CFZ Will McClay is the real GM in the shadows

[Bobhaze]

alternative, its bit of both , WM made them better but also humans do learn from mistakes over time and take little wisdom from each experience. look at that stat going all the way back to 2000, DC FO has produced the most Pro bowlers from home grown draftees.

But yes WM is the GM without the title and has helped this FO tremendously. No doubt. However, take the good with the bad, those 2nds round misses, the passing up of say Watt and others, the never looking to high safety or NT in the draft, WM has to take some blame, Right?
Like my alternative?

While having a large number of pro bowlers is good, it pales in comparison to what really defines a front office: playoff wins.

 

[817Gill]

alternative, its bit of both , WM made them better but also humans do learn from mistakes over time and take little wisdom from each experience. look at that stat going all the way back to 2000, DC FO has produced the most Pro bowlers from home grown draftees.

But yes WM is the GM without the title and has helped this FO tremendously. No doubt. However, take the good with the bad, those 2nds round misses, the passing up of say Watt and others, the never looking to high safety or NT in the draft, WM has to take some blame, Right?
Like my alternative?

Yeah I can see that! Though the misses for me do not bother me because everyone misses. We hit and miss as much as any top tier drafting team.

In hindsight, everyone would have an A+ draft if they knew what players would become. Regardless of who’s doing the drafting it’s going about as good as it can go.

 

[Bullflop]

Since we've become so technical about Will Mcclay's official title, he's officially the Vice-President of Player Personnel and is, thereby, responsible for the selection of the Dallas Cowboys' NFL draft choices. In simpler terms, he's the Dallas Cowboys' draft guru, and has served in that capacity for the past 20 years.
For those who appreciate his presence, they'll be happy to know his contract has been renewed in 2022. I'm of the opinion that he's performed extremely well serving in that role. I think most of the membership here at CZ agree with that. He's an extremely valuable part of the Cowboys' history.

 

[bonafidebanter]

Is it really in the shadows? I feel like McClay has been the true GM for a long time. He and his player personnel staff are the ones who find all these guys. But Jerry gets credit for putting good people in place to do the job. Hiring the right people is critically important to any organization's success.

Like Something The Lord Made. Taking the credit for someone else's genius. This is not a shock with JJ.

 

[DFWJC]

I think this has been common knowledge for at least 1/2 decade

McClay and staff make the personnel decisions (for the most part) and Stephen mostly handles the present and future cap planning

 

[Longboysfan]

McClay is not in the shadows and anyone paying attention knows he is the person responsible for the drafts.

As long as there is no added influence on his decisions.

 

[DFWJC]

Like Something The Lord Made. Taking the credit for someone else's genius. This is not a shock with JJ.

Seems to me that at least around here, McClay usually gets the credit for our good moves and Jerry usually gets the blame for the ones that go wrong

That's even the case on local radio talk shows.

 

[DFWJC]

Jerry, Will, and Stephen all played college football and all have exceptional IQs.
It's just that one of those three has an ego that gets in the way at times.

 

[bonafidebanter]

Seems to me that at least around here, McClay usually gets the credit for our good moves and Jerry usually gets the blame for the ones that go wrong

That's even the case on local radio talk shows.

I listen to 105.3 The Fan and I don't hear it on there. I hear it mostly from national media. Straight Vivien Thomas treatment.

 

[DFWJC]

I listen to 105.3 The Fan and I don't hear it on there. I hear it mostly from national media. Straight Vivien Thomas treatment.

I NEVER hear negative stuff about McClay on 105.3. Not once.
Whenever they hit on a draft pick, Broaddus or others will mention Will.

Jerry on the other hand.....only the bad ones, or if it was a good one "Jerry got lucky"

In reality, it's a group effort. But the draft board is created by Will and his staff with just minor adjustments if any.
The NFL-wide database that ranks/values all players from 32 teams is run by McClay and his team too.
That's why in interviews, Stephen always says that they are reworking league-wide player/personnel stuff for trades or waivers nonstop.
Some might say they arent agressive enough in getting the big fish, but thats anothe rsotry.

 

[conner01]

Jerry and Stephen will be in the spotlight forever.
Fans just need to accept that. It can be frustrating or entertaining.

Some fans get upset, some don't, that can be entertaining as well.

I suspect from many posts here that if most people here owned the team they would be just like Jerry lol
I know if I was the owner I’d probably be out there promoting my team everyday
That’s one major part of why he owns the most valuable sports team in the world

 

[conner01]

I think most fans realize Jerry doesn’t scout hundreds of college players
I think Jerry listens to the scouts much more than fans think
Outside of the top 2-3 rounds I doubt Jerry knows 90% of the players at all
One thing I do give credit to Jerry for is changing because he hasn’t always been this way
He trusts and respects MCClay and he’s earned that trust and respect
Does he deserve the GM title? No doubt, but I think he’s fine with it as it is because every team in the nfl has seen what he does and they respect what he’s done. To some people the respect of the actual experts is more important than a title

 

[bonafidebanter]

I NEVER hear negative stuff about McClay on 105.3. Not once.
Whenever they hit on a draft pick, Broaddus or others will mention Will.

Jerry on the other hand.....only the bad ones, or if it was a good one "Jerry got lucky"

In reality, it's a group effort. But the draft board is created by Will and his staff with just minor adjustments if any.
The NFL-wide database that ranks/values all players from 32 teams is run by McClay and his team too.
That's why in interviews, Stephen always says that they are reworking league-wide player/personnel stuff for trades or waivers nonstop.
Some might say they arent agressive enough in getting the big fish, but thats anothe rsotry.

I wasn't speaking about negative noise about McClay, but Jerry(from Arkansas) getting most, if not all of the credit. They do mention McClay some, but it's all about Jerry(from Arkansas). I hope they are paying Will McClay handsomely because if not, I would have left long ago. I wonder if any other teams have ever tried to poach him from the organization in the past. He has to be really cool and have some thick skin to work with the Jones' who are from Arkansas.

 

[Fastpitch Dad]

All owners have final say.

The evidence is obvious. You either don't follow what is said vs what actually happens or you don't want to believe it.

My guess is that you don't want to believe it because you enjoy bashing Jerry. It wouldn't be as much fun for you to bash Stephen.

FYI: Getting an Engineering degree from an ABET accredited university means that his IQ is highly likely to be in the top 20% of the population.

The average IQ of degreed Engineers is much higher than the average IQ of coaches.

"A high IQ is like height in a basketball player," says David Perkins, who studies thinking and reasoning skills at Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "It is very important, all other things being equal. But all other things aren't equal. There's a lot more to being a good basketball player than being tall, and there's a lot more to being a good thinker than having a high IQ."

 

[Bullflop]

Seems to me that at least around here, McClay usually gets the credit for our good moves and Jerry usually gets the blame for the ones that go wrong

That's even the case on local radio talk shows.

Personally, I'm more inclined to give our front office the blame for not allowing free agency to extend to those with more proven talents. Doing so with respect to Jerry and Stephen would end, if only that weren't the case. Nevertheless, we're still genuinely relevant. Things could be far worse, as well as better. That's just life as we know it, here in Cowboys Country.

Those of us who were around with Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson were spoiled to the point of no return. Maybe one day that will change. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, we'd best make the most of it. Only God manages miracles -- Lady Luck and the Joneses, not so far.