to be weeks. Why? Did Parcells not know what kind of unrest that would create for the coaching staff? Jerry refused to extend coaches, not knowing if Parcells would return. Zimmer would be advised he would be allowed to return next year if Parcells returned, but no gurantees beyond that. Without knowing whether or not Parcells would be back, Zimmer bit when a more solid offer of continued employment as a defensive coordinator was offerred by Atlanta. Atlanta will let him coach the 4-3.
I beleive Parcells is kind of a dick. I think the idea that he leaves teams in great shape for his successors is very much overstated, if not a flat out erronious assumption created by the NY media. I think it stung Parcell's pride that Belicheck is flat out a better coach than Parcells. Belichek didn't win in NE because Parcells left him Drew Bledsoe and a collection of spotty middling talent. Belicheck won because is a defensive mastermind and he developed the second coming of Joe Montana. Both coaches are of similar caliber in team management and force of personality, but there is evidence to suggest that Bellichek pays more attention to detail and is much more ingenious and intuitive in his defensive playcalling and schemes and his use of players on both sides of the ball. There is also much to suggest that Belichek's assistants are expected to add to his schemes while Parcells expects his just to execute his vision.
I fully expected Parcells to screw over Dallas on the way out so his successor would be less successful that he was, and I think sadly I have been proven right.
Mike Zimmer would have been the PERFECT coach to take over this franchise, and that is why I think Parcells ran him out. I believe Zimmer is Belichek in the making. He is a feircly driven defensive coordinator who puts in obnoxious hours studying film. He is a driven, veteran hardass, who has multiple seasons having seen Bill manage a team. He is ready to be a head coach.
Dallas could have moved him up to head coach, retained all of the offensive staff and easily have shifted back to the 4-3 scheme. Williams would have been properly utilized again and the defensive linemen would have a much better shot of developing in a scheme that let them attack rather than just catching blocks and protecting LBs.
Offensively, this would have been pretty darned good for Tony Romo. Romo makes plays. Regardless of who you bring in, Romo will make plays. He has that knack. But like former Seattle QB Dave Kreig (another undrafted QB who went to pro bowls) Romo has a real problem with fumbling. Romo got the right kind of coaching this year --- a system that suited his skills and a head coach who demanded his attention and insisted he focus on not turning the ball over.
Head coaches who are former defensive coordinators are usually the ones who rant about not turning the ball over. The intense Zimmer would have gotten and held Romo's attention and made him focus. Even if Dallas still lost passing coordinator Todd Haley, QB Coach Chris Palmer (a long time successful NFL offensive coordinator and one of the people Romo credits for his success) could have run the same scheme VERY competently as the team's offensive coordinator, allowing the current apple of Jerry's eye, the raw Jason Garrett, to step into the "passing game coordinator/QB coach" position.
Instead Jerry has Garrett on as the team Offensive coordinator and near future head coach-in-waiting. Quite the bitter pill for any outside candidate.
Additionally, there are rumours Dan Reeves called Jerry hat-in-hand asking for a chance to interview for the position and that Jerry blew him off. If that is true (no reason to beleive it isn't), was it part of Jerry's ego problem in dealing with the fact that there was a tem before him? More of his apparent jealous of the loyalty Tom Landry and rest of the old triumverate earned? Or has someone in an advisory position (Parcells) convinced Jerry that he needs a younger head coach? Or maybe Jerry watched Parcells struggle and drew that conclusion himself. Or Maybe Parcells flat out told Jerry Reeves was a poor candidate for the job.
I frankly am hugely disappointed that he wasn't even interviewed. I have not been a huge fan of Reeves as a coach historically. I think his hard headedness in Denver really hindered the development of John Elway. (Remember Elway was a 60+% passer in college; a 57% passer under Reeves; and a 60+% passer after Reeves.) In addition, his refusal to bring in a legit 1000 yard rusher was the main reason those broncho teams imploded in the superbowl.
Season Team Regular Season Post Season
Record Finish Record Finish
1981 Denver Broncos 10-6 2nd -- AFC West --
1982 Denver Broncos 2-7 12th -- AFC --
1983 Denver Broncos 9-7 T2nd -- AFC West 0-1 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1984 Denver Broncos 13-3 1st -- AFC West 0-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1985 Denver Broncos 11-5 2nd -- AFC West --
1986 Denver Broncos 11-5 1st -- AFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1987 Denver Broncos 10-4-1 1st -- AFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1988 Denver Broncos 8-8 2nd -- AFC West --
1989 Denver Broncos 11-5 1st -- AFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1990 Denver Broncos 5-11 5th -- AFC West --
1991 Denver Broncos 12-4 1st -- AFC West 1-1 Lost Conference Championship
1992 Denver Broncos 8-8 3rd -- AFC West --
All that said, I think he had to eat a lot of humble pie in the years since and he has become a better coach at each stop since then because of it. He took over Parcell's fading giants after Ray Handley couldn't win and kept the team respectable until Phil Simms retired.
1993 New York Giants 11-5 2nd -- NFC East 1-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1994 New York Giants 9-7 2nd -- NFC East --
1995 New York Giants 5-11 4th -- NFC East --
1996 New York Giants 6-10 5th -- NFC East --
He took over atlanta and took them to the superbowl, before injuries crushed that thin roster. He then broke in Michael Vick and got the best run of play from Vick that any NFL coach has, by tailoring the offense to suit Vick's skills. Then Vick went down and Reeves was fired.
1997 Atlanta Falcons 7-9 T2nd -- NFC West --
1998 Atlanta Falcons 14-2 1st -- NFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1999 Atlanta Falcons 5-11 3rd -- NFC West --
2000 Atlanta Falcons 4-12 5th -- NFC West --
2001 Atlanta Falcons 7-9 T3rd -- NFC West --
2002 Atlanta Falcons 9-6-1 2nd -- NFC South 1-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
2003 Atlanta Falcons 3-10 4th -- NFC South --
Career 190-165-2 11-9
Reeves may not be the kind of long term candidate Jerry wants but short term I think he would totally fit the bill. He is a proven winner who generally wins at least half of his games when he makes the playoffs. He runs a tight ship with no preferrential treatment. Rumor is Jerry wanted to bring in Garrent to lear to be a head coach under Parcells. Reeves could teach Garrett the same skills, and unlike Parcells, Reeves only hidden agendas would likely be a desire to coach his mentor's team and few more shots at winning a superbowl with a team with an above-average talent base.
Instead it looks like Troy Aikman's endless campaigning for Norv Turner may land him in Dallas.
I am not a Turner fan. He is a great offensive coordinator, but history suggests that if you make him a head coach, he is moved away from his area of expertise. As a head coach, his teams turn the ball over more frequently than they do when he is the coordinator. For this reason, I question the logic that suggests he will be the kind of head coach who gets the best out of Romo.
Additionally, Turner's system made a star of Aikman, a statuesque pocket passer who was extremely accurate on short and medium passes when he got in rythm. Tony Romo has nearly a dimetrically opposite skillset. Romo is best when plays break down and he is flushed from the pocket and sans his reads on the move to see who his scramble has freed. He is at his WORST when he is bottled up in the pocket. 90's cowboys fans won't want to hear this, but it doesn't make it any less true. Aikman's career was rescued by Turner's system because it did not require him to read defenses. He just had to put the ball at a certain place at a certain time. Now he WAS brilliant at that, but you need to acknowledge it. Romo's best skill is reading defenses.
Finally, as a head coach (58-82-1 in the regular season) Turner's teams do not seem especially disciplined or well coached overall. His losing career record to me makes it a no brainer that he is not the guy you want to turn over this team to if you consider it a superbowl contender---as Jerry and most cowboy fans do.
The other early front runner was Wade Phillips, a bit of a defensive version of Norv Turner in that he is not on anyone else's coach search. He is at least a competent short term head coach (ie. 48-39 regular season record.), although his record suggests he cannot hold a team's attention for longer than 2-3 seasons. Maybe that works for Jerry as he would finally have a coach who he could buddy around with and do toasts after games. Phillips would certainly have the team in the playoffs next year, but he would only continue to teach Garrett how average NFL coaches run teams. Phillips would find a way to push a couple of our defensive player's buttons and to get them to perform in the 3-4, so as much as I hate that pansy scheme, I cannot totally discount him.
I was thorougly disgusted a couple of weeks ago as Phillips and Turner, two coaches owning a combined 1-5 playoff record in 14 combined seasons as head coaches, were the cream of the Dallas candidate crop. (The Cardinals interviewed a MUCH stronger pool of candidates.) I think I was not alone. Either due to fan outrage or due to Jerry himself questioning if these were strong enough candates, he decided extend his interviews. He has interviewed Mike Singletary as his rooney rule candidate. I think Singletary will one day be a very good NFL head coach, but who like Garrett is probably too raw and is probably not yet a guy to whom you would want to give the reigns of a "legitimate super bowl contender".
Jones is set to interview Bears Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera, but that might be a semi-lateral move to become the cowboys defensive coordinator under a Norv Turner regime. There are reports that Jerry considers Phillips very much still in the running. I think Jerry realizes he has to fix the defense, but likes Norv a little better even though Norv is the lesser candidate. Chicago pays their coaches very poorly. Most of the NFL head coaching slots are already filled. Riviera probably doesn't have a head coaching gig in the NFL this year unless Jerry offers it, so why not take a 1-2 year, well paying gig as "defensive coordinator/Assistant head coach" to turnaround Dallas's defense under turner? If Rivera can spur one of the talented young linemen to develop (good odds), get Carpenter to become a decent cover LB (good odds), get Jerry to spend one or all of the picks on a second corner (very good odds), and use Roy Williams better (You can't use him worse than Parcells did), there is no reason that the defense wouldn't be significantly better next year and he wouldn't be just as hot of a HC candidate next season.
If Rivera is game, I think Turner gets the job. If he is not, I think Jerry thinks long and hard about bringing Dave Campo back as Turner's defensive coordinator, before realizing he just can't sell turner and campo in Dallas as the team's future and hiring Phillips.
Mike Caldwell of Indy reportedly will also be interviewed. I don't know what to make of that other than Phillips wants to practice interviewing for NFL head coaching jobs and Jerry wants to look like he didn't just round up the most despirate, washed up, yes men candidates in the world. Caldwell is well thought of by most. I am not overly jazzed. I don't know if he wants to be Jerry's puppet instead of waiting 2-3 seasons for a real NFL Head coaching gig with the freedom to hire his own coaches.
Today, the-candidate-I'd-most-like-to-see-Jerry-hire-but-he-won't-even-consider would be Marty Schottenheimer, the current charger's coach. San Diego's GM is sour on him and Schottenheirmer is likely feeling underappreciated again. The man has coached for a meddling owner in Washington and a meddling GM in San Diego. I think Dallas could land him for a discounted price---maybe a single first or second. Schottenheimer has a career record of 200-126-1 and has been to the playoffs 13 times in 20 full seasons and only 2 losing seasons in that span, but has only a dissapointing 5-13 record in the playoffs. He has rebuilt numerous teams, which I beleive in combination with facing comeback king John Elway and Jim Kelly and Warren Moon and their much more talented teams account for his playoff record skewing as unfavorably as it has. If you look closely, he generally has had the weaker team in the playoffs, so his losing record is not statistically suprising. He is a very solid and level-headed coach who is an excellent teacher and uses very sound schemes on both sides of the ball. He is the coach who developed Bernie Kosar, Drew Brees, and Phillip Rivers into NFL stars. He's the guy I'd like to see Jerry entrust Romo's development to.
I suspect Jerry won't give picks for a coach and won't surrender the level of control over staff Schottenheimer would want, so it won't happen.
In the likely Jerry scheme of getting the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in place, a name that I can't get out of my head is Michael Irvin. Who was more of a student of the game than Irvin? Who knew which buttons to push with other players? Who could motivate white and black players alike? Who played for jimmy Johnson longest and knew the Jimmy Johnson motivation techniques better than anyone?
If Jerry is going to hand the coach an offensive and defensive coordinator, who do you think would be more successful as a head coach, Turner or Irvin?
Micheal knows he owes a debt to Jerry as Jerry has always had his back, so I think he'd do it if asked. Plus Michael Irvin has never backed down from a challenge.
Neither here nor there I guess. Not going to happen. I think this week offers a 70% chance of Turner and a 30% chance of Phillips.
Then Parcells decided he would not come back. I am greatly disappointed in how this all came about. 3 years ago, the plan was for Parcells to be replaced by Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer, who made a name for himself as a star defensive coordinator under Dave Campo. Zimmer was the lone retainee from Campo's staff. Parcells respected his fire, work ethic, and the fact that he was a "football guy".
Zimmer ran the 4-3 with Roy Williams attacking the line of scrimmage with great regularity. As the years passed, Parcells drafted players that fit his crappy, pansy 3-4 scheme, and began to insist the cowboys play that dog scheme. All year pass coverage has been spotty at best and towards the end of this season, you saw the cowboys defense totally melt down as the players lacked the skillset and confidence to execute Parcells' defense. As the losses mounted, Bill seemed to sour on Zimmer. As Bill had Jerry's ear, (or perhaps coincidentally) so, it seems, did Jerry.
When the season ended, it was said it would be about 5 days until we heard Parcell's decision on whether or not to return. It turned out to be weeks. Why? Did Parcells not know what kind of unrest that would create for the coaching staff? Jerry refused to extend coaches, not knowing if Parcells would return. Zimmer would be advised he would be allowed to return next year if Parcells returned, but no gurantees beyond that. Without knowing whether or not Parcells would be back, Zimmer bit when a more solid offer of continued employment as a defensive coordinator was offerred by Atlanta. Atlanta will let him coach the 4-3.
I beleive Parcells is kind of a dick. I think the idea that he leaves teams in great shape for his successors is very much overstated, if not a flat out erronious assumption created by the NY media. I think it stung Parcell's pride that Belicheck is flat out a better coach than Parcells. Belichek didn't win in NE because Parcells left him Drew Bledsoe and a collection of spotty middling talent. Belicheck won because is a defensive mastermind and he developed the second coming of Joe Montana. Both coaches are of similar caliber in team management and force of personality, but there is evidence to suggest that Bellichek pays more attention to detail and is much more ingenious and intuitive in his defensive playcalling and schemes and his use of players on both sides of the ball. There is also much to suggest that Belichek's assistants are expected to add to his schemes while Parcells expects his just to execute his vision.
I fully expected Parcells to screw over Dallas on the way out so his successor would be less successful that he was, and I think sadly I have been proven right.
Mike Zimmer would have been the PERFECT coach to take over this franchise, and that is why I think Parcells ran him out. I believe Zimmer is Belichek in the making. He is a feircly driven defensive coordinator who puts in obnoxious hours studying film. He is a driven, veteran hardass, who has multiple seasons having seen Bill manage a team. He is ready to be a head coach.
Dallas could have moved him up to head coach, retained all of the offensive staff and easily have shifted back to the 4-3 scheme. Williams would have been properly utilized again and the defensive linemen would have a much better shot of developing in a scheme that let them attack rather than just catching blocks and protecting LBs.
Offensively, this would have been pretty darned good for Tony Romo. Romo makes plays. Regardless of who you bring in, Romo will make plays. He has that knack. But like former Seattle QB Dave Kreig (another undrafted QB who went to pro bowls) Romo has a real problem with fumbling. Romo got the right kind of coaching this year --- a system that suited his skills and a head coach who demanded his attention and insisted he focus on not turning the ball over.
Head coaches who are former defensive coordinators are usually the ones who rant about not turning the ball over. The intense Zimmer would have gotten and held Romo's attention and made him focus. Even if Dallas still lost passing coordinator Todd Haley, QB Coach Chris Palmer (a long time successful NFL offensive coordinator and one of the people Romo credits for his success) could have run the same scheme VERY competently as the team's offensive coordinator, allowing the current apple of Jerry's eye, the raw Jason Garrett, to step into the "passing game coordinator/QB coach" position.
Instead Jerry has Garrett on as the team Offensive coordinator and near future head coach-in-waiting. Quite the bitter pill for any outside candidate.
Additionally, there are rumours Dan Reeves called Jerry hat-in-hand asking for a chance to interview for the position and that Jerry blew him off. If that is true (no reason to beleive it isn't), was it part of Jerry's ego problem in dealing with the fact that there was a tem before him? More of his apparent jealous of the loyalty Tom Landry and rest of the old triumverate earned? Or has someone in an advisory position (Parcells) convinced Jerry that he needs a younger head coach? Or maybe Jerry watched Parcells struggle and drew that conclusion himself. Or Maybe Parcells flat out told Jerry Reeves was a poor candidate for the job.
I frankly am hugely disappointed that he wasn't even interviewed. I have not been a huge fan of Reeves as a coach historically. I think his hard headedness in Denver really hindered the development of John Elway. (Remember Elway was a 60+% passer in college; a 57% passer under Reeves; and a 60+% passer after Reeves.) In addition, his refusal to bring in a legit 1000 yard rusher was the main reason those broncho teams imploded in the superbowl.
Season Team Regular Season Post Season
Record Finish Record Finish
1981 Denver Broncos 10-6 2nd -- AFC West --
1982 Denver Broncos 2-7 12th -- AFC --
1983 Denver Broncos 9-7 T2nd -- AFC West 0-1 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1984 Denver Broncos 13-3 1st -- AFC West 0-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1985 Denver Broncos 11-5 2nd -- AFC West --
1986 Denver Broncos 11-5 1st -- AFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1987 Denver Broncos 10-4-1 1st -- AFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1988 Denver Broncos 8-8 2nd -- AFC West --
1989 Denver Broncos 11-5 1st -- AFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1990 Denver Broncos 5-11 5th -- AFC West --
1991 Denver Broncos 12-4 1st -- AFC West 1-1 Lost Conference Championship
1992 Denver Broncos 8-8 3rd -- AFC West --
All that said, I think he had to eat a lot of humble pie in the years since and he has become a better coach at each stop since then because of it. He took over Parcell's fading giants after Ray Handley couldn't win and kept the team respectable until Phil Simms retired.
1993 New York Giants 11-5 2nd -- NFC East 1-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1994 New York Giants 9-7 2nd -- NFC East --
1995 New York Giants 5-11 4th -- NFC East --
1996 New York Giants 6-10 5th -- NFC East --
He took over atlanta and took them to the superbowl, before injuries crushed that thin roster. He then broke in Michael Vick and got the best run of play from Vick that any NFL coach has, by tailoring the offense to suit Vick's skills. Then Vick went down and Reeves was fired.
1997 Atlanta Falcons 7-9 T2nd -- NFC West --
1998 Atlanta Falcons 14-2 1st -- NFC West 2-1 Lost Superbowl
1999 Atlanta Falcons 5-11 3rd -- NFC West --
2000 Atlanta Falcons 4-12 5th -- NFC West --
2001 Atlanta Falcons 7-9 T3rd -- NFC West --
2002 Atlanta Falcons 9-6-1 2nd -- NFC South 1-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
2003 Atlanta Falcons 3-10 4th -- NFC South --
Career 190-165-2 11-9
Reeves may not be the kind of long term candidate Jerry wants but short term I think he would totally fit the bill. He is a proven winner who generally wins at least half of his games when he makes the playoffs. He runs a tight ship with no preferrential treatment. Rumor is Jerry wanted to bring in Garrent to lear to be a head coach under Parcells. Reeves could teach Garrett the same skills, and unlike Parcells, Reeves only hidden agendas would likely be a desire to coach his mentor's team and few more shots at winning a superbowl with a team with an above-average talent base.
Instead it looks like Troy Aikman's endless campaigning for Norv Turner may land him in Dallas.
I am not a Turner fan. He is a great offensive coordinator, but history suggests that if you make him a head coach, he is moved away from his area of expertise. As a head coach, his teams turn the ball over more frequently than they do when he is the coordinator. For this reason, I question the logic that suggests he will be the kind of head coach who gets the best out of Romo.
Additionally, Turner's system made a star of Aikman, a statuesque pocket passer who was extremely accurate on short and medium passes when he got in rythm. Tony Romo has nearly a dimetrically opposite skillset. Romo is best when plays break down and he is flushed from the pocket and sans his reads on the move to see who his scramble has freed. He is at his WORST when he is bottled up in the pocket. 90's cowboys fans won't want to hear this, but it doesn't make it any less true. Aikman's career was rescued by Turner's system because it did not require him to read defenses. He just had to put the ball at a certain place at a certain time. Now he WAS brilliant at that, but you need to acknowledge it. Romo's best skill is reading defenses.
Finally, as a head coach (58-82-1 in the regular season) Turner's teams do not seem especially disciplined or well coached overall. His losing career record to me makes it a no brainer that he is not the guy you want to turn over this team to if you consider it a superbowl contender---as Jerry and most cowboy fans do.
The other early front runner was Wade Phillips, a bit of a defensive version of Norv Turner in that he is not on anyone else's coach search. He is at least a competent short term head coach (ie. 48-39 regular season record.), although his record suggests he cannot hold a team's attention for longer than 2-3 seasons. Maybe that works for Jerry as he would finally have a coach who he could buddy around with and do toasts after games. Phillips would certainly have the team in the playoffs next year, but he would only continue to teach Garrett how average NFL coaches run teams. Phillips would find a way to push a couple of our defensive player's buttons and to get them to perform in the 3-4, so as much as I hate that pansy scheme, I cannot totally discount him.
I was thorougly disgusted a couple of weeks ago as Phillips and Turner, two coaches owning a combined 1-5 playoff record in 14 combined seasons as head coaches, were the cream of the Dallas candidate crop. (The Cardinals interviewed a MUCH stronger pool of candidates.) I think I was not alone. Either due to fan outrage or due to Jerry himself questioning if these were strong enough candates, he decided extend his interviews. He has interviewed Mike Singletary as his rooney rule candidate. I think Singletary will one day be a very good NFL head coach, but who like Garrett is probably too raw and is probably not yet a guy to whom you would want to give the reigns of a "legitimate super bowl contender".
Jones is set to interview Bears Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera, but that might be a semi-lateral move to become the cowboys defensive coordinator under a Norv Turner regime. There are reports that Jerry considers Phillips very much still in the running. I think Jerry realizes he has to fix the defense, but likes Norv a little better even though Norv is the lesser candidate. Chicago pays their coaches very poorly. Most of the NFL head coaching slots are already filled. Riviera probably doesn't have a head coaching gig in the NFL this year unless Jerry offers it, so why not take a 1-2 year, well paying gig as "defensive coordinator/Assistant head coach" to turnaround Dallas's defense under turner? If Rivera can spur one of the talented young linemen to develop (good odds), get Carpenter to become a decent cover LB (good odds), get Jerry to spend one or all of the picks on a second corner (very good odds), and use Roy Williams better (You can't use him worse than Parcells did), there is no reason that the defense wouldn't be significantly better next year and he wouldn't be just as hot of a HC candidate next season.
If Rivera is game, I think Turner gets the job. If he is not, I think Jerry thinks long and hard about bringing Dave Campo back as Turner's defensive coordinator, before realizing he just can't sell turner and campo in Dallas as the team's future and hiring Phillips.
Mike Caldwell of Indy reportedly will also be interviewed. I don't know what to make of that other than Phillips wants to practice interviewing for NFL head coaching jobs and Jerry wants to look like he didn't just round up the most despirate, washed up, yes men candidates in the world. Caldwell is well thought of by most. I am not overly jazzed. I don't know if he wants to be Jerry's puppet instead of waiting 2-3 seasons for a real NFL Head coaching gig with the freedom to hire his own coaches.
Today, the-candidate-I'd-most-like-to-see-Jerry-hire-but-he-won't-even-consider would be Marty Schottenheimer, the current charger's coach. San Diego's GM is sour on him and Schottenheirmer is likely feeling underappreciated again. The man has coached for a meddling owner in Washington and a meddling GM in San Diego. I think Dallas could land him for a discounted price---maybe a single first or second. Schottenheimer has a career record of 200-126-1 and has been to the playoffs 13 times in 20 full seasons and only 2 losing seasons in that span, but has only a dissapointing 5-13 record in the playoffs. He has rebuilt numerous teams, which I beleive in combination with facing comeback king John Elway and Jim Kelly and Warren Moon and their much more talented teams account for his playoff record skewing as unfavorably as it has. If you look closely, he generally has had the weaker team in the playoffs, so his losing record is not statistically suprising. He is a very solid and level-headed coach who is an excellent teacher and uses very sound schemes on both sides of the ball. He is the coach who developed Bernie Kosar, Drew Brees, and Phillip Rivers into NFL stars. He's the guy I'd like to see Jerry entrust Romo's development to.
I suspect Jerry won't give picks for a coach and won't surrender the level of control over staff Schottenheimer would want, so it won't happen.
In the likely Jerry scheme of getting the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in place, a name that I can't get out of my head is Michael Irvin. Who was more of a student of the game than Irvin? Who knew which buttons to push with other players? Who could motivate white and black players alike? Who played for jimmy Johnson longest and knew the Jimmy Johnson motivation techniques better than anyone?
If Jerry is going to hand the coach an offensive and defensive coordinator, who do you think would be more successful as a head coach, Turner or Irvin?
Micheal knows he owes a debt to Jerry as Jerry has always had his back, so I think he'd do it if asked. Plus Michael Irvin has never backed down from a challenge.
Neither here nor there I guess. Not going to happen. I think this week offers a 70% chance of Turner and a 30% chance of Phillips.
Please, back away from the keyboard. It is better to be silent than to reveal your ignorance.
