Things I learned about the Cowboys from Romo

[Proximo]

This is one of the dumber things I've seen posted .... ever. If you want to argue that Garrett isn't a good head coach, I can listen to that argument. Any coach who has never won an NFC championship or SB could have that argument made about him. But it's really stupid to try and say Garrett is not a football guy.

Jason Garrett was employed as a QB for 13 seasons in the NFL. Despite limited physical ability, he was successful as the primary backup. In his 7 years in Dallas, he threw 11 TD's filling in for Troy Aikman and other injured QBs with only 5 INTs, with an 83.2 QBR. He did that because he was a football guy who understood schemes.
Pass attempts: 2940
Pass completions: 1650
Percentage: 56.1
He was hired as the QB coach in Miami by Nick Saban, who clearly thought he was a football guy. In 2007 he was hired by Dallas as offensive coordinator. Maybe you don't remember that he led Dallas to the 2nd best offense in the NFL as the coordinator/playcaller. Jerry made him the highest paid assistant in the NFL, not because he was nuts, but because the Ravens and Falcons made him offers after interviewing for their head coaching jobs. Later, he was also interviewed in Detroit, Denver, and Saint Louis where he was a finalist for the job before Jerry made a move and hired him here.

You can say he's made mistakes; you can say he's not a successful coach; you can even suggest that we will never win with him if that's what you believe. But to say he's not a football guy is totally ridiculous unless you suggest you know better than that many people who actually work in the NFL. He was very successful as our offensive playcaller, and you can't do that without being a football guy.

Fantastic post. Couldn't agree more.

 

[BAT]

LOL

Jimmy Johnson employed EXACTLY the same philosophy. Didn't do any schematics at all. Just built a culture and acquired talent to suit it.

Same for Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, etc, and countless coaches from the past.

LOL. Jimmy was much more than just a motivator or culture builder, although he was genius at both. Jimmy was an innovator, on and off the field. He had a philosophy on D, speed kills, and was an expert at finding players that fit his speed 4-3 over scheme. And Jimmy was a master trader and organizer, who could identify great players but also could identify great coaches. Jimmy taught and still influences Belichick today. Jimmy understood momentum and being GREAT at all 3 phases of the game. Jimmy knew when to step on opposing team's necks. He did not just motivate he actually encouraged swagger and confidence, expert in keeping his players focused and expectations high. He stressed his teams because every possession mattered, not enough to just win but had to dominate. Losing was much worse than winning. His culture was not RKG, it was championship or bust.

And Jimmy was actually a successful assistant coach then coordinator before he became a HC, he earned his position by doing the work over time. Jimmy actually knows his X's and O's and makes strategic decisions during games. That is the big difference between Jimmy and Red when it comes to knowing the game, Jimmy could call plays on either O or D, he just chose not to because he was so good at communicating with his coaches on what he wanted. Jimmy was a winner and he proved that at every level of the game. And he could build teams almost overnight, Garrett falls far short of that.

The comparison is almost blasphemous IMO.

 

[BAT]

Garrett was the OC in 07 when the team was blowing people out. You want to give the offensive plan credit to Wade?

He was also a QB in the league for years.

People will be SHOCKED to hear this but by in large the football IQ amongst all NFL coaches is roughly the same with a few outliers at the top like Wade on defense and Belicheck in both sides.

Those who win games are who handle pressure in making the right play call and on the field the right decision where to go with the ball. That’s where Garrett focuses his attention. The details. Not having the fanciest playbook. Mike Martz and Chip Kelly can tell you how valuable that is.

There’s no coach in the league that DOESNT know X’s and O’s. Some just choose to minimize risk more than others.

Linehan was considered a moron by most as a head coach and some even thought so here but the team is on its best run offensively in team history in terms of points scored in last 6.

I guess you forgot that Sporano was baby sitting him that year? And Wade took that young but mediocre D from the HOFer Parcells then made it elite. Funny how memory works huh?

 

[khiladi]

I guess you forgot that Sporano was baby sitting him that year? And Wade took that young but mediocre D from the HOFer Parcells then made it elite. Funny how memory works huh?

Don't forget we lucked into Callahan, while Garrett and Jones were targetting Sporano to return, meaning they were simply looking for help to revamp the struggling offense and not touch 'man-blocking schemes' of Houck. It just so happened that, by accident because Callahan was let go with the whole Jets staff and Sparano took the Jets job, we got one of the greatest OL coaches to ever teach that position, who then proceeded to totally revamp our line with his zone-blocking schemes, along with evaluating talent there and adding players like Leary, Frederick and Martin.

Garrett is the typical prototype of a guy in any field, who gets his position because of daddy and connections. He followed his dad to Columbia and so did Jason's two other brothers, when he was head coach a coaching stint surrounded by controversy and 1 win. His father was fired and ultimately ended up a scout with the Cowboys while Jason went off to the Arean league. The father is the guy that brought Jason here as a third-stringer. When Jimmy left, Jason Garrett's father was basically part of the 'inner circle' of Jerry, along with Lacewell and Stephen and his inner ear in his personnel decisions that included all the disastrous moves until Parcells came along.

This guy and Lacewell bounced when Parcells was here and returned, when Parcells retired. We had all three brothers at one time in Dallas, until the tight end coach who was promoted to passing game coordinator in one year, with hsi Kevin Ogletree project was such a failure, Jerry told him to bounce, but gave him a graceful way of doing it, while Jerry had no problems firing Skip Peete and other coaches. And the other brother has been in scouting all these years and ended up Director of Pro Scouting.

The point being, the Garrett family is well-connected to Jerry... Hell, Jason's father had a video dedicated to him on the official Dallas Cowboys web-site. That is why they have jobs still...

 

[khiladi]

LOL. Jimmy was much more than just a motivator or culture builder, although he was genius at both. Jimmy was an innovator, on and off the field. He had a philosophy on D, speed kills, and was an expert at finding players that fit his speed 4-3 over scheme. And Jimmy was a master trader and organizer, who could identify great players but also could identify great coaches. Jimmy taught and still influences Belichick today. Jimmy understood momentum and being GREAT at all 3 phases of the game. Jimmy knew when to step on opposing team's necks. He did not just motivate he actually encouraged swagger and confidence, expert in keeping his players focused and expectations high. He stressed his teams because every possession mattered, not enough to just win but had to dominate. Losing was much worse than winning. His culture was not RKG, it was championship or bust.

And Jimmy was actually a successful assistant coach then coordinator before he became a HC, he earned his position by doing the work over time. Jimmy actually knows his X's and O's and makes strategic decisions during games. That is the big difference between Jimmy and Red when it comes to knowing the game, Jimmy could call plays on either O or D, he just chose not to because he was so good at communicating with his coaches on what he wanted. Jimmy was a winner and he proved that at every level of the game. And he could build teams almost overnight, Garrett falls far short of that.

The comparison is almost blasphemous IMO.

It's beyond stupid...

Jimmy Johnson totally redefined the NFL, particularly on defense. He brought side-to-side speed in his defenses, while the rest of the NFL was till stuck in bigger and bulkier players and by the time he retired, Dallas had a whole rack of starters as back-ups. It was only because of the sudden implementation of free agency that caused all these players to bounce. I believe it was Walsh that said if free agency didn't come about, Dallas would have won like 6 or 7 SBs in a row. They were the youngest team to win the whole thing.

I once read an opinion recently on here by a forum member that said Jimmy Johnson wasn't really a personnel guy but a motivator, and I thought to myself, what are we dealing with here? Like you said, when JJ retired, Bill Bellichek when he became a HC actually visited him and picked his brain regarding his personnel decisions and that is what actually started their friendship.

 

[HoosierCowboy]

I didn't say he's not a football guy or he doesn't know anything about football.

Bringing up Bear Bryant in this context is a bit like bringing up Kurt Warner when talking about recruiting grocery store clerks to QB your NFL team.

Nevermind that Bear had over 20 years of coaching experience before landing at Bama.

No, bringing up Bear is talking about a coach who hired great assistants and let them coach while he stood in his tower. Has nothing to do with Warner or groceries.

 

[TheCount]

No, bringing up Bear is talking about a coach who hired great assistants and let them coach while he stood in his tower. Has nothing to do with Warner or groceries.

Nah, Bear Bryant has nothing to do with Jason Garrett.

 

[mrmojo]

Don't forget we lucked into Callahan, while Garrett and Jones were targetting Sporano to return, meaning they were simply looking for help to revamp the struggling offense and not touch 'man-blocking schemes' of Houck. It just so happened that, by accident because Callahan was let go with the whole Jets staff and Sparano took the Jets job, we got one of the greatest OL coaches to ever teach that position, who then proceeded to totally revamp our line with his zone-blocking schemes, along with evaluating talent there and adding players like Leary, Frederick and Martin.

Garrett is the typical prototype of a guy in any field, who gets his position because of daddy and connections. He followed his dad to Columbia and so did Jason's two other brothers, when he was head coach a coaching stint surrounded by controversy and 1 win. His father was fired and ultimately ended up a scout with the Cowboys while Jason went off to the Arean league. The father is the guy that brought Jason here as a third-stringer. When Jimmy left, Jason Garrett's father was basically part of the 'inner circle' of Jerry, along with Lacewell and Stephen and his inner ear in his personnel decisions that included all the disastrous moves until Parcells came along.

This guy and Lacewell bounced when Parcells was here and returned, when Parcells retired. We had all three brothers at one time in Dallas, until the tight end coach who was promoted to passing game coordinator in one year, with hsi Kevin Ogletree project was such a failure, Jerry told him to bounce, but gave him a graceful way of doing it, while Jerry had no problems firing Skip Peete and other coaches. And the other brother has been in scouting all these years and ended up Director of Pro Scouting.

The point being, the Garrett family is well-connected to Jerry... Hell, Jason's father had a video dedicated to him on the official Dallas Cowboys web-site. That is why they have jobs still...

Ugh Larry Lacewell......another cause of our downfall in the 90s

 

[dogunwo]

That Jimmy was not an X's and O's guy?

I find it hilarious that I can name 4 out of 6 posters in your signature. The two on the far left I don't recognize.