October 6, 2003
A Real Coach
What’s with the Cowboys these days? They’re playing like a real NFL team. Callers are lighting up the post game switchboards. Network announcers have referred to their “high powered” offense. In the broadcast yesterday, one of them said he thought Parcells would take them to the Super Bowl, but he didn’t think it would be this year. Cowboys? Super Bowl? And nobody laughed at him for saying “Super Bowl” and “this year” in the same sentence.
Back on this earthly plane things are not quite that wonderful, but there are some reasons for Cowboy fans to be optimistic. Chief among them is for the first time in a long time they have a full blown NFL coach. After Jimmy Johnson left, owner Jerry Jones added a plank to the Cowboy platform. For many years their strategy had been to underpay positions such as linebacker and kicker. They figured adequate players at those positions could be had for bargain prices. They were right. The system worked. Jones decided to add “coach” to that category. “There are 500 men in America who can coach the Cowboys” he said. And he commenced to hiring several of them. The problem was coach became almost a figurehead position. The position held no real authority. And as players learned they could go to the owner to get the coach over-ruled, discipline slipped.
One of the most frustrating things about watching the Cowboys the last several years has been the offense jumping off sides. I sometimes wondered if the linemen thought they got paid extra for going before the snap count. Year after year after year we’d hear the coaches talk about execution and how they were going to try to work on it in practice. But nothing changed. And for unexplained reasons occasionally players would forget there was a penalty against taking one’s helmet off on the field. Apparently there was nothing that could be done to correct the problem.
Also clock management, play calling and 4th down decisions ranged from mediocre to downright bizarre. I was never sure the coach knew what yard line they were on, how much time was on the clock or even what the score was. As I write this a reporter on the radio asked Quincy Carter if they would still be 3-1 without Parcells. “No.” Carter replied. “We wouldn’t have had a play call with 11 seconds left.” (referring to the comeback win against the Giants)
What a difference with Parcells. He has a pissed off look. People are afraid of him. Players and assistant coaches wouldn’t even speak to the press during the off season for fear of how he would react. Reporters laugh at all his jokes in press conferences. If I were a player I wouldn’t want to cross this guy.
In the old days if a Cowboy screwed up badly enough Jimmy Johnson would take out a revolver and put a bullet between his eyes. Ok, ok, it wasn’t like that but the law did allow him to cut players. He could break a player’s career in half and flush it down the toilet. And everybody knew it. Parcells is the first Cowboy coach since then that has had that kind of authority.
So no more sideline chaos. No more jumping off sides. No more guys taking their helmet off on the field. No more guys sitting out games because of a hangnail. And he always plays for field position. The Tuna’s approach is old but it works well. Stay on the right end of the field and don’t commit stupidity. And scowl. It’s amazing how much that helps your odds of winning.
High powered? Super Bowl? Naw. But for the first time in a long time there’s light at the end of the tunnel and that light is coming from the coach’s desk.