Post by prossman on Feb 8, 2009 17:21:50 GMT -7
FWST: Galloway: Dan Reeves might have righted Dallas Cowboys’ ship
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Dan Reeves might have righted Dallas Cowboys’ ship
By RANDY GALLOWAY
Babe says it’s just as well. That Dan shouldn’t have been the man in the first place. Troy has uttered similar comments. That’s Laufenberg and Aikman, respectively, and as several disagreeing (with them) e-mailers have pointed out, both consider Jason Garrett almost family.
Regardless, when Babe and Troy speak, I listen.
Last week’s strange saga involving Dan Reeves was not merely a confused mess, it left the Cowboys, as an organization, looking weak and silly, and Jerry Jones, as an owner-GM, looking Al Davis-esque.
The opinion, however, from here was and is that Reeves would have been a great hire, based on the current "situation" at Valley Ranch.
Then again, admittedly, this base premise from Babe and Troy is correct:
If you want to hire a head coach, then fire the one you’ve got (that’s you, Wade). And as Babe also pointed out on CBS-11 on Friday night, the same goes for the offensive coordinator (that’s you, Jason.)
Yes, bringing in Reeves, with all his head coaching experience and his decades of offensive expertise, would have instantly created a Valley Ranch coaching tree more complicated than Bob Hayes’ next-of-kin.
But is that bad? Not here, I’d say. Anywhere else in the NFL, yes. But this is Loserville.
Reeves has a strong, tough personality. He would have immediately become the Alpha Male of the staff. His official title would have been "Senior Team Advisor," but in theory, he would have been the head coach. Wade Phillips knew this when he recommended to Jones that Reeves would be a good addition to the staff. For a while, anyway, Jones was in eager agreement.
What do the Cowboys need? A good place to start is a strong head coach. With Reeves roaming the grounds in Irving, it wouldn’t have taken the players more than five minutes to understand that a new sheriff was in town.
OK, it’s a weird way to do business, but, hey, it’s a weird situation we’ve got here. Jerry is not going to fire Wade, so why not bring in someone who would do what the head coach is supposed to do, particularly in areas of team discipline?
And if Reeves stepped on Garrett’s toes…
Jason is not exactly dealing from a position of power, except for his $3 million contract.
At some moment, very late in the final negotiations with Reeves, something triggered Jerry to add a contractual clause that became a sticking point and eventually killed the talks. Did Jerry suddenly find Reeves to be a bit more of a man’s man than he cared to deal with? I don’t know that answer, except to say I do know Dan is a stand-up guy.
But here’s my trump card for both Babe and Troy:
"I don’t buy the locker room severity issue that you talk about. I think that comes with the territory when you don’t win."
Those frightening words were uttered by Jerry when he called in to local ESPN radio on Thursday afternoon to explain his side of the Reeves thing.
With no Reeves, it stays exactly the same at Valley Ranch. Jerry remains in denial that’s there any kind of a toxic chemistry environment in the locker room, when, in fact, there’s no one on his staff who can say that with a straight face, not even Wade.
It’s foolish for Jerry to simply wash away what went on in December in that locker room.
Laufenberg will have an extensive interview with quarterback Tony Romo on TV tonight (10:50 p.m.) and we already know, through promotional station teases, that Romo will say he expects "less finger-pointing" among players next season.
Why would he expect less, particularly if nothing changes? Unless, of course, Tony is speaking only for himself, who finger-pointed at Garrett after the debacle in Philly to close the season.
Last week, Roy (Uno Uno) Williams was doing his own finger-pointing on several radio shows
leading to the Super Bowl, blaming Garrett and Romo for his disappearing act with the Cowboys after a costly trade from Detroit.
Finger-pointing and back-stabbing was and is this team’s problem, a problem Jerry denies.
There’s no certainty Reeves could have changed this toxic environment, but there’s certainly evidence that Jones won’t and Wade can’t.
Dan was the man. But with him gone home, there is no new plan.
Randy Galloway, 817-390-7760
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Dan Reeves might have righted Dallas Cowboys’ ship
By RANDY GALLOWAY
Babe says it’s just as well. That Dan shouldn’t have been the man in the first place. Troy has uttered similar comments. That’s Laufenberg and Aikman, respectively, and as several disagreeing (with them) e-mailers have pointed out, both consider Jason Garrett almost family.
Regardless, when Babe and Troy speak, I listen.
Last week’s strange saga involving Dan Reeves was not merely a confused mess, it left the Cowboys, as an organization, looking weak and silly, and Jerry Jones, as an owner-GM, looking Al Davis-esque.
The opinion, however, from here was and is that Reeves would have been a great hire, based on the current "situation" at Valley Ranch.
Then again, admittedly, this base premise from Babe and Troy is correct:
If you want to hire a head coach, then fire the one you’ve got (that’s you, Wade). And as Babe also pointed out on CBS-11 on Friday night, the same goes for the offensive coordinator (that’s you, Jason.)
Yes, bringing in Reeves, with all his head coaching experience and his decades of offensive expertise, would have instantly created a Valley Ranch coaching tree more complicated than Bob Hayes’ next-of-kin.
But is that bad? Not here, I’d say. Anywhere else in the NFL, yes. But this is Loserville.
Reeves has a strong, tough personality. He would have immediately become the Alpha Male of the staff. His official title would have been "Senior Team Advisor," but in theory, he would have been the head coach. Wade Phillips knew this when he recommended to Jones that Reeves would be a good addition to the staff. For a while, anyway, Jones was in eager agreement.
What do the Cowboys need? A good place to start is a strong head coach. With Reeves roaming the grounds in Irving, it wouldn’t have taken the players more than five minutes to understand that a new sheriff was in town.
OK, it’s a weird way to do business, but, hey, it’s a weird situation we’ve got here. Jerry is not going to fire Wade, so why not bring in someone who would do what the head coach is supposed to do, particularly in areas of team discipline?
And if Reeves stepped on Garrett’s toes…
Jason is not exactly dealing from a position of power, except for his $3 million contract.
At some moment, very late in the final negotiations with Reeves, something triggered Jerry to add a contractual clause that became a sticking point and eventually killed the talks. Did Jerry suddenly find Reeves to be a bit more of a man’s man than he cared to deal with? I don’t know that answer, except to say I do know Dan is a stand-up guy.
But here’s my trump card for both Babe and Troy:
"I don’t buy the locker room severity issue that you talk about. I think that comes with the territory when you don’t win."
Those frightening words were uttered by Jerry when he called in to local ESPN radio on Thursday afternoon to explain his side of the Reeves thing.
With no Reeves, it stays exactly the same at Valley Ranch. Jerry remains in denial that’s there any kind of a toxic chemistry environment in the locker room, when, in fact, there’s no one on his staff who can say that with a straight face, not even Wade.
It’s foolish for Jerry to simply wash away what went on in December in that locker room.
Laufenberg will have an extensive interview with quarterback Tony Romo on TV tonight (10:50 p.m.) and we already know, through promotional station teases, that Romo will say he expects "less finger-pointing" among players next season.
Why would he expect less, particularly if nothing changes? Unless, of course, Tony is speaking only for himself, who finger-pointed at Garrett after the debacle in Philly to close the season.
Last week, Roy (Uno Uno) Williams was doing his own finger-pointing on several radio shows
leading to the Super Bowl, blaming Garrett and Romo for his disappearing act with the Cowboys after a costly trade from Detroit.
Finger-pointing and back-stabbing was and is this team’s problem, a problem Jerry denies.
There’s no certainty Reeves could have changed this toxic environment, but there’s certainly evidence that Jones won’t and Wade can’t.
Dan was the man. But with him gone home, there is no new plan.
Randy Galloway, 817-390-7760