Garrett, Romo Must Prove They Can Do the Job
Publication Source The Dallas Morning News
Publication Date 2007-06-13
DALLAS _ It could be trouble _ a rookie offensive coordinator feeling his way and at the same time trying to guide an unproven young quarterback into the prime of his career.
Then again, this thing could be a match made in Cowboys heaven.
You have Jason Garrett, undrafted out of Princeton, whose pro career began in the World League and Canadian Football League before riding the bench for years with the Cowboys and the Giants.
And you have Tony Romo, undrafted out of Eastern Illinois, who got a long look at the NFL from the Cowboys' bench before beginning his journey under Bill Parcells during the last 10 games of the 2006 season.
A perfect match of teacher and pupil?
Garrett hopes so, but he demurs on one point.
"It's a joke to try to compare us really, because he's got so much more talent than I ever had," Garrett said. "But I remember Mark Tuinei telling me, `If you start out a free agent, you're always a free agent.'
"He meant that there's a certain mind-set you get as a competitor that you are always going to have to prove yourself. And I think Tony has that mind-set because he's a guy that really wants to be a good football player."
If that happens for Romo this season, if he gets back to playing the way he did through the Thanksgiving Day five-touchdown game against Tampa Bay, it will be in a new system.
It's Garrett's system, although Garrett says it's his and Wade Wilson's and Tony Sparano's and every other offensive coach on Wade Phillips' staff.
In fact, Garrett says Phillips has input, too.
"You talk to the defensive guys, and you figure things out. They will tell you that this formation or this particular shift causes a problem, and you're like, `Really?' And then you throw something at them that you think is good, and they say, `Please, that's a layup,''' Garrett said.
"I think the base for this offense is a lot like what we had in Dallas in the `90s. We did things that worked for Emmitt Smith and worked for Jay Novacek and obviously worked for the quarterback, and those are the things you try to do as a coordinator."
After the team's morning practice Friday, Romo talked about how he likes the way this offense attacks a defense. But he said it requires the quarterback to be in perfect rhythm in order to make plays.
Garrett said the basic idea is to get the eyes, brain and feet working in sync.
"It's like, `I see this, so my mind tells me to go here and so my feet instinctively do this.' As a quarterback, you're more comfortable with the things that you run a lot and that's what we're working on here," he said.
Tight end Jason Witten said he feels there are more deep routes for him in Garrett's playbook than he's had in the past.
"I think we're all anxious to see what kind of a play-caller he's going to be," Witten said. "I know he feels like the running game is important, but I think he's going to be a down-the-field guy."
Garrett has no shortage of weapons to work with. And the addition of massive guard Leonard Davis should help with Romo's protection.
Although he's anxious to get started, Garrett didn't seem too troubled by the fact that wide receivers Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens and running back Julius Jones missed some optional workouts.
"The problem with coaches is we want to practice 365 days a year," Garrett said. "I think those guys got in plenty of work. And one of the things we wanted to talk about as a staff was where are the other guys _ the Miles Austins, the Sam Hurds? And so we saw a lot of them."
Even though he has far less pro coaching experience than Sparano or Wilson, Garrett's learning curve as a coordinator doesn't figure to be a long one. The Princeton education doesn't hurt.
And all those years of meetings with Norv Turner, Ernie Zampese, Sean Payton and Scott Linehan filled Garrett's head with ideas that he now gets to implement.
"It's not like anybody's doing anything really different in this league," Garrett said. "We're just trying to make this a user-friendly system for the receivers and for the quarterback."
After the way Romo finished 2006 as Parcells' favorite whipping boy, he should benefit from a friendlier approach in 2007.
Publication Date 2007-06-13
DALLAS _ It could be trouble _ a rookie offensive coordinator feeling his way and at the same time trying to guide an unproven young quarterback into the prime of his career.
Then again, this thing could be a match made in Cowboys heaven.
You have Jason Garrett, undrafted out of Princeton, whose pro career began in the World League and Canadian Football League before riding the bench for years with the Cowboys and the Giants.
And you have Tony Romo, undrafted out of Eastern Illinois, who got a long look at the NFL from the Cowboys' bench before beginning his journey under Bill Parcells during the last 10 games of the 2006 season.
A perfect match of teacher and pupil?
Garrett hopes so, but he demurs on one point.
"It's a joke to try to compare us really, because he's got so much more talent than I ever had," Garrett said. "But I remember Mark Tuinei telling me, `If you start out a free agent, you're always a free agent.'
"He meant that there's a certain mind-set you get as a competitor that you are always going to have to prove yourself. And I think Tony has that mind-set because he's a guy that really wants to be a good football player."
If that happens for Romo this season, if he gets back to playing the way he did through the Thanksgiving Day five-touchdown game against Tampa Bay, it will be in a new system.
It's Garrett's system, although Garrett says it's his and Wade Wilson's and Tony Sparano's and every other offensive coach on Wade Phillips' staff.
In fact, Garrett says Phillips has input, too.
"You talk to the defensive guys, and you figure things out. They will tell you that this formation or this particular shift causes a problem, and you're like, `Really?' And then you throw something at them that you think is good, and they say, `Please, that's a layup,''' Garrett said.
"I think the base for this offense is a lot like what we had in Dallas in the `90s. We did things that worked for Emmitt Smith and worked for Jay Novacek and obviously worked for the quarterback, and those are the things you try to do as a coordinator."
After the team's morning practice Friday, Romo talked about how he likes the way this offense attacks a defense. But he said it requires the quarterback to be in perfect rhythm in order to make plays.
Garrett said the basic idea is to get the eyes, brain and feet working in sync.
"It's like, `I see this, so my mind tells me to go here and so my feet instinctively do this.' As a quarterback, you're more comfortable with the things that you run a lot and that's what we're working on here," he said.
Tight end Jason Witten said he feels there are more deep routes for him in Garrett's playbook than he's had in the past.
"I think we're all anxious to see what kind of a play-caller he's going to be," Witten said. "I know he feels like the running game is important, but I think he's going to be a down-the-field guy."
Garrett has no shortage of weapons to work with. And the addition of massive guard Leonard Davis should help with Romo's protection.
Although he's anxious to get started, Garrett didn't seem too troubled by the fact that wide receivers Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens and running back Julius Jones missed some optional workouts.
"The problem with coaches is we want to practice 365 days a year," Garrett said. "I think those guys got in plenty of work. And one of the things we wanted to talk about as a staff was where are the other guys _ the Miles Austins, the Sam Hurds? And so we saw a lot of them."
Even though he has far less pro coaching experience than Sparano or Wilson, Garrett's learning curve as a coordinator doesn't figure to be a long one. The Princeton education doesn't hurt.
And all those years of meetings with Norv Turner, Ernie Zampese, Sean Payton and Scott Linehan filled Garrett's head with ideas that he now gets to implement.
"It's not like anybody's doing anything really different in this league," Garrett said. "We're just trying to make this a user-friendly system for the receivers and for the quarterback."
After the way Romo finished 2006 as Parcells' favorite whipping boy, he should benefit from a friendlier approach in 2007.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:51 PM
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