Not too long ago, I finally got to stop hitting “refresh” on my browser waiting on the news that Garrett had left the building. In true course of the nature of this beast, even his departure was as mystifying as his tenure. I had high hopes early on as he took the reins of my beloved Dallas Cowboys. After around 4-5 years, you could just see you were treading water, but the water was mud. Nothing was going anywhere very fast and when it did, it reverted quickly.
It honestly seems he won just enough to make you think he could string it together finally. That he could figure out how to take it to the next level. Instead, his coaching style was more waiting on the next level to come to him. How’d that work out for you, Jason?
I won’t go into too many details on the circus that is forever the Cowboys front office. Whether Garrett left minutes or a week after the last game, no coaches really get hired immediately so I didn’t feel we’d lose out on whoever the next pick may have been. In the end, only Rivera was hired by the Redskins and good – I didn’t want him anyway.
The coaching changes of your favorite team can be interesting times, to be sure. We get to play the part of picking the entire staff for Jones while we bitch at him for doing that to any head coach. Now that McCarthy has been hired and is building his own roster, I hear fans gripe and complain that coaches they want to keep or pull in are not being considered. Well, I suppose that’s what fans do but it’s funny. One day demanding you let the coach “pick the groceries” the next mad cause they picked steak and you wanted lobster.
The joys of being a fan with no responsibilities for our decisions.
Locked and loaded for 5 years, that’s plenty of time to see what Mike can do here in Dallas. About the only hold-over from the previous admin is Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator. What he will be doing since Mike is known to call his own plays is yet to be determined.
From there, we get Mike Nolan, the man who brought suits on the sidelines back while in San Francisco, managing our Defense. This is the key to me because for far too long we’d score a lot of points. Nice and all, but the main focus of the defense would seem to be to get out of the way and let the other team do the same. Looking for a 4-3 / 3-4 blend and to me that only makes sense, Play what you need to play, not what you want to make work. This is showing a culture shift in Dallas, moving away from Garrett’s style of forcing his “process” no matter the consequences.
John Fassel on special teams. Of all the picks so far, this one begins to restore my tattered and torn faith we may one day see the greatness of the 90s again. Or at least return to consistent great play. Kiping Fassel from the Rams is yet another blow the Cowboys gave the Rams this year. Most excellent choice, Mike.
I’m not going into a coach by coach breakdown here. Major names and make a point, then let you get back to your day is how I roll. My main point here is it’s January 16th and we’re 2 days removed from Garrett’s contract simply becoming void and over on its own. My new keyboard with a heavy duty F5 key will be here this weekend. While I have taken some serious joys in this particular off-season I’ve not let myself do for the past 4-5, there is one more surprise brewing that I hope pans out.
Garrett is interviewing with the Giants for the Offense Coordinator position. It’s heartwarming to me to see us make good moves and our rivals dig through our discards. Do it. Please.
It would be the perfect way to say goodbye, finally, after all these years of going nowhere.
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