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Jerry Jones turns over the reins to Jason Garrett
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
jenfloyd@ star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON -- I tried to tell you. And now I will simply say I told you so.
The genius of The Redheaded Genius has been greatly underestimated by Cowboy masses and plenty of media types.
Princeton is not a yes man, nor is he a puppet, nor is he so desperate for a job that he had to "golly gee" every crazy whim at Valley Ranch. Jason Garrett is smart and in demand and not afraid to stand up to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, which as a result produced words I have never heard in what now makes three hiring pressers to come under my watch.
"Jason will have the final say on any person that leaves the coaching staff or comes to the coaching staff," Owner Jones said to an almost audible gasp from the assembled group and, I daresay, a slight smile from JG.
He then added, without prompt or provocation, mind you: "There won't be a player on this team that Jason doesn't want on this team... Are we clear?"
Much has been made about Jerry physically taking the microphone from Jason to say this.
The reality is he had to answer it. Only his words would suffice to appease an angry Cowboys fan base sick of Owner Jones and his long tentacles. Even with him leaving no room for wiggle, doubt exists. Let us withhold judgment until we see who wins The Roy Williams Debate, or if Jason actually is allowed to hire a defensive coordinator he likes or merely one Jerry says he likes. I'd like to see them go talk to Mangenius (aka, Eric Mangini), mostly because this team desperately needs a butt kicker.
Jason wisely kept repeating his mantra of "good communication" to any and all questions that even remotely related to power. And only when pushed, by yours truly, to see if he had it in him to be pushy with Jerry, did he say anything that came close to veering off script.
"Absolutely," was the extent of that detour.
The guy is smart, smart enough to realize that winning the news conference is not what matters. In this regard, he is very much like his QB, who was talking just the other day about the inanity of getting emotional for the cameras.
What matters, he said, is the result, not the audience.
And The RHG so obviously said what needed to be said in talks with Jerry and Stephen. The thing is, even in the case of a job you have wanted your whole life and turned down other jobs in hopes of getting, it is idiocy not to have non-negotiables. The coach who steps into a job without any real power is halfway to failure.
So why now, I asked Jerry? And why Jason?
"I wanted to make sure our fans knew the extent of his power, the extent of his ability to do the kinds of things that traditionally we would frankly like for the coach to be able to do," Owner Jones said.
He had been doing so well until that last part. If Jerry wanted his coaches to have power, they would. He only kind of does, so they only kind of do.
The only coaches who work in Dallas with this crazy power structure are those who are not afraid. So what happens from here is on The RHG. Jerry said the power was Jason's, and he would not force anything on him. He also said all of his coaches had this, so obviously operator error cannot be discounted.
"I don't believe I have ever had a real pushback when one of our coaches had a problem with the staff," Jerry said.
My retort: Did you have coaches who would push back?
"Of course, I did," he said, then proceeded to list Barry Switzer and Bill Parcells. "And you underestimated the bristle in Wade Phillips."
You can take away that past tense, Jerry. Still do.
Contrary to popular opinion, and I always get a lot of e-mails saying how I do not like Jerry, it is quite the opposite. He is one of my all-time favorites to cover. He is exactly what you want in an owner, with his passion and slightly crazy. But he has to be managed; a coach cannot walk into this deal without being ready to fight for his non-negotiables, and The RHG most certainly is.
Jerry is not taking a step back off the big stage. Puh-lease. I giggled Thursday when I heard people say this. This is Jerry. The best you can hope for is he likes and respects the coach enough to let him step forward and join him up there.
Jimmy obviously did. Switzer only somewhat did and mainly because of their history. Of course, there was Big Bill. And Jason joined them Thursday.
Mixed in between were a various assortment of yes men that so whittled down the position of head coach as to make it on par with the trainer -- necessary but replaceable. The feeling was some of the people who were here before were just so happy to have the job that they'd agree to anything, and they did.
Chan Gailey and Dave Campo reminded me of Sixteen Candles when The Geek drove Caroline to his geek friend's house for a picture because nobody would believe it otherwise. And Coach Wade had to be as stunned as everybody else that anybody wanted to hire him at all. Even the strongest head coach since Jimmy walked away with head bowed in defeat.
Jerry, of course, said he could not think of a time when he insisted that a player be a part of this team, and the coach did not agree.
T.O.?
"And I'm having trouble..." he continued with his train of thought.
T.O.?
"No, we both agreed," he said adamantly. "Bill and I agreed he ought to be on the team."
And I am certain I will hear from a certain New Jersey-ian this a.m. with a different version of that story. What he almost assuredly also will say is The RHG would be wise to get his plan, his structure, in place and not let anybody, even the owner, mess with it. The NFL is too tough of a business and coaching too fickle to go down with somebody else's players and coaches and ideas.
"Let's not be naive here; you know I am criticized for making decisions in areas that fans and other people would like coaches to make," Jerry said. "I particularly wanted to be sure that you understood the respect I have for him, and I wouldn't have said it the day that we announced it if that were not the fact how we are going to operate."
No, let's not be naive.
Words are words. And Jerry has said many in his 22 years.
How we will know is if he gets out of the way and lets The RHG be a genius.
Jennifer Floyd Engel
817-390-7697
Looking for comments
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/06/2751157/jerry-jones-turns-over-the-reins.html##ixzz1ALejdhZZ
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
jenfloyd@ star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON -- I tried to tell you. And now I will simply say I told you so.
The genius of The Redheaded Genius has been greatly underestimated by Cowboy masses and plenty of media types.
Princeton is not a yes man, nor is he a puppet, nor is he so desperate for a job that he had to "golly gee" every crazy whim at Valley Ranch. Jason Garrett is smart and in demand and not afraid to stand up to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, which as a result produced words I have never heard in what now makes three hiring pressers to come under my watch.
"Jason will have the final say on any person that leaves the coaching staff or comes to the coaching staff," Owner Jones said to an almost audible gasp from the assembled group and, I daresay, a slight smile from JG.
He then added, without prompt or provocation, mind you: "There won't be a player on this team that Jason doesn't want on this team... Are we clear?"
Much has been made about Jerry physically taking the microphone from Jason to say this.
The reality is he had to answer it. Only his words would suffice to appease an angry Cowboys fan base sick of Owner Jones and his long tentacles. Even with him leaving no room for wiggle, doubt exists. Let us withhold judgment until we see who wins The Roy Williams Debate, or if Jason actually is allowed to hire a defensive coordinator he likes or merely one Jerry says he likes. I'd like to see them go talk to Mangenius (aka, Eric Mangini), mostly because this team desperately needs a butt kicker.
Jason wisely kept repeating his mantra of "good communication" to any and all questions that even remotely related to power. And only when pushed, by yours truly, to see if he had it in him to be pushy with Jerry, did he say anything that came close to veering off script.
"Absolutely," was the extent of that detour.
The guy is smart, smart enough to realize that winning the news conference is not what matters. In this regard, he is very much like his QB, who was talking just the other day about the inanity of getting emotional for the cameras.
What matters, he said, is the result, not the audience.
And The RHG so obviously said what needed to be said in talks with Jerry and Stephen. The thing is, even in the case of a job you have wanted your whole life and turned down other jobs in hopes of getting, it is idiocy not to have non-negotiables. The coach who steps into a job without any real power is halfway to failure.
So why now, I asked Jerry? And why Jason?
"I wanted to make sure our fans knew the extent of his power, the extent of his ability to do the kinds of things that traditionally we would frankly like for the coach to be able to do," Owner Jones said.
He had been doing so well until that last part. If Jerry wanted his coaches to have power, they would. He only kind of does, so they only kind of do.
The only coaches who work in Dallas with this crazy power structure are those who are not afraid. So what happens from here is on The RHG. Jerry said the power was Jason's, and he would not force anything on him. He also said all of his coaches had this, so obviously operator error cannot be discounted.
"I don't believe I have ever had a real pushback when one of our coaches had a problem with the staff," Jerry said.
My retort: Did you have coaches who would push back?
"Of course, I did," he said, then proceeded to list Barry Switzer and Bill Parcells. "And you underestimated the bristle in Wade Phillips."
You can take away that past tense, Jerry. Still do.
Contrary to popular opinion, and I always get a lot of e-mails saying how I do not like Jerry, it is quite the opposite. He is one of my all-time favorites to cover. He is exactly what you want in an owner, with his passion and slightly crazy. But he has to be managed; a coach cannot walk into this deal without being ready to fight for his non-negotiables, and The RHG most certainly is.
Jerry is not taking a step back off the big stage. Puh-lease. I giggled Thursday when I heard people say this. This is Jerry. The best you can hope for is he likes and respects the coach enough to let him step forward and join him up there.
Jimmy obviously did. Switzer only somewhat did and mainly because of their history. Of course, there was Big Bill. And Jason joined them Thursday.
Mixed in between were a various assortment of yes men that so whittled down the position of head coach as to make it on par with the trainer -- necessary but replaceable. The feeling was some of the people who were here before were just so happy to have the job that they'd agree to anything, and they did.
Chan Gailey and Dave Campo reminded me of Sixteen Candles when The Geek drove Caroline to his geek friend's house for a picture because nobody would believe it otherwise. And Coach Wade had to be as stunned as everybody else that anybody wanted to hire him at all. Even the strongest head coach since Jimmy walked away with head bowed in defeat.
Jerry, of course, said he could not think of a time when he insisted that a player be a part of this team, and the coach did not agree.
T.O.?
"And I'm having trouble..." he continued with his train of thought.
T.O.?
"No, we both agreed," he said adamantly. "Bill and I agreed he ought to be on the team."
And I am certain I will hear from a certain New Jersey-ian this a.m. with a different version of that story. What he almost assuredly also will say is The RHG would be wise to get his plan, his structure, in place and not let anybody, even the owner, mess with it. The NFL is too tough of a business and coaching too fickle to go down with somebody else's players and coaches and ideas.
"Let's not be naive here; you know I am criticized for making decisions in areas that fans and other people would like coaches to make," Jerry said. "I particularly wanted to be sure that you understood the respect I have for him, and I wouldn't have said it the day that we announced it if that were not the fact how we are going to operate."
No, let's not be naive.
Words are words. And Jerry has said many in his 22 years.
How we will know is if he gets out of the way and lets The RHG be a genius.
Jennifer Floyd Engel
817-390-7697
Looking for comments
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/06/2751157/jerry-jones-turns-over-the-reins.html##ixzz1ALejdhZZ