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Jerry Jones explains why he’s keeping DC Monte Kiffin
By Rainer Sabin
4:54 pm on January 20, 2014
After a season in which the Cowboys surrendered the third-most yards in NFL history, many thought 73-year-old coordinator Monte Kiffin would be forced into retirement.
Injuries notwithstanding, the performance of Dallas’ defense was, well, indefensible. Four 400-yard passers allowed. Forty first downs conceded in one game against New Orleans. Chicago scoring on eight straight possessions. The lowlights were gruesome. So was the overall body of work.
But after kicking Rob Ryan to the curb last January, team owner Jerry Jones was hesitant to do his best Mr. Spacely impression again and axe Kiffin, too. In a powwow with reporters in Mobile, Ala., Jones explained his reasoning for retaining Kiffin, saying that the only person he needed to convince it was the right decision was the man in the mirror.
“Do you discuss and get input about a lot of things?” Jones said. “Absolutely. But what we did not do is have a big debate or a big management session regarding Monte Kiffin. We didn’t do that. That decision was made last year.”
In typical Jones fashion, he used metaphor to make his point as he expounded on his rationale for standing pat.
“I had a guy tell me one time how to be successful, that no human can be right over 50 percent of the time on any decision, but it’s the ones that cut the bad ones off quick and let the good ones run long,” he said. “That’s hard to do. That’s hard, mentally, not mentally, but that’s hard to accept quickly to cut a bad decision off quick because we all know that the adage of the gold miner who walked away and the other one who took one more swing, hit the pick and found the gold streak and so you don’t want to quit. So it’s easier said than done to let your mistakes be go short and your good decisions long.
“You go then further to fundamentals and you look at the fundamentals of a Monte Kiffin and you look at the fundamentals of his work and what he is and you look at the fact that you’ve decided scheme-wise that you liked that in competing in the NFL today then that weighs you from cutting that short, and so the answer is, I didn’t want to cut it short over on defense.”
There is something to be said for continuity, and after the Cowboys overhauled their staff last off-season Jones opted for stability this time.
Asked why there have been so few changes, Jones said, “It’s just the fact that you made a lot last year probably minimizes the need to make them this year.”
By Rainer Sabin
4:54 pm on January 20, 2014
After a season in which the Cowboys surrendered the third-most yards in NFL history, many thought 73-year-old coordinator Monte Kiffin would be forced into retirement.
Injuries notwithstanding, the performance of Dallas’ defense was, well, indefensible. Four 400-yard passers allowed. Forty first downs conceded in one game against New Orleans. Chicago scoring on eight straight possessions. The lowlights were gruesome. So was the overall body of work.
But after kicking Rob Ryan to the curb last January, team owner Jerry Jones was hesitant to do his best Mr. Spacely impression again and axe Kiffin, too. In a powwow with reporters in Mobile, Ala., Jones explained his reasoning for retaining Kiffin, saying that the only person he needed to convince it was the right decision was the man in the mirror.
“Do you discuss and get input about a lot of things?” Jones said. “Absolutely. But what we did not do is have a big debate or a big management session regarding Monte Kiffin. We didn’t do that. That decision was made last year.”
In typical Jones fashion, he used metaphor to make his point as he expounded on his rationale for standing pat.
“I had a guy tell me one time how to be successful, that no human can be right over 50 percent of the time on any decision, but it’s the ones that cut the bad ones off quick and let the good ones run long,” he said. “That’s hard to do. That’s hard, mentally, not mentally, but that’s hard to accept quickly to cut a bad decision off quick because we all know that the adage of the gold miner who walked away and the other one who took one more swing, hit the pick and found the gold streak and so you don’t want to quit. So it’s easier said than done to let your mistakes be go short and your good decisions long.
“You go then further to fundamentals and you look at the fundamentals of a Monte Kiffin and you look at the fundamentals of his work and what he is and you look at the fact that you’ve decided scheme-wise that you liked that in competing in the NFL today then that weighs you from cutting that short, and so the answer is, I didn’t want to cut it short over on defense.”
There is something to be said for continuity, and after the Cowboys overhauled their staff last off-season Jones opted for stability this time.
Asked why there have been so few changes, Jones said, “It’s just the fact that you made a lot last year probably minimizes the need to make them this year.”
