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Some unauthorized advice from Jimmy Johnson to Jerry Jones
Posted Wednesday, Sep. 22, 2010
By Randy Galloway
rgalloway@ star-telegram.com
No matter what else goes wrong for the Valley Ranch lads, and no matter the loud and constant yelping for his removal (me included), Jerry the GM has a lifetime, no-termination contract.
The owner, you see, loves him some Jerry.
I've wasted ink and airtime for years in attempting to convince the owner that he's a dolt for continuing to employ that dolt.
But in failure, can there be compromise?
In the ongoing adventures, or misadventures, of the Dallas Cowboys, the two most prominent non-uniform names, by far, over the last 20-something years are, of course, Jones and Johnson.
Jimmy represents what was. The long-ago Dynasty Days of the early '90s are the franchise's last-grasp link to greatness.
Jerry represents what is, and has been since Jimmy left town under angry circumstances.
Time, however, has healed the wounds, even those deep gashes in both backs. Jerry and Jimmy are friends again.
Johnson is dug in on a beach in the Florida Keys. Jones is dug in behind a desk at Valley Ranch. In both cases, that won't change.
But what about Jimmy as Jerry's personal football consultant? Call it the Texas version of Survivor.
The obvious rebuttal is Jerry's ego absolutely won't accept that.
But how much more of this can Jerry's ego accept? Without exception this decade, every time the Cowboys gain ground on progress, they almost immediately fall back into joke status, which is the current situation. Again.
It's baffling, and not just for those of us (fans and media) whom the Legendary Blackie famously termed "the great unwashed." It's a guarantee there are competent football people at Valley Ranch this very minute in that same bafflement mode over the way this season has started.
On that topic, Jimmy's name circulated this week on the Internet. Johnson wrote some Cowboys opinions for his current employer, Fox, and let's just say Wade Phillips wouldn't like it if he read it.
It's the stupid stuff during the course of a game that once drove Johnson nuts as a coach. And now drives him nuts as a leading football commentator for the Fox TV pregame and postgame Sunday shows.
Jimmy isn't on the Florida beach this week, but out in Los Angeles doing promo work for Fox, along with Troy Aikman, meaning someone else with a Cowboys legacy.
"I've been talking to Troy about this," Johnson said by phone, "and when I see the penalties, the assignment mistakes and just the undisciplined nature of the Cowboys, it's hard not to yell. That stuff goes back to the coaching, whether it was once me, or someone else.
"There is one thing about football. If a team is sloppy on Sunday, it almost without exception means the team was sloppy all week in practice. And there is no excuse for that. I know Wade agrees with me on this, but there's just too much sloppiness with this football team."
Johnson has been given the TV assignment of "how to fix the Cowboys." He's working on that now for Sunday's pregame show. "There will be some people who won't like what I've got to say," he noted, and then wouldn't go into more detail.
But if Johnson is going to be the TV version of an unauthorized consultant for the Cowboys, a couple of questions needed answers.
(1.) Is this year's team simply overhyped, and did the first two games prove that?
"No, it's not an overhyped team. It's a good team. The talent is there. Without question, it's there. I didn't put a lot of stock in how they played in August (a dismal exhibition-season performance), but I've got to say now that it carried over.
"There were legitimate questions going in about the offensive line. Those questions are still there. Safety is another issue on the defensive side. But overall, how can you look at the talent, compare it with other teams around the league, and say the Cowboys were overhyped?
"I know a bunch of teams in this league would like to have that talent."
(Score one for the GM in talent acquisition. But the GM also hired Wade and Jason Garrett to make that talent a properly functioning unit.)
(2.) Does Johnson, an admitted fan of Tony Romo, now have doubts about the quarterback?
"Not at all," he answered. "The talent is there. He's shown that. Some of the things he does well, like improvising, turn out to also be a detriment.
"But what I see from Romo is a maturing quarterback, one who has worked at eliminating turnovers, but he's still waiting to get over that hump. All of them go through that. Tony does need a firm hand guiding him. I'd take him in a second.
"Again, most of the teams in this league would take him in a second."
Then there was this final thought from Johnson on the Cowboys:
"I watch that team, and there's sure a lot of struttin' going on. What's that about? This team has won how many playoff games in how many years? And they strut around out there like they've got Super Bowl rings. For me, there's way too much struttin' going on and not enough winning going on."
Jerry, I think -- no, I know -- your GM needs a football "consultant." Think about it. Think hard about it.
Posted Wednesday, Sep. 22, 2010
By Randy Galloway
rgalloway@ star-telegram.com
No matter what else goes wrong for the Valley Ranch lads, and no matter the loud and constant yelping for his removal (me included), Jerry the GM has a lifetime, no-termination contract.
The owner, you see, loves him some Jerry.
I've wasted ink and airtime for years in attempting to convince the owner that he's a dolt for continuing to employ that dolt.
But in failure, can there be compromise?
In the ongoing adventures, or misadventures, of the Dallas Cowboys, the two most prominent non-uniform names, by far, over the last 20-something years are, of course, Jones and Johnson.
Jimmy represents what was. The long-ago Dynasty Days of the early '90s are the franchise's last-grasp link to greatness.
Jerry represents what is, and has been since Jimmy left town under angry circumstances.
Time, however, has healed the wounds, even those deep gashes in both backs. Jerry and Jimmy are friends again.
Johnson is dug in on a beach in the Florida Keys. Jones is dug in behind a desk at Valley Ranch. In both cases, that won't change.
But what about Jimmy as Jerry's personal football consultant? Call it the Texas version of Survivor.
The obvious rebuttal is Jerry's ego absolutely won't accept that.
But how much more of this can Jerry's ego accept? Without exception this decade, every time the Cowboys gain ground on progress, they almost immediately fall back into joke status, which is the current situation. Again.
It's baffling, and not just for those of us (fans and media) whom the Legendary Blackie famously termed "the great unwashed." It's a guarantee there are competent football people at Valley Ranch this very minute in that same bafflement mode over the way this season has started.
On that topic, Jimmy's name circulated this week on the Internet. Johnson wrote some Cowboys opinions for his current employer, Fox, and let's just say Wade Phillips wouldn't like it if he read it.
It's the stupid stuff during the course of a game that once drove Johnson nuts as a coach. And now drives him nuts as a leading football commentator for the Fox TV pregame and postgame Sunday shows.
Jimmy isn't on the Florida beach this week, but out in Los Angeles doing promo work for Fox, along with Troy Aikman, meaning someone else with a Cowboys legacy.
"I've been talking to Troy about this," Johnson said by phone, "and when I see the penalties, the assignment mistakes and just the undisciplined nature of the Cowboys, it's hard not to yell. That stuff goes back to the coaching, whether it was once me, or someone else.
"There is one thing about football. If a team is sloppy on Sunday, it almost without exception means the team was sloppy all week in practice. And there is no excuse for that. I know Wade agrees with me on this, but there's just too much sloppiness with this football team."
Johnson has been given the TV assignment of "how to fix the Cowboys." He's working on that now for Sunday's pregame show. "There will be some people who won't like what I've got to say," he noted, and then wouldn't go into more detail.
But if Johnson is going to be the TV version of an unauthorized consultant for the Cowboys, a couple of questions needed answers.
(1.) Is this year's team simply overhyped, and did the first two games prove that?
"No, it's not an overhyped team. It's a good team. The talent is there. Without question, it's there. I didn't put a lot of stock in how they played in August (a dismal exhibition-season performance), but I've got to say now that it carried over.
"There were legitimate questions going in about the offensive line. Those questions are still there. Safety is another issue on the defensive side. But overall, how can you look at the talent, compare it with other teams around the league, and say the Cowboys were overhyped?
"I know a bunch of teams in this league would like to have that talent."
(Score one for the GM in talent acquisition. But the GM also hired Wade and Jason Garrett to make that talent a properly functioning unit.)
(2.) Does Johnson, an admitted fan of Tony Romo, now have doubts about the quarterback?
"Not at all," he answered. "The talent is there. He's shown that. Some of the things he does well, like improvising, turn out to also be a detriment.
"But what I see from Romo is a maturing quarterback, one who has worked at eliminating turnovers, but he's still waiting to get over that hump. All of them go through that. Tony does need a firm hand guiding him. I'd take him in a second.
"Again, most of the teams in this league would take him in a second."
Then there was this final thought from Johnson on the Cowboys:
"I watch that team, and there's sure a lot of struttin' going on. What's that about? This team has won how many playoff games in how many years? And they strut around out there like they've got Super Bowl rings. For me, there's way too much struttin' going on and not enough winning going on."
Jerry, I think -- no, I know -- your GM needs a football "consultant." Think about it. Think hard about it.