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Experience Required?
Eatman: Still Unofficial, But New Staff Has Trend Forming
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Jason Garrett spent 13 seasons as an NFL player, including eight years (1992-99) with the Cowboys.
IRVING, Texas - As of late Tuesday afternoon, we're still waiting on the official word from the team about any coaching change.
Obviously, the one most people really care about is the addition of Rob Ryan. Unless they've hit some sort of contract snag, it's going to happen. And when it does, it'll be the first big domino to fall that will likely set off a chain of events, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Now, since there hasn't been any official news, it's hard to make heads or tails about a lot of this. But judging by the names that have been rolling in this week, and then a few more guys who have been linked to possible jobs on the staff - there is a decent theme starting to form.
Let's start with Jason Garrett - 13 years of NFL playing experience.
QB coach Wade Wilson - 18 years of NFL playing experience.
Safety coach Brett Maxie - 13 years of NFL playing experience.
Now let's look at some guys who might be on the way in here:
Bryan Cox - 12 years of experience.
Dan Campbell - 11 years of experience.
Bruce Matthews - 15 years of experience, and a Hall of Famer as well.
Jerome Henderson - 8 years of experience.
Now those guys may or may not come here. It sounds like either Campbell or Matthews will get the assistant offensive line coach job to work under Hudson Houck.
As for Cox and Henderson, they are two of the names that could follow Ryan to Dallas. Cox was the Browns' defensive line coach last season while Henderson coached the defensive backs.
But you're starting to see a pattern here.
We're always trying to figure out what kind of coach Jason Garrett will be. We've heard the phrases like Bill's guys or Wade's guys. Well, just maybe we're getting an idea about Jason Garrett's guys, too. Having played 13 years in the NFL, maybe it's his style to want a healthy number of assistant coaches who played in the league, too.
Now, let's be clear here with my stance on the subject.
I'm not suggesting that all ex-players make for good coaches. And on the flip side, just because a coach never played in the NFL, or even at a big-time college program, doesn't mean he doesn't understand the game and doesn't know how teach it.
There are plenty of examples of both sides. And there are examples on this current staff as well.
One of the team's most respected coaches on staff is special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. He never played in the NFL or college. But his personality, his style of coaching and the way he treats his players demands their full attention and, of course, their respect.
With that being said, a 15-year veteran player who is now an assistant coach doesn't automatically make him a quality coach. Without naming names, we've seen those types around here as well.
I know every year, especially around this time, I'll get a handful of email from fans wondering why guys like Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman aren't being considered for coaching jobs.
Yeah, it sounds like a good idea at first. Great players for this organization - why wouldn't they be able to translate their knowledge to the younger generation. Cowboys helping Cowboys.
Doesn't work, especially when these guys don't have the same passion to coach. Yeah, they loved to play and they were obviously good at it. But putting in these type of hours - and we're talking about anywhere from 12 to 16-hour days during the season - isn't exactly what most former players have in mind, especially your great ones.
Think about it, go around and look at head coaches in the league - both current and past. While you'll find a healthy number of coaches who were former players, rarely will you find superstars who went on to become a head coach.
Mike Singletary is an exception, although he's no longer a head coach. Singletary was a great player and became a coach. Dan Reeves was a really good player, but he was coaching material long before he stopped playing. I think it's safe to say he's a much better coach than he was a player.
When you look at the current head coaches, most of the former players were pretty much role players at best.
Jim Harbaugh was a starting quarterback for a while, but he's certainly received more attention for his coaching success than anything he did as a player.
Guys like Jeff Fisher, Leslie Frazier, Jack Del Rio and then some career backup guys like Gary Kubiak and, yes, Jason Garrett - they were good players, but not really superstars.
It takes a different mentality to become a coach.
You see it in other sports as well. In the NBA, there aren't many great players who go on to coach. There are some - Larry Bird and Isaiah Thomas tried it. I know there are others as well.
Great players found a way to get the job done … because they were great. That's what separated them from the rest. Sometimes you can't teach that. It's not just one thing.
Look at football, basketball and baseball. A lot of former players are now coaches or managers. But most of them were either role players or even backups, and rarely a superstar.
The point to all of this - every coaching staff needs a healthy mix of everything.
And it looks like the staff Garrett is putting together will have that. He's got some high-strung, intense coordinators like Ryan and DeCamillis around him. But one thing that seems pretty clear, Garrett is looking to add a few former players to the mix.
Now, let's just hope it gets announced sometime soon.
Eatman: Still Unofficial, But New Staff Has Trend Forming
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Jason Garrett spent 13 seasons as an NFL player, including eight years (1992-99) with the Cowboys.
IRVING, Texas - As of late Tuesday afternoon, we're still waiting on the official word from the team about any coaching change.
Obviously, the one most people really care about is the addition of Rob Ryan. Unless they've hit some sort of contract snag, it's going to happen. And when it does, it'll be the first big domino to fall that will likely set off a chain of events, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Now, since there hasn't been any official news, it's hard to make heads or tails about a lot of this. But judging by the names that have been rolling in this week, and then a few more guys who have been linked to possible jobs on the staff - there is a decent theme starting to form.
Let's start with Jason Garrett - 13 years of NFL playing experience.
QB coach Wade Wilson - 18 years of NFL playing experience.
Safety coach Brett Maxie - 13 years of NFL playing experience.
Now let's look at some guys who might be on the way in here:
Bryan Cox - 12 years of experience.
Dan Campbell - 11 years of experience.
Bruce Matthews - 15 years of experience, and a Hall of Famer as well.
Jerome Henderson - 8 years of experience.
Now those guys may or may not come here. It sounds like either Campbell or Matthews will get the assistant offensive line coach job to work under Hudson Houck.
As for Cox and Henderson, they are two of the names that could follow Ryan to Dallas. Cox was the Browns' defensive line coach last season while Henderson coached the defensive backs.
But you're starting to see a pattern here.
We're always trying to figure out what kind of coach Jason Garrett will be. We've heard the phrases like Bill's guys or Wade's guys. Well, just maybe we're getting an idea about Jason Garrett's guys, too. Having played 13 years in the NFL, maybe it's his style to want a healthy number of assistant coaches who played in the league, too.
Now, let's be clear here with my stance on the subject.
I'm not suggesting that all ex-players make for good coaches. And on the flip side, just because a coach never played in the NFL, or even at a big-time college program, doesn't mean he doesn't understand the game and doesn't know how teach it.
There are plenty of examples of both sides. And there are examples on this current staff as well.
One of the team's most respected coaches on staff is special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. He never played in the NFL or college. But his personality, his style of coaching and the way he treats his players demands their full attention and, of course, their respect.
With that being said, a 15-year veteran player who is now an assistant coach doesn't automatically make him a quality coach. Without naming names, we've seen those types around here as well.
I know every year, especially around this time, I'll get a handful of email from fans wondering why guys like Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman aren't being considered for coaching jobs.
Yeah, it sounds like a good idea at first. Great players for this organization - why wouldn't they be able to translate their knowledge to the younger generation. Cowboys helping Cowboys.
Doesn't work, especially when these guys don't have the same passion to coach. Yeah, they loved to play and they were obviously good at it. But putting in these type of hours - and we're talking about anywhere from 12 to 16-hour days during the season - isn't exactly what most former players have in mind, especially your great ones.
Think about it, go around and look at head coaches in the league - both current and past. While you'll find a healthy number of coaches who were former players, rarely will you find superstars who went on to become a head coach.
Mike Singletary is an exception, although he's no longer a head coach. Singletary was a great player and became a coach. Dan Reeves was a really good player, but he was coaching material long before he stopped playing. I think it's safe to say he's a much better coach than he was a player.
When you look at the current head coaches, most of the former players were pretty much role players at best.
Jim Harbaugh was a starting quarterback for a while, but he's certainly received more attention for his coaching success than anything he did as a player.
Guys like Jeff Fisher, Leslie Frazier, Jack Del Rio and then some career backup guys like Gary Kubiak and, yes, Jason Garrett - they were good players, but not really superstars.
It takes a different mentality to become a coach.
You see it in other sports as well. In the NBA, there aren't many great players who go on to coach. There are some - Larry Bird and Isaiah Thomas tried it. I know there are others as well.
Great players found a way to get the job done … because they were great. That's what separated them from the rest. Sometimes you can't teach that. It's not just one thing.
Look at football, basketball and baseball. A lot of former players are now coaches or managers. But most of them were either role players or even backups, and rarely a superstar.
The point to all of this - every coaching staff needs a healthy mix of everything.
And it looks like the staff Garrett is putting together will have that. He's got some high-strung, intense coordinators like Ryan and DeCamillis around him. But one thing that seems pretty clear, Garrett is looking to add a few former players to the mix.
Now, let's just hope it gets announced sometime soon.
