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By Jennifer Floyd Engel
jengel@star-telegram.com
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan did not have me at "hello," although close. He had me at "I am going to do a great [bleeping] job, and you're going to see that."
It is about [bleeping] time.
And as a parent to an almost 2-year-old who mimics every single word she hears, including raw utterances when, say, Mommy finds herself on I-35 with 245,000 of her closest friends, I somewhat understand language criticisms. But as my cursing mentor Chris Rock infamously said, "It's like you enter another country -- sometimes you're in a cursing country and then you're in a kid's country."
The Cowboys' defense is definitely a cursing country.
How many times have you said, "What the what?" or, "Are you kidding me?" or, "I don't need this" when watching this team on defense? I certainly often have wanted to type that. And we have no financial stake in the 11 star-wearing underachievers that have been stinking it up on Sundays the last couple of seasons.
So, I do not care if Rob Ryan cusses, as long has he fixes the defense. And therein lies the bigger question: Can he?
A lot of doubters exist, most of whom sent variations of this e-mail query after Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, aka The Redheaded Genius, lifted radio silence and allowed his assistant coaches to talk Thursday. Is this love of all things Rob Ryan based on A.) statistical or empirical evidence of his genius in Cleveland and Oakland? or B.) sharing a last name with Rex and Buddy magically has many of us thinking that defensive genius is also genetic? or C.) the media love a dramatic, headline-making over-cusser?
Absolutely fair questions, totally fair.
B and C are absolutely true, so the real question is A, and the only way to truly judge that is scheme. The numbers and the rankings and the record do not work as good indicators here because, well, frankly, the players Rob had in Cleveland make DeMarcus, Ratliff, Bradie and Co. look like Buddy's crew with his "46" defense in Chicago. Remember Scott Fujita and his Cowboys days? He not only was a Brown in 2010 but a contributor.
So, let's be real. Ryan had less than a little to work with in Cleveland, and who is playing defense is always more important than who is on the headphones calling defenses. He did a lot with the big bag of nothing that was the Browns. What will he do with the slightly fuller bag that is the Cowboys?
Scheme is everything, and film demonstrates Rob Ryan has his family's penchant for putting the right player in the right spot and more importantly not putting the wrong guy in the wrong one. His stated defensive philosophy is, "We are going to sic 'em from the word go," and I do not think he meant this in a Baylor kind of way. It is exactly the bombastic style I like and that makes many worry.
As we all learned, it is one thing to call yourself Mr. Fix It and quite another to actually fix it.
The thing I like about this style is, when anybody from defensive coordinator to a contractor puts themselves out on a limb with big promises, they are more likely to demand more from those under them.
Little big Ryan sent a message to all of the Cowboys players that he expects greatness from them. He expects them to deliver on his promises. He expects them to be better than the huge pile of statistics and underachievement they have been, which is more than you can say for the excuse-maker who was shown the door.
Probably my second favorite Ryan-ism, after "I am going to do a great [bleeping] job," is, "We're going to be a great defense. The right guy is standing here in front of you. Anybody can talk the talk, but I can walk it."
He and The RHG are actually a perfect combo in this regard. The Ivy League brainiac, who likes to say nothing at all and encourage everybody to have a great day, and the free-flowing dude, who seems much more likely to use naughty words to send us on our merry way. The thing is you need both. Somebody has to be the thinker, always a step ahead with a plan for how every day runs down to the second, and somebody has to be able and willing to get in faces, loudly and sometimes profanely, when necessary.
So, I believe Rob Ryan will do a great [bleeping] job. Mostly because I believe he will make the Cowboys players do one.
jengel@star-telegram.com
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan did not have me at "hello," although close. He had me at "I am going to do a great [bleeping] job, and you're going to see that."
It is about [bleeping] time.
And as a parent to an almost 2-year-old who mimics every single word she hears, including raw utterances when, say, Mommy finds herself on I-35 with 245,000 of her closest friends, I somewhat understand language criticisms. But as my cursing mentor Chris Rock infamously said, "It's like you enter another country -- sometimes you're in a cursing country and then you're in a kid's country."
The Cowboys' defense is definitely a cursing country.
How many times have you said, "What the what?" or, "Are you kidding me?" or, "I don't need this" when watching this team on defense? I certainly often have wanted to type that. And we have no financial stake in the 11 star-wearing underachievers that have been stinking it up on Sundays the last couple of seasons.
So, I do not care if Rob Ryan cusses, as long has he fixes the defense. And therein lies the bigger question: Can he?
A lot of doubters exist, most of whom sent variations of this e-mail query after Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, aka The Redheaded Genius, lifted radio silence and allowed his assistant coaches to talk Thursday. Is this love of all things Rob Ryan based on A.) statistical or empirical evidence of his genius in Cleveland and Oakland? or B.) sharing a last name with Rex and Buddy magically has many of us thinking that defensive genius is also genetic? or C.) the media love a dramatic, headline-making over-cusser?
Absolutely fair questions, totally fair.
B and C are absolutely true, so the real question is A, and the only way to truly judge that is scheme. The numbers and the rankings and the record do not work as good indicators here because, well, frankly, the players Rob had in Cleveland make DeMarcus, Ratliff, Bradie and Co. look like Buddy's crew with his "46" defense in Chicago. Remember Scott Fujita and his Cowboys days? He not only was a Brown in 2010 but a contributor.
So, let's be real. Ryan had less than a little to work with in Cleveland, and who is playing defense is always more important than who is on the headphones calling defenses. He did a lot with the big bag of nothing that was the Browns. What will he do with the slightly fuller bag that is the Cowboys?
Scheme is everything, and film demonstrates Rob Ryan has his family's penchant for putting the right player in the right spot and more importantly not putting the wrong guy in the wrong one. His stated defensive philosophy is, "We are going to sic 'em from the word go," and I do not think he meant this in a Baylor kind of way. It is exactly the bombastic style I like and that makes many worry.
As we all learned, it is one thing to call yourself Mr. Fix It and quite another to actually fix it.
The thing I like about this style is, when anybody from defensive coordinator to a contractor puts themselves out on a limb with big promises, they are more likely to demand more from those under them.
Little big Ryan sent a message to all of the Cowboys players that he expects greatness from them. He expects them to deliver on his promises. He expects them to be better than the huge pile of statistics and underachievement they have been, which is more than you can say for the excuse-maker who was shown the door.
Probably my second favorite Ryan-ism, after "I am going to do a great [bleeping] job," is, "We're going to be a great defense. The right guy is standing here in front of you. Anybody can talk the talk, but I can walk it."
He and The RHG are actually a perfect combo in this regard. The Ivy League brainiac, who likes to say nothing at all and encourage everybody to have a great day, and the free-flowing dude, who seems much more likely to use naughty words to send us on our merry way. The thing is you need both. Somebody has to be the thinker, always a step ahead with a plan for how every day runs down to the second, and somebody has to be able and willing to get in faces, loudly and sometimes profanely, when necessary.
So, I believe Rob Ryan will do a great [bleeping] job. Mostly because I believe he will make the Cowboys players do one.