>> a scheme-and-culture “good cop” who does not expect much personnel control
When you wrote the above, it struck me that what the Cowboys need isn't Jason Garrett or Doug Pederson. They need a John Harbaugh. A culture "good cop", but a hard-nosed and detail-oriented one. Does not expect personnel control, just input, because he's used to partnering with a strong GM and he plays well with others in a good organization. A "faith, family, football" type who doesn't need to grab the credit for every scrap of success, but spreads credit around and describes everything as a team accomplishment.
That sort of a dumb observation, or an empty observation. Most teams would do well to bring in "a" John Harbaugh. It's just striking to imagine THAT organization getting him, specifically. They don't need a tactical guru to bring Xs & Os wizardry. They need an injection of professionalism & upbeat common sense. "Stop being weird" would go a long way there.
My memory of Johnson is that he had more personnel control than Harbs does. Not as much of a spread-credit-around guy. I also don't know if he was as much of an alignment-assignment-technique stickler for preparation.
Sidenote, I once read an interview with Johnson, in a book that collected interviews with other coaches across different sports. One of the ideas of the author/editor who collected the interviews was that successful coaches usually have a boiled-down "three keys to winning" theory. Or five keys, or whatever. A goal of the book was to collect those from all the different coaches.
I remember two of JJ's three keys. They were:
1. Win the sudden change. That meant like fumbles and INTs, I guess kick returns: don't just jump on the ball, but capitalize on the opportunity and generate big yards on those plays.
2. Rotate D-linemen to always have a fresh pass rush.
I was startled how SPECIFIC those were. Didn't match my impression of him as a freewheeling leader of talented & arrogant athletes.
Jimmy J was a detail oriented SOB, AND a scheme guru. He changed how defense was played with the "Miami 4-3" he ran with the hurricanes. A 4-3 over front, meaning 3tech aligned to the guard on the strong side, which is wherever the TE was on the line. 1 gap D linemen being aggressive. To penetrate first and ask questions later. Today they use a lot more under fronts trying to rush the passer from weak side.
But The NFL when the JJs got there had a lot of big 3-4 fronts with large 2 gapping DL head over OL that read and react. And try to stuff run on either side of them. The pass rush would have to come from the 4 LBs; send at least one of the OLBs every down. JJ at Miami turned DEs into DTs and LBs into DEs to get faster. I know at dallas he did a lot of wheeling and dealing with picks trading up and down all over the board but he certainly built a perfected version of that 4-3 that was number one in fewest points or top 3; wouldn't have been a dynasty without it.
I think Aaron Glenn would perfectly fit your description above (the fact that he played for the Cowboys would be a bit of extra icing on the cake). I hope it doesn't happen, though, because I like Aaron Glenn and would prefer that he not be embroiled in that circus.
If only you had written this a year ago and sent the Jerrah section to Biden as a warning, he might have seen the light and announced he would not run for President again
It tickled me when McCarthy completed his one-year sabbatical in his barn following his release from the Packers and stepped through the barn door into the sunlight to proclaim he'd discovered analytics! And at his next job he'd have an entire analytics department to inform him not to punt on 4th and 2 from his opponent's 38 yard line.
Dallas fan here. I needed this. I’m so sick of the clown show and the hype machine. It's been really nice the past month or so to say “to hell with this”, find a better game on Sunday Ticket featuring better (or at least more interesting teams), or knock stuff off my to-do list than watch the same ol’ Dallas self destruct for the same ol’ reasons.
Maybe one day things will change for the better. Will McClay and the scouting department are realistically in the top tier of the league. Stephen seems to be smart enough to listen to them.
I, for one, like those future coordinator types at backup QB. Colt McCoy, Cooper Rush, Joshua Dobbs (who can moonlight at NASA while in San Francisco). They are smart enough to understand all the Xs and Os and humble enough to know their limitations. They won't win you many games, but they won't lose them either (the Seahawks are 0-2 or 0-3 against McCoy...). And they won't cause any trouble — they want to have future careers as coordinators.
As an Eagles fan, I agree that a team that can't stop the run, has a turnstile at RT, employs only one reliable pass rusher and has no #2 WR should absolutely spend a top #12 pick on a running back. Again.
1. My dad is 81, and really is showing the same signs as Jerry Jones (and not to be political cause I am a fan, Joe Biden). So I get it here. Jerry Jones in many ways is still a functional, independent human being, but he is maybe at 60% of what he once was.
2. I felt Jones never really received enough crap for the 1957 Little Rock picture. Just admit it.....you were on the wrong side back then. Stop with the excuses that you were just observing the actions..."a curious kid."
3. As an Eagles fan, I used to think it was a bit too defensive for my fellow Eagles fans to say "what have the cowboys done lately, they havent won a Super Bowl in ____ years". But now, really I feel fine saying this. No Super Bowl (or even a conference championship game!!) in 30 years. To be fair, they haven't been awful, they just seem to be the poster child for mediocrity.
4. I never really had an idea on the competency of Stephen Jones until I read this article. I hate the Cowboys, so I am not rooting for him, but I do feel bad that he is caught up in the age old story of being stuck in dad's shadow, waiting for him to let go.
5. Usually its fun to root against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving......but they suck and so this game wont really affect the Eagles. Plus I cannot root for the Giants either.
Regarding 2., sorry (truly so), but no. When you 'fess up to something is when people REALLY really lay into you for it. Just the way it unfortunately works.
Also, I'm confident just about every last person Jerry knew back in1957 was on the wrong side of the issue. If he had risen above that, now that would be something of note.
It's weird, because if you remind Cowboys fans that they haven't won anything lately, they say "But our history!" while the Eagles won championships before the Cowboys even existed, but somehow those don't count because they weren't called Super Bowls then. We're certainly not the only team affected by that, but it's an NFL-specific weirdness.
Yep, the whole NFL Championships before 1967 only sort of counts thing is weird. The Lions get this also....it seems more fun to say they havent won a SB, than to say they havent won an NFL Championship since 1957. I bet few people realize the Lions actually have 4 NFL Championships.
Absolutely right! I have no idea why the Chicago Staleys, Akron Pros and especially the Providence Steam Rollers don't get mentioned among the league's greatest teams.
If you think Cowboys fans say "our history!" and not "we haven't won a thing in a generation! - My 25 YOU child has never seen an NFC championship game!" you're delusional.
In fairness, the way Cowboys fans respond to Eagles fans is probably a little different than the way they talk to other Cowboys fans. I get some bluster and some self-awareness from the ones I talk to regularly, and that's fine. I expect any fan to defend their team to some extent, even if said team has not been excelling lately. If I want to see Cowboys fans wallowing in misery amongst themselves, I can go to BTB and find that, certainly. (Not going to say I never do that, but mostly I have better things to do than delight in the misery of others. Mostly.)
This Cowboys season is the correlation and consequence of Jerry Jones sitting this past offseason out. Sure, Dak’s injury was the nail in the coffin, but they let so much talent walk out the door and neglected to improve an offense that was on cusp last year but needed another receiver and a competent running game. Who knows if Jerry learned and will approach this offseason any differently …
The discussion of Jerrah and Joe Biden (again not to talk politics - I loved him but his age clearly has caught up to him) - reminds me of some lyrics from “Fangless,” an absolute banger from late-period Sleater-Kinney:
“Did you forget we once saw you as grand
A beast and a savior, a mountain, a man
Grew from a speck to be worshipped and crowned
Now you're flimsy and fangless, drooping and drowned”
Nailed pretty much everything. I will note that special teams have NOT been outstanding. Yeah, Aubrey (mostly) hits every kick no matter how far it is and Turpin has had a punt and KO TD.
Beyond that it's been a disaster. Both a blocked FG and a blocked punt vs Washington. Multiple failed fake punts. Penalties, penalties and more penalties!
Jim Fassell has no business still coaching this non-sense because they frequently look like sixth graders on a sugar high.
Jerry kind of reminds of the last few years of Al Davis rule
Al's last few years were of Howard Hughes vintage. Jerry's more standard-version Powerful Old Guy Who Won't Let Go And Nobody Can Make Him.
Sounds like someone who was just elected President.
>> a scheme-and-culture “good cop” who does not expect much personnel control
When you wrote the above, it struck me that what the Cowboys need isn't Jason Garrett or Doug Pederson. They need a John Harbaugh. A culture "good cop", but a hard-nosed and detail-oriented one. Does not expect personnel control, just input, because he's used to partnering with a strong GM and he plays well with others in a good organization. A "faith, family, football" type who doesn't need to grab the credit for every scrap of success, but spreads credit around and describes everything as a team accomplishment.
That sort of a dumb observation, or an empty observation. Most teams would do well to bring in "a" John Harbaugh. It's just striking to imagine THAT organization getting him, specifically. They don't need a tactical guru to bring Xs & Os wizardry. They need an injection of professionalism & upbeat common sense. "Stop being weird" would go a long way there.
(Which is why I mention John instead of Jim.)
Are you now describing Jimmy Johnson?
My memory of Johnson is that he had more personnel control than Harbs does. Not as much of a spread-credit-around guy. I also don't know if he was as much of an alignment-assignment-technique stickler for preparation.
Sidenote, I once read an interview with Johnson, in a book that collected interviews with other coaches across different sports. One of the ideas of the author/editor who collected the interviews was that successful coaches usually have a boiled-down "three keys to winning" theory. Or five keys, or whatever. A goal of the book was to collect those from all the different coaches.
I remember two of JJ's three keys. They were:
1. Win the sudden change. That meant like fumbles and INTs, I guess kick returns: don't just jump on the ball, but capitalize on the opportunity and generate big yards on those plays.
2. Rotate D-linemen to always have a fresh pass rush.
I was startled how SPECIFIC those were. Didn't match my impression of him as a freewheeling leader of talented & arrogant athletes.
Jimmy J was a detail oriented SOB, AND a scheme guru. He changed how defense was played with the "Miami 4-3" he ran with the hurricanes. A 4-3 over front, meaning 3tech aligned to the guard on the strong side, which is wherever the TE was on the line. 1 gap D linemen being aggressive. To penetrate first and ask questions later. Today they use a lot more under fronts trying to rush the passer from weak side.
But The NFL when the JJs got there had a lot of big 3-4 fronts with large 2 gapping DL head over OL that read and react. And try to stuff run on either side of them. The pass rush would have to come from the 4 LBs; send at least one of the OLBs every down. JJ at Miami turned DEs into DTs and LBs into DEs to get faster. I know at dallas he did a lot of wheeling and dealing with picks trading up and down all over the board but he certainly built a perfected version of that 4-3 that was number one in fewest points or top 3; wouldn't have been a dynasty without it.
I think Aaron Glenn would perfectly fit your description above (the fact that he played for the Cowboys would be a bit of extra icing on the cake). I hope it doesn't happen, though, because I like Aaron Glenn and would prefer that he not be embroiled in that circus.
If only you had written this a year ago and sent the Jerrah section to Biden as a warning, he might have seen the light and announced he would not run for President again
Jerry is an aged out drunk stuck at home with the wife for the duration.
Jerry is the roof prematurely caving in on America’s Team McMansion
Jerry is the fading afterglow of a victory red MAGA sunset
Jerry is me
except for all the charm, personality and killer instinct grown soft with the easy times of his life.
Give em hell Jerry.
Lose Cowboys lose.
It tickled me when McCarthy completed his one-year sabbatical in his barn following his release from the Packers and stepped through the barn door into the sunlight to proclaim he'd discovered analytics! And at his next job he'd have an entire analytics department to inform him not to punt on 4th and 2 from his opponent's 38 yard line.
The scouting department in Dallas has been so consistently good that it’s kept the franchise afloat.
Dallas fan here. I needed this. I’m so sick of the clown show and the hype machine. It's been really nice the past month or so to say “to hell with this”, find a better game on Sunday Ticket featuring better (or at least more interesting teams), or knock stuff off my to-do list than watch the same ol’ Dallas self destruct for the same ol’ reasons.
Maybe one day things will change for the better. Will McClay and the scouting department are realistically in the top tier of the league. Stephen seems to be smart enough to listen to them.
This is the only tank watch I have read that argued for a change in ownership, instead of a generational QB/edge rush player.
I, for one, like those future coordinator types at backup QB. Colt McCoy, Cooper Rush, Joshua Dobbs (who can moonlight at NASA while in San Francisco). They are smart enough to understand all the Xs and Os and humble enough to know their limitations. They won't win you many games, but they won't lose them either (the Seahawks are 0-2 or 0-3 against McCoy...). And they won't cause any trouble — they want to have future careers as coordinators.
As an Eagles fan, I agree that a team that can't stop the run, has a turnstile at RT, employs only one reliable pass rusher and has no #2 WR should absolutely spend a top #12 pick on a running back. Again.
BEST TANK WATCH SO FAR!!
So many random thoughts...
1. My dad is 81, and really is showing the same signs as Jerry Jones (and not to be political cause I am a fan, Joe Biden). So I get it here. Jerry Jones in many ways is still a functional, independent human being, but he is maybe at 60% of what he once was.
2. I felt Jones never really received enough crap for the 1957 Little Rock picture. Just admit it.....you were on the wrong side back then. Stop with the excuses that you were just observing the actions..."a curious kid."
3. As an Eagles fan, I used to think it was a bit too defensive for my fellow Eagles fans to say "what have the cowboys done lately, they havent won a Super Bowl in ____ years". But now, really I feel fine saying this. No Super Bowl (or even a conference championship game!!) in 30 years. To be fair, they haven't been awful, they just seem to be the poster child for mediocrity.
4. I never really had an idea on the competency of Stephen Jones until I read this article. I hate the Cowboys, so I am not rooting for him, but I do feel bad that he is caught up in the age old story of being stuck in dad's shadow, waiting for him to let go.
5. Usually its fun to root against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving......but they suck and so this game wont really affect the Eagles. Plus I cannot root for the Giants either.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!
Regarding 2., sorry (truly so), but no. When you 'fess up to something is when people REALLY really lay into you for it. Just the way it unfortunately works.
Also, I'm confident just about every last person Jerry knew back in1957 was on the wrong side of the issue. If he had risen above that, now that would be something of note.
Anybody who boasts about a championship "their team" won before they were born is a Grade-A douchebag.
I am mainly thinking of some Yankees fans here, but it applies in any sport.
Man, you want get a load of English soccer fans. Can’t go 72 hours without bringing up the ‘66 World Cup. Even if the conversation’s not about sports…
Yours, a Scottish soccer fan
It's weird, because if you remind Cowboys fans that they haven't won anything lately, they say "But our history!" while the Eagles won championships before the Cowboys even existed, but somehow those don't count because they weren't called Super Bowls then. We're certainly not the only team affected by that, but it's an NFL-specific weirdness.
Yep, the whole NFL Championships before 1967 only sort of counts thing is weird. The Lions get this also....it seems more fun to say they havent won a SB, than to say they havent won an NFL Championship since 1957. I bet few people realize the Lions actually have 4 NFL Championships.
<Ahem.> Thirteen in Green Bay.
Absolutely right! I have no idea why the Chicago Staleys, Akron Pros and especially the Providence Steam Rollers don't get mentioned among the league's greatest teams.
Don’t forget the Pottsville Maroons…..still bitter they had a championship stolen by the Chicago Cardinals
Talent was so spotty and unevenly distributed that contests were rarely fair back then by modern standards.
Go Rollers!!
If you think Cowboys fans say "our history!" and not "we haven't won a thing in a generation! - My 25 YOU child has never seen an NFC championship game!" you're delusional.
In fairness, the way Cowboys fans respond to Eagles fans is probably a little different than the way they talk to other Cowboys fans. I get some bluster and some self-awareness from the ones I talk to regularly, and that's fine. I expect any fan to defend their team to some extent, even if said team has not been excelling lately. If I want to see Cowboys fans wallowing in misery amongst themselves, I can go to BTB and find that, certainly. (Not going to say I never do that, but mostly I have better things to do than delight in the misery of others. Mostly.)
Maybe you never met that special breed of Cowboys fans from Philadelphia. They love saying this stuff all of the time.
This Cowboys season is the correlation and consequence of Jerry Jones sitting this past offseason out. Sure, Dak’s injury was the nail in the coffin, but they let so much talent walk out the door and neglected to improve an offense that was on cusp last year but needed another receiver and a competent running game. Who knows if Jerry learned and will approach this offseason any differently …
Ashton fits in more ways than one. I think of Emmitt when I think of the Boise State star.
I think the funniest part of this article was the bit about Dak having a $90 Mil cap hit next year.
The discussion of Jerrah and Joe Biden (again not to talk politics - I loved him but his age clearly has caught up to him) - reminds me of some lyrics from “Fangless,” an absolute banger from late-period Sleater-Kinney:
“Did you forget we once saw you as grand
A beast and a savior, a mountain, a man
Grew from a speck to be worshipped and crowned
Now you're flimsy and fangless, drooping and drowned”
Maybe in just one more hour he will be gone
Nailed pretty much everything. I will note that special teams have NOT been outstanding. Yeah, Aubrey (mostly) hits every kick no matter how far it is and Turpin has had a punt and KO TD.
Beyond that it's been a disaster. Both a blocked FG and a blocked punt vs Washington. Multiple failed fake punts. Penalties, penalties and more penalties!
Jim Fassell has no business still coaching this non-sense because they frequently look like sixth graders on a sugar high.