Cowboys better off without Parcells? Prove it
A liberal dose
July 17, 2007
Big Bill had to go.
He had to take his big, demanding, negative butt elsewhere for this Cowboys team to contend for a Super Bowl. Or so a good hunk of his former players would have you believe.
Most recent in this long line of Cowboys with sudden honesty syndrome is Patrick Crayton. The normally affable and low-key receiver surprised me Monday by calling Big Bill's departure 'a much needed change at the top.'
And that was one of the kinder things he had to say.
His 'why' sounded a lot like many of his teammates' criticisms of Coach Parcells. Too negative. Too many naughty words. Too tight of a leash on both sides of the ball. Too few results. Too long of a stay.
What they all are basically saying is the Cowboys are better without Big Bill.
Crazy, right? I certainly think so.
Mark me down as not giving a flying Fig Newton if Big Bill was a lousy Suzy Sunshine and if every day at Valley Ranch failed to feel like Christmas and if players were not living a Hallmark commercial. This is an NFL franchise, not a self-esteem camp.
Just win, baby.
Nor am I convinced Big Bill is the only reason the Cowboys failed to do so in his tenure.
What was obvious after listening to Crayton lob verbal grenade after verbal grenade at Parcells and coaching compadres such as Todd Haley is a decent number of players almost exclusively blame Big Bill.
This is fine. Players are entitled to their opinions.
But if they insist Big Bill was the big problem, they had better be prepared to be a part of the solution. And, yes, this is a 'they.' Crayton's was the latest verbal swipe at Parcells, not the only.
Such unpleasantries began with a couple of players sniping almost immediately upon his departure, whispers really amid a cacophony of warm fuzzies. But the farther Parcells has traveled from Valley Ranch the louder the cries of BWBB or 'Better Without Big Bill' have grown.
Julius Jones blames his former coach for failing to take advantage of holes and has hinted at bigger results without him in his ear.
Roy Willy blames Parcells for his failure, period.
Big Bill is the reason why so few defensive linemen registered sacks, why the D collapsed in December, why they lost the playoff game in Seattle, why they did not win squat in four seasons, why the fun had been sucked out of Valley Ranch.
'You don't enjoy going in to work every morning,' Crayton said. 'It got to a point where we had fun on the field at times, and then there were other times when you dreaded going into Valley Ranch.'
There used to be a time when such talk was ludicrous and blasphemous.
Certain media types were tattooing 'Trust In Big Bill' on their butts, and this one is still trying to decide what to do with her ink. Everybody believes he was going to save the franchise by sheer force of his iron will.
You do not bring Bill Parcells in to be Oprah.
What the Cowboys needed was a butt kicker after ultimate good guy Dave Campo exited. They needed a coach capable of whip-cracking, a guy with his fair quotient of mean, a Big Bill.
And he was exactly as advertised.
He tried to warn us way back when. He's not for everybody. His style only works if his team is winning and winning big and his way has a shelf life, even then.
The Cowboys did not win. And Big Bill walked away.
And with training camp a week away in Santonio, we are being told this change is all that stands between the Cowboys and a championship.
They believe they are warm, fuzzy and perky away from Super Bowl XLII.
Silly me, I thought what was missing was a butt-kicking defense.
Of course, I'm a little skeptical anyway. I remember hearing a lot of this happy-happy, joy-joy in Rangers spring training. They were spouting how ditching Buck Showalter had turned them into a Brady Bunch episode.
Everybody was happy. Ws were sure to follow.
We know how that ends.
What the Cowboys are going to learn is what the Rangers did: Happy does not erase poor pitching and it will not compensate for an inability to pressure the quarterback or 'ish' play from Tony Romo.
This is not to say the Cowboys will not be BWBB. They very well may be, but it will not be simply because Parcells exited the building. It will be because guys such as Crayton and Julius and Roy Willy play better.
My only hope is if the Cowboys are not BWBB that they are as willing to heap blame on themselves as they were on Parcells.
Jennifer Floyd Engel can be heard weekdays 9 a.m.-noon on The Jennifer Engel Show on ESPN/103.3 FM.
July 17, 2007
Big Bill had to go.
He had to take his big, demanding, negative butt elsewhere for this Cowboys team to contend for a Super Bowl. Or so a good hunk of his former players would have you believe.
Most recent in this long line of Cowboys with sudden honesty syndrome is Patrick Crayton. The normally affable and low-key receiver surprised me Monday by calling Big Bill's departure 'a much needed change at the top.'
And that was one of the kinder things he had to say.
His 'why' sounded a lot like many of his teammates' criticisms of Coach Parcells. Too negative. Too many naughty words. Too tight of a leash on both sides of the ball. Too few results. Too long of a stay.
What they all are basically saying is the Cowboys are better without Big Bill.
Crazy, right? I certainly think so.
Mark me down as not giving a flying Fig Newton if Big Bill was a lousy Suzy Sunshine and if every day at Valley Ranch failed to feel like Christmas and if players were not living a Hallmark commercial. This is an NFL franchise, not a self-esteem camp.
Just win, baby.
Nor am I convinced Big Bill is the only reason the Cowboys failed to do so in his tenure.
What was obvious after listening to Crayton lob verbal grenade after verbal grenade at Parcells and coaching compadres such as Todd Haley is a decent number of players almost exclusively blame Big Bill.
This is fine. Players are entitled to their opinions.
But if they insist Big Bill was the big problem, they had better be prepared to be a part of the solution. And, yes, this is a 'they.' Crayton's was the latest verbal swipe at Parcells, not the only.
Such unpleasantries began with a couple of players sniping almost immediately upon his departure, whispers really amid a cacophony of warm fuzzies. But the farther Parcells has traveled from Valley Ranch the louder the cries of BWBB or 'Better Without Big Bill' have grown.
Julius Jones blames his former coach for failing to take advantage of holes and has hinted at bigger results without him in his ear.
Roy Willy blames Parcells for his failure, period.
Big Bill is the reason why so few defensive linemen registered sacks, why the D collapsed in December, why they lost the playoff game in Seattle, why they did not win squat in four seasons, why the fun had been sucked out of Valley Ranch.
'You don't enjoy going in to work every morning,' Crayton said. 'It got to a point where we had fun on the field at times, and then there were other times when you dreaded going into Valley Ranch.'
There used to be a time when such talk was ludicrous and blasphemous.
Certain media types were tattooing 'Trust In Big Bill' on their butts, and this one is still trying to decide what to do with her ink. Everybody believes he was going to save the franchise by sheer force of his iron will.
You do not bring Bill Parcells in to be Oprah.
What the Cowboys needed was a butt kicker after ultimate good guy Dave Campo exited. They needed a coach capable of whip-cracking, a guy with his fair quotient of mean, a Big Bill.
And he was exactly as advertised.
He tried to warn us way back when. He's not for everybody. His style only works if his team is winning and winning big and his way has a shelf life, even then.
The Cowboys did not win. And Big Bill walked away.
And with training camp a week away in Santonio, we are being told this change is all that stands between the Cowboys and a championship.
They believe they are warm, fuzzy and perky away from Super Bowl XLII.
Silly me, I thought what was missing was a butt-kicking defense.
Of course, I'm a little skeptical anyway. I remember hearing a lot of this happy-happy, joy-joy in Rangers spring training. They were spouting how ditching Buck Showalter had turned them into a Brady Bunch episode.
Everybody was happy. Ws were sure to follow.
We know how that ends.
What the Cowboys are going to learn is what the Rangers did: Happy does not erase poor pitching and it will not compensate for an inability to pressure the quarterback or 'ish' play from Tony Romo.
This is not to say the Cowboys will not be BWBB. They very well may be, but it will not be simply because Parcells exited the building. It will be because guys such as Crayton and Julius and Roy Willy play better.
My only hope is if the Cowboys are not BWBB that they are as willing to heap blame on themselves as they were on Parcells.
Jennifer Floyd Engel can be heard weekdays 9 a.m.-noon on The Jennifer Engel Show on ESPN/103.3 FM.
posted by The Gryphon at 5:55 PM
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