Tom Ciskowski record with the Cowboys

[junk]

Tom Ciskowski was named the Director of College and Pro Scouting in 2008. In his first draft as the top scout, he helped the organization address two positions of concern in landing a pair running backs and cornerbacks with Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins both coming in the first round. The club also gained two additional picks in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Ciskowski, who originally joined the Cowboys scouting department in 1992, finished his seventh season as the club’s Assistant Director of College Scouting in 2007. Ciskowski observed first-hand the top college prospects in the land and also helped organize the club’s entire college scouting operation. In his first season with the Cowboys, he served as a scout administered by the BLESTO Scouting Combine. Ciskowski became an area scout in 1993, working in the west for five years before moving to the southeast from 1998-2000.

Before becoming a scout, Ciskowski spent 15 years in the coaching ranks, the first two (1977-78) as an assistant at Pawhuska, Okla., High School. In 1979, he moved into the college coaching ranks, becoming the defensive backfield coach at East Central University in Ada, Okla. While at ECU, he earned his masters degree in athletic administration. The following year, he moved to Arizona State University, working with the defensive line as a graduate assistant for the 1980-81 seasons.

In 1982, Ciskowski moved to Oklahoma State, joining the staff as an assistant to former Dallas offensive line coach Tony Wise, before becoming the offensive line and tight-end coach at Wichita State in 1984. After that season, Ciskowski joined the University of Miami as a volunteer assistant, working with former Dallas defensive coordinator Butch Davis and the defensive line.

From 1986-89, Ciskowski worked with the offensive and defensive lines, first at New Mexico State for two seasons, and then at UNLV for two more. Before coming to Dallas, he coached the defensive line at College of the Sequoias in Visilia, Calif., from 1990-91. Thirteen of the team’s players went on from the junior college to play Division I football in 1992.

A native of Medford, Okla., Ciskowski attended Medford High School and earned his bachelor’s degree from Cameron University, where he also played football. He and wife Jan live in Coppell, Texas, with sons, Jeremy and Joshua, and daughter Julianna.

Players drafted from the Southeast when he was a scout in that region (1998-2000)
Greg Ellis, Michael Myers, Darren Hambrick, Izell Reese, Antonio Fleming, Ebenezer Ekuban, Peppi Zellner, Dwayne Goodrich and Orantes Grant

Players drafted from the West when he was a scout in that region (1993-1998)
Brock Marion, Shante Carver, Larry Allen, Eric Bjornsen, Ed Hervey, Ryan Wood, Steve Scifres, Kenny Wheaton, Lee Vaughn, Omar Stoutmire

Assistant Director of College Scouting (2000-2007)
2005 was pretty good. Some really bad drafts in there ('01, '04, '06)

Director of College and Pro Scouting (2008 to present)
2008 - entirely possible that the only person left after this season is Scandrick
2009 - disaster
2010 - Good up top + Lissemore
2011 - Looks promising
2012 - Looks promising

Notable quotes

Larry Lacewell is the best football man I’ve ever been around. I was Larry’s first hire (as scouting director) because of Jimmy’s recommendation. Larry sees things the average guy misses. ‘Did you see him drop his shoulder,’ or ‘Did you see the way that (running) back hugged it and made the linebacker over run the play,’ little stuff that if you’re not a football guy you wouldn’t see.

Bill Parcells taught me a lot about the structure of a team, not just from a coaching standpoint but an administrative standpoint. He has things he believes in and sticks with his philosophy. He always has a good football story. I learned a lot of football from Bill Parcells.

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Thoughts? Stories/info/background on him?

The guy has been in Dallas forever.

He worked his way up the ranks. Was a big proponent for drafting Larry Allen.

However, he's been around for some of the pretty bad drafting years in Dallas.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'm not sure what to think of him.

I have no idea how much "pull" he had prior to 2008.

Before that he was "Assistant this" or "Supervisor of area X". Those don't mean a lot to me.

I'm more interested in how the Cowboys have drafted since he was made head pooba of that area.

I think the evaluation of the drafts 2008 onward is fair.

Finally it seems the Cowboys have been more likely to follow their board (since the 2010 draft) than they had previously, before there seemed to be more influence from the coaching staff at wanting to select guys out of sequence in spite of what the "board" dictated.

Let's give him a couple more drafts before we make judgements.

 

[Risen Star]

Tom Ciskowski isn't the "head pooba" of anything. He's the assistant to the assistant. He's no higher than 4th on the totem pole in the war room.

This is why he interviewed in Indianapolis. To actually have a chance to run something.

He'd be the first architect of a football team with no authority to make a personel decision in league history.

 

[AmericasTeam81]

What are some good players that the Cowboys have signed via free agency or elected in the draft that are on the team in your opinion Risen Star?

 

[WoodysGirl]

Tidbit on Goodrich.. Just thought this was interesting since it was kinda buried in another article

Current DallasCowboys.com football analyst Bryan Broaddus, a former pro scout who spent six seasons with the Cowboys from 1999-2005, said drafting Goodrich was a poor example of the overall scouting process.

"It's about trusting the scouts and trusting their view," Broaddus said. "We had scouts that had some questions about his competitiveness and how tough he really was. But ultimately, we listened to his college coach. He had more weight than the scouts. Our scouts had him pegged cold. It just shows you how far the process has really come."

It was also believed the Cowboys nearly drafted Florida State's Mario Edwards with the second-round selection, but instead opted for Goodrich. Edwards would eventually go to Dallas in the sixth round.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=B984E741-C23A-C9DD-6CB825792D9F6FB1

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Tidbit on Goodrich.. Just thought this was interesting since it was kinda buried in another article



http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=B984E741-C23A-C9DD-6CB825792D9F6FB1

Nice find!

I think that went on a lot prior to the last few drafts.

Even in the Parcells' era we have the stories about Bill wanting to take Spears ahead of Ware... In other words ignoring the board so a coach could take a "pet cat". It didn't happen then, but how many times did it happen through the Gailey era or the Campo era or even Wade's era?

 

[junk]

I have no idea how much "pull" he had prior to 2008.

Before that he was "Assistant this" or "Supervisor of area X". Those don't mean a lot to me.

I'm more interested in how the Cowboys have drafted since he was made head pooba of that area.

I think the evaluation of the drafts 2008 onward is fair.

Finally it seems the Cowboys have been more likely to follow their board (since the 2010 draft) than they had previously, before there seemed to be more influence from the coaching staff at wanting to select guys out of sequence in spite of what the "board" dictated.

Let's give him a couple more drafts before we make judgements.

How much pull do you think he has now? I think he is still technically the assistant director of player personnel.

What about the players that came out of his regions when he was working as a scout?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

How much pull do you think he has now? I think he is still technically the assistant director of player personnel.

What about the players that came out of his regions when he was working as a scout?

That's a good question about the amount of "pull" he has within the organization. It may be a lot more or a lot less than what many of think.

As far as the players selected in those regions... Without knowing the entire scouting structure at the time and knowing the in's & out's of the war room and how much coaches influenced the final decision on who was drafted... I simply blame Jerry and leave it all at that! :laugh2:

We have the other quote from up above that references the Goodrich pick and how the scouts were not big on him, but he was selected anyway. How many times did that happen? We probably do not want to know because it would make us ill.

However something has changed over the last 3 drafts. And from what we know presently, that change or changes has been a very good thing. Let's give it a couple more drafts before we call it a trend. Then maybe we can start congratulating the Cowboys on their drafting instead of condemning them, like they rightfully deserved for many years.

 

[Doomsday101]

I would say that Tom Ciskowski has as much pull as Jeff Ireland did which was quite a bit. The working relationship of Ciskowski and Garrett is very important to be able to get on the same page to be able to bring in good athletes that fit within what Garrett is trying to establish.

It is never a one man show

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Tom Ciskowski isn't the "head pooba" of anything. He's the assistant to the assistant. He's no higher than 4th on the totem pole in the war room.

This is why he interviewed in Indianapolis. To actually have a chance to run something.

He'd be the first architect of a football team with no authority to make a personel decision in league history.

Assuming your totem pole is as follows.

Jerry
Stephen
Jason
Tom

So what you are essentially saying is that if Jason Garrett has a question about Danny Coale, he would go to Jerry and Stephen for an evaluation of him, and not go to Tom at all since he is higher than him on the totem pole and he therefore wouldn't stoop beneath him.

Is that right?

 

[xwalker]

Garrett's Dad was a scout. Letting the scouting department create the draft board is the process. What is NOT a process is the past examples of Jerry, Parcells or Larry Lacewell pulling a draft pick out of their backside.

Parcells - Barbie Carpenter, Jacob Rogers, etc..

Lacewell - Goodrich, etc..

Jerry - Quincy, etc..

I think this years draft somewhat proved that Garrett with support from Stephen Jones can override what Jerry would do in the draft. It was widely reported that Jerry wanted to do anything to get back into the 2nd round but Stephen/Garrett would not agree to it.

 

[arglebargle]

Assuming your totem pole is as follows.

Jerry
Stephen
Jason
Tom

So what you are essentially saying is that if Jason Garrett has a question about Danny Coale, he would go to Jerry and Stephen for an evaluation of him, and not go to Tom at all since he is higher than him on the totem pole and he therefore wouldn't stoop beneath him.

Is that right?

RS has this idea that there's only one way to do things administratively. He places way more emphasis on the job title than the function.

I have it on good authority that Ozzie Newsome and Ron Wolf actually drafted people who did not start in the NFL!! Horrors!

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Garrett's Dad was a scout. Letting the scouting department create the draft board is the process. What is NOT a process is the past examples of Jerry, Parcells or Larry Lacewell pulling a draft pick out of their backside.

Parcells - Barbie Carpenter, Jacob Rogers, etc..

Lacewell - Goodrich, etc..

Jerry - Quincy, etc..

I think this years draft somewhat proved that Garrett with support from Stephen Jones can override what Jerry would do in the draft. It was widely reported that Jerry wanted to do anything to get back into the 2nd round but Stephen/Garrett would not agree to it.

That right there.

You, I and everyone else can beat the Cowboys up for their drafting history prior to the last three drafts. But things have apparently changed– for the good.

If someone wants to bust on J. Jones for the stoopid drafts, then give him some props for allowing the process to be changed for the better.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I have it on good authority that Ozzie Newsome and Ron Wolf actually drafted people who did not start in the NFL!! Horrors!

Valid point.

Check out the Eagles drafts the last few years... A few good picks... Lots'o crappy ones.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think this years draft somewhat proved that Garrett with support from Stephen Jones can override what Jerry would do in the draft. It was widely reported that Jerry wanted to do anything to get back into the 2nd round but Stephen/Garrett would not agree to it.

That has happened for years. Jerry wanted to trade up in the second for Bennett, too (or was it the Buffalo WR that ended up busting) and he couldn't get enough other people to agree with him. Of course Bennett fell to us anyway.

Pretty sure the same thing happened with Sean Lee.

So yes, hopefully Jerry has gotten better since the Quincy days. It's still his call, though.

 

[AbeBeta]

It was also believed the Cowboys nearly drafted Florida State's Mario Edwards with the second-round selection, but instead opted for Goodrich. Edwards would eventually go to Dallas in the sixth round.

and Edwards was clearly the best of the three CBs we picked that year. A 2nd would have been a bit high for him, but we also passed on him with our 4th, which we used for Kareem Larrimore. Both Goodrich and Larrimore were classic boom or bust picks -- that sort of pick has Jerry written all over it.

 

[AbeBeta]

That has happened for years. Jerry wanted to trade up in the second for Bennett, too (or was it the Buffalo WR that ended up busting) and he couldn't get enough other people to agree with him. Of course Bennett fell to us anyway.

Pretty sure the same thing happened with Sean Lee.

So yes, hopefully Jerry has gotten better since the Quincy days. It's still his call, though.

is it that he wanted to trade up?

Or that he says stuff like "we tried to get up in the first to get him" about every guy we ever take in the 2nd.

I think that is more about Jerry trying to look good.

 

[punchnjudy]

Tidbit on Goodrich.. Just thought this was interesting since it was kinda buried in another article



http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=B984E741-C23A-C9DD-6CB825792D9F6FB1

Wow, who was next in the interview line--Goodrich's mother?

I also think they've improved at talent eval, but that was also the prevailing opinion when they took Goodrich after they drafted the likes of Adams, Ellis, Ekuban, Nguyen, and Solomon Page. Maybe the Galloway trade killed our momentum?

 

[Risen Star]

Assuming your totem pole is as follows.

Jerry
Stephen
Jason
Tom

So what you are essentially saying is that if Jason Garrett has a question about Danny Coale, he would go to Jerry and Stephen for an evaluation of him, and not go to Tom at all since he is higher than him on the totem pole and he therefore wouldn't stoop beneath him.

Is that right?

Actually, the higher ups routinely go to the scouts when they want more info on a player. They re-check with the guys who know these players best before they make their final decisions.

My initial comment remains as the stone cold fact it is. Tom Ciskowski is no better than the 4th guy in the pecking order. He's not an architect, he's not a GM, he's not the head pooba of anything. Not even our own scouting department. #2 heads that.

 

[Risen Star]

Wow, who was next in the interview line--Goodrich's mother?

I also think they've improved at talent eval, but that was also the prevailing opinion when they took Goodrich after they drafted the likes of Adams, Ellis, Ekuban, Nguyen, and Solomon Page. Maybe the Galloway trade killed our momentum?

You know you can't draft when you mention Solomon Page as one of your gems.