Spags: Cameron owed Norv a favor = Garrett as OC
IRVING, Texas - Here is all Jerry Jones needs to do to make a definitive decision on just who the seventh head coach in Dallas Cowboys history should be:
Drop in the NFL Films Greatest Games tape from the 1992 NFC Championship game, Dallas-San Francisco, played on Jan. 17, 1993, in muddy, soggy, Candlestick Park.
The Cowboys won that game, 30-20, one that to this day, 14 years later, will give you chills and raise the hairs on the back of your neck. I did that Saturday night, almost as an after-thought, since I found my 1985 VCR tape of the Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle, the famed video the first-time Super Bowl-bound Bears made to "help the needy." Wanted to get fully ready for a week at Super Bowl XLI. What a hoot.
Fittingly, the Championship game tape was right next to it. Should have called Jerry and invited him over. The popcorn was ready.
Sure, the Cowboys had what might turn out to be three Pro Football Hall of Fame players on that team: Troy Aikman, obviously; Emmitt Smith, in three more years; and quite possibly Michael Irvin, in a week. Sure they had the NFL's top-ranked defense, with the likes of Charles Haley, Russell Maryland, Tony Casillas, Ken Norton Jr., rookie Kevin Smith, Jimmie Jones, Tony Tolbert, et al. Sure they had how 'bout dem Cowboys Jimmy Johnson as head coach.
But they also had someone the proud San Francisco 49ers, smugly playing at home on a field that had to be below sea level, never could figure out:
Norv Turner. He was the Cowboys' second-year offensive coordinator. He was calling the plays. He was masterful, keeping the Niners off-balance with those dump-off passes to Smith and Daryl Johnston; with surprise blasts up the middle from D.J.; by pounding Smith, even though he was bottled up for the most part in the game; with those incessant third-down slants to Michael Irvin; and of course, the famed slant to Alvin Harper which went 70 yards to the San Francisco 9 with the Cowboys holding a precarious 24-20 lead.
The Cowboys had Turner, and San Francisco didn't.
Well, 14 years later, the shoe is on the other foot. San Francisco has Turner. He's the offensive coordinator. But the Cowboys want him, Jones interviewing his former offensive coordinator most of the day here on Sunday for the head coach position vacated by Bill Parcells last Monday.
If you are scoring at home, Turner is the seventh candidate to be interviewed - and possibly the last since no more are known to be scheduled - following Tony Sparano, Todd Bowles, Todd Haley, Jason Garrett (hired at least as an offensive assistant with title-to-be-named-later), Wade Phillips and Gary Gibbs. And it appears Jones would like to decide in the next couple of days, and might want to bring his new head coach to Miami with him on Thursday for his annual Super Bowl trip.
Obviously Haley is out. He just left to become the Arizona offensive coordinator. Not sure the interviews with Sparano and Bowles were more than courtesy talks, but also to let both know they were wanted here. Garrett might be the head coach someday soon, but not after just two years of coaching, period. Much was made of the Phillips interview since he's a 3-4 guru and the Cowboys have played the 3-4 the past two years, although rather unspectacularly the final five games of this past season.
But look, there is nothing that says, especially the defensive personnel, the Cowboys can't go back to the 4-3 they have played for 45 years of their 47-season history. Might be even better suited for that.
As for Gibbs, that interview on Saturday seemed to come out of left field, though Gibbs certainly has fine coaching credentials, including as head coach at the University of Oklahoma. As he even admitted Saturday, "You better beat Texas" if you want to stick around at OU, which was his Waterloo.
But Turner, to me, he makes so much sense there was no need for the 54-year-old former Oregon quarterback who said this was "the first time I've been back in this building since I was part of the organization" to even head to the airport to ostensibly fly back to the West Coast - unless it was to retrieve wife Nancy and his best power suit.
Who knows, he might already have signed on the dotted line. Makes that much sense.
Obviously Turner would have no qualms with Garrett already having been hired. He tried to hire the former Cowboys backup quarterback three years ago in Oakland. He knows Jason that well, and knows darn well he wouldn't have been available to hire this week. And who better to intern under as a first-time offensive coordinator (although certainly Turner would run the offense) than the protégé of Ernie Zampese, who was the protégé of Don Coryell? That's some point-scoring lineage there.
Here is another factor. Why, when Miami turned down every Butch, Nick and Romeo permission to hire Garrett, who had one year left on his contract as quarterbacks coach with the Dolphins, did the Cowboys suddenly receive permission? Yeah, I know, sounds good that Garrett had a real affinity to return to his Dallas playing roots, and the Dolphins were obliging. But I'm not so sure the NFL is all that sentimental.
How about Cam Cameron, the Dolphins' newly-named head coach, doing Norv a favor? You realize, it was Turner who got Cameron started in the NFL, hiring him as his quarterbacks coach that first year he was head coach in Washington (1994)? And it was Turner whom Cameron followed after five seasons as the Indiana University head coach to San Diego (2002) as offensive coordinator.
Interesting, huh?
Now then, let's move on. Does it also not make sense the Cowboys would hire an offensively-oriented head coach? We know all about the need to continue grooming the young Tony Romo. But don't forget this offense scored 425 points in 2006, two short of being second in the NFL, and really, all but one of the guys who had his fingerprints all over that offense has departed. Gone are Parcells (heaviest), Haley, Anthony Lynn, Chris Palmer (just hired by the Giants) and David Lee, leaving only Sparano and first-year tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens behind.
Plus, here is what everyone overlooks about Turner since he seems most heralded from his development of quarterbacks - from Troy Aikman, to getting Gus Frerotte to the Pro Bowl in Washington, to the Skins' Brad Johnson leading the league in passing, to grooming rookie Drew Brees at San Diego, to nursing Jay Fiedler for two seasons in Miami, to milking 3,495 passing yards out of Kerry Collins in Oakland, to nearly doubling the struggling Alex Smith's QB rating this season in San Francisco, going from 40.8 to 74.8, along with increasing his touchdown passes from one to 16.
Turner is a football-running-coordinating dude. Emmitt Smith led the NFL in rushing Turner's three years in Dallas. Terry Allen had two 1,300-yard seasons in Washington under Turner. Stephen Davis rushed for what was then a Washington single-season high 1,405 yards under Turner in 1999, and then turned in a 1,318-yard season in 2000 when Turner was fired after 13 games (7-6, the last three losses by a total of six points).
Let's see then. In his only season as offensive coordinator at San Diego, rookie LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 1,236 yards in an offense that jumped from 28th in the NFL to 11th. In 2002, his first of two seasons coordinating the Dolphins' offense, Ricky Williams rushed for 1,853 yards and then 1,372 the next year- the top two rushing performances in club history.
And this past season, San Francisco's Frank Gore, following a 608-yard rookie season, led the NFC in rushing with a club-record 1,690 yards, helping the 49ers to improve from 18 last year to sixth. That meant since arriving in Dallas in 1991, Turner's lead running backs, no matter if he was the head coach or the OC, averaged more than 1,200 yards a season.
The Cowboys sure can use some of all that.
Fine, you say, but what about the defense?
Glad you asked.
You know, the Cowboys were just about to turn this defense over to Bowles had Parcells remained, since the head coach would have kept an eye on what would have been a first-time coordinator. Obviously that's no longer the case, but I've got a great idea.
Make Bowles the defensive coordinator, but then bring in - and I want absolutely no snickering on this one - Dave Campo to oversee the defense, maybe be the assistant head coach or something. Look, Jacksonville was willing to let Campo, the Jaguars' assistant head coach/secondary coach, interview for the D-coordinator spot in San Francisco this past week. And say what you want about Campo as a head coach here, no better than 5-11 his three seasons, but he was - and still is - a damn good defensive coordinator. Remember the 2006 opener?
Who better to continue grooming Bowles, if that's the way the Cowboys want to go? Then, just go back to playing the 4-3, which would take no time at all - or added personnel - to transition to this year. Hands of Greg Ellis and DeMarcus Ware go on the ground at end. Jason Ferguson and a combination of Marcus Spears, Chris Canty and maybe Jay Ratliff inside. Bradie James in the middle, Akin Ayodele returns to his strong side and Bobby Carpenter goes weak. Go find me a free safety, and let's play.
So to ol' simpleton me, this all looks pretty easy, if not already thought out to this point from the very start. Cuz' remember, Jones doesn't fly all that much by the seat of his pants. He's had an idea all along.
"This is a very unique place," said Turner, affording himself a bit of reminisce on this day, "and that hit me at Troy's Hall of Fame induction, with all the Cowboys fans there and the people wearing Troy's jerseys."
Turner is very unique in his own right. And if Jones needs to be hit himself with some Turner good-ol-days memories, just ask. I'll pop that tape in for him.
Drop in the NFL Films Greatest Games tape from the 1992 NFC Championship game, Dallas-San Francisco, played on Jan. 17, 1993, in muddy, soggy, Candlestick Park.
The Cowboys won that game, 30-20, one that to this day, 14 years later, will give you chills and raise the hairs on the back of your neck. I did that Saturday night, almost as an after-thought, since I found my 1985 VCR tape of the Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle, the famed video the first-time Super Bowl-bound Bears made to "help the needy." Wanted to get fully ready for a week at Super Bowl XLI. What a hoot.
Fittingly, the Championship game tape was right next to it. Should have called Jerry and invited him over. The popcorn was ready.
Sure, the Cowboys had what might turn out to be three Pro Football Hall of Fame players on that team: Troy Aikman, obviously; Emmitt Smith, in three more years; and quite possibly Michael Irvin, in a week. Sure they had the NFL's top-ranked defense, with the likes of Charles Haley, Russell Maryland, Tony Casillas, Ken Norton Jr., rookie Kevin Smith, Jimmie Jones, Tony Tolbert, et al. Sure they had how 'bout dem Cowboys Jimmy Johnson as head coach.
But they also had someone the proud San Francisco 49ers, smugly playing at home on a field that had to be below sea level, never could figure out:
Norv Turner. He was the Cowboys' second-year offensive coordinator. He was calling the plays. He was masterful, keeping the Niners off-balance with those dump-off passes to Smith and Daryl Johnston; with surprise blasts up the middle from D.J.; by pounding Smith, even though he was bottled up for the most part in the game; with those incessant third-down slants to Michael Irvin; and of course, the famed slant to Alvin Harper which went 70 yards to the San Francisco 9 with the Cowboys holding a precarious 24-20 lead.
The Cowboys had Turner, and San Francisco didn't.
Well, 14 years later, the shoe is on the other foot. San Francisco has Turner. He's the offensive coordinator. But the Cowboys want him, Jones interviewing his former offensive coordinator most of the day here on Sunday for the head coach position vacated by Bill Parcells last Monday.
If you are scoring at home, Turner is the seventh candidate to be interviewed - and possibly the last since no more are known to be scheduled - following Tony Sparano, Todd Bowles, Todd Haley, Jason Garrett (hired at least as an offensive assistant with title-to-be-named-later), Wade Phillips and Gary Gibbs. And it appears Jones would like to decide in the next couple of days, and might want to bring his new head coach to Miami with him on Thursday for his annual Super Bowl trip.
Obviously Haley is out. He just left to become the Arizona offensive coordinator. Not sure the interviews with Sparano and Bowles were more than courtesy talks, but also to let both know they were wanted here. Garrett might be the head coach someday soon, but not after just two years of coaching, period. Much was made of the Phillips interview since he's a 3-4 guru and the Cowboys have played the 3-4 the past two years, although rather unspectacularly the final five games of this past season.
But look, there is nothing that says, especially the defensive personnel, the Cowboys can't go back to the 4-3 they have played for 45 years of their 47-season history. Might be even better suited for that.
As for Gibbs, that interview on Saturday seemed to come out of left field, though Gibbs certainly has fine coaching credentials, including as head coach at the University of Oklahoma. As he even admitted Saturday, "You better beat Texas" if you want to stick around at OU, which was his Waterloo.
But Turner, to me, he makes so much sense there was no need for the 54-year-old former Oregon quarterback who said this was "the first time I've been back in this building since I was part of the organization" to even head to the airport to ostensibly fly back to the West Coast - unless it was to retrieve wife Nancy and his best power suit.
Who knows, he might already have signed on the dotted line. Makes that much sense.
Obviously Turner would have no qualms with Garrett already having been hired. He tried to hire the former Cowboys backup quarterback three years ago in Oakland. He knows Jason that well, and knows darn well he wouldn't have been available to hire this week. And who better to intern under as a first-time offensive coordinator (although certainly Turner would run the offense) than the protégé of Ernie Zampese, who was the protégé of Don Coryell? That's some point-scoring lineage there.
Here is another factor. Why, when Miami turned down every Butch, Nick and Romeo permission to hire Garrett, who had one year left on his contract as quarterbacks coach with the Dolphins, did the Cowboys suddenly receive permission? Yeah, I know, sounds good that Garrett had a real affinity to return to his Dallas playing roots, and the Dolphins were obliging. But I'm not so sure the NFL is all that sentimental.
How about Cam Cameron, the Dolphins' newly-named head coach, doing Norv a favor? You realize, it was Turner who got Cameron started in the NFL, hiring him as his quarterbacks coach that first year he was head coach in Washington (1994)? And it was Turner whom Cameron followed after five seasons as the Indiana University head coach to San Diego (2002) as offensive coordinator.
Interesting, huh?
Now then, let's move on. Does it also not make sense the Cowboys would hire an offensively-oriented head coach? We know all about the need to continue grooming the young Tony Romo. But don't forget this offense scored 425 points in 2006, two short of being second in the NFL, and really, all but one of the guys who had his fingerprints all over that offense has departed. Gone are Parcells (heaviest), Haley, Anthony Lynn, Chris Palmer (just hired by the Giants) and David Lee, leaving only Sparano and first-year tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens behind.
Plus, here is what everyone overlooks about Turner since he seems most heralded from his development of quarterbacks - from Troy Aikman, to getting Gus Frerotte to the Pro Bowl in Washington, to the Skins' Brad Johnson leading the league in passing, to grooming rookie Drew Brees at San Diego, to nursing Jay Fiedler for two seasons in Miami, to milking 3,495 passing yards out of Kerry Collins in Oakland, to nearly doubling the struggling Alex Smith's QB rating this season in San Francisco, going from 40.8 to 74.8, along with increasing his touchdown passes from one to 16.
Turner is a football-running-coordinating dude. Emmitt Smith led the NFL in rushing Turner's three years in Dallas. Terry Allen had two 1,300-yard seasons in Washington under Turner. Stephen Davis rushed for what was then a Washington single-season high 1,405 yards under Turner in 1999, and then turned in a 1,318-yard season in 2000 when Turner was fired after 13 games (7-6, the last three losses by a total of six points).
Let's see then. In his only season as offensive coordinator at San Diego, rookie LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 1,236 yards in an offense that jumped from 28th in the NFL to 11th. In 2002, his first of two seasons coordinating the Dolphins' offense, Ricky Williams rushed for 1,853 yards and then 1,372 the next year- the top two rushing performances in club history.
And this past season, San Francisco's Frank Gore, following a 608-yard rookie season, led the NFC in rushing with a club-record 1,690 yards, helping the 49ers to improve from 18 last year to sixth. That meant since arriving in Dallas in 1991, Turner's lead running backs, no matter if he was the head coach or the OC, averaged more than 1,200 yards a season.
The Cowboys sure can use some of all that.
Fine, you say, but what about the defense?
Glad you asked.
You know, the Cowboys were just about to turn this defense over to Bowles had Parcells remained, since the head coach would have kept an eye on what would have been a first-time coordinator. Obviously that's no longer the case, but I've got a great idea.
Make Bowles the defensive coordinator, but then bring in - and I want absolutely no snickering on this one - Dave Campo to oversee the defense, maybe be the assistant head coach or something. Look, Jacksonville was willing to let Campo, the Jaguars' assistant head coach/secondary coach, interview for the D-coordinator spot in San Francisco this past week. And say what you want about Campo as a head coach here, no better than 5-11 his three seasons, but he was - and still is - a damn good defensive coordinator. Remember the 2006 opener?
Who better to continue grooming Bowles, if that's the way the Cowboys want to go? Then, just go back to playing the 4-3, which would take no time at all - or added personnel - to transition to this year. Hands of Greg Ellis and DeMarcus Ware go on the ground at end. Jason Ferguson and a combination of Marcus Spears, Chris Canty and maybe Jay Ratliff inside. Bradie James in the middle, Akin Ayodele returns to his strong side and Bobby Carpenter goes weak. Go find me a free safety, and let's play.
So to ol' simpleton me, this all looks pretty easy, if not already thought out to this point from the very start. Cuz' remember, Jones doesn't fly all that much by the seat of his pants. He's had an idea all along.
"This is a very unique place," said Turner, affording himself a bit of reminisce on this day, "and that hit me at Troy's Hall of Fame induction, with all the Cowboys fans there and the people wearing Troy's jerseys."
Turner is very unique in his own right. And if Jones needs to be hit himself with some Turner good-ol-days memories, just ask. I'll pop that tape in for him.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:10 PM
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