Jerry Jones hints on next head coach, defensive coordinator

by Dave Halprin on Feb 4, 2007 2:03 AM CST in Dallas Cowboys News

Jerry Jones drops some clues about what he's looking for in his next coach.

Jones said the development of quarterback Tony Romo will play a big part in his decision. He said he spoke with Hall of Famer Roger Staubach about the development of a quarterback for two hours Saturday.

"Obviously we think [Romo's] got a chance," Jones said. "We think a lot of Tony. We think a lot of him as a person. We like the way he got here, so his development is a big part of this decision."

That smells like Norv Turner to me. If there's one thing I know Turner could do well is continue the development of Tony Romo.

Jones then talks defense.

Jones also added that the 3-4 defense the Cowboys used the last two seasons would not cause him to eliminate a coach or coordinator more familiar with the 4-3.

"You end up getting the same thing in the 3-4 that you get in the 4-3 at times," Jones said. "I can give you a good case why some of our personnel is better suited for the 4-3 right now."

That sounds like Jerry is flexible about the defense, and that the defensive coordinator doesn't need to be familiar with the 3-4. But can anybody tell me what the heck this line means? "You end up getting the same thing in the 3-4 that you get in the 4-3 at times."

I have no idea what he's talking about.

Jason Garrett loves him some Tony Romo.

"I'm a big fan of Tony Romo," [Jason] Garrett said. "I've actually known about him for a long time. Having played up in New York, Sean Payton was our offensive coordinator and they're both Eastern Illinois guys, and he talked about him for a while. Scratch golfer, the whole thing.

"Clearly, the first few years of his career, he did a great job of refining his skills so that when he got the opportunity to play, he was able to take advantage of it. He seems like a guy who loves football and is willing to work at it. I'm excited to get to work with him."

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agreed

As soon as I saw the video of Michael Irvin's 'entourage' in the green room, and how when Irvin's name was called Jerry pumped his fist and turned to shake hands with Norval, I knew. He was part of the Cowboys' contingent, part and parcel.

It's time to start composing the reasons why it isn't impossible to win with Turner as head coach. Needless to say, I'm discouraged, and Jerry's mouthful of marbles about our defense is even more demoralizing.

by AmosM on Feb 4, 2007 10:44 AM CST reply actions

I think maybe

waht he was trying to say about the D was that when we shifted to it during the Detroit game, and during certain situqtions, we seemed to play about the same. What that means for the team exactly, I don't know, but in his own strnage way, I think he believes we can ummm... go both ways...

by dunkman on Feb 4, 2007 3:10 PM CST reply actions

Let's not take away from Troy Aikman...

Troy Aikman was a phenomenal player and I wouldn't necessarily peg his success to Norv Turner.

Here's a list of the Quarterbacks Norv Turner "developed" after Troy Aikman:

Heath Shuler -- no comment necessary.

John Friesz -- a trend you'll notice are Quarterbacks who have their best years after they were coached by Norv Turner. Friesz is one of them, as he would experience greater success (relatively speaking, of course) years later in Seattle then he did in Washington in 1994.

Gus Frerotte -- Completion percentage as a Redskins was lower than his career completion percentage, and I'll let you ponder why. Scored more touchdowns at 34 playing for the Dolphins in 2005 than he ever did under Norv Turner in his "prime".

Trent Green -- I'll give Norv Turner for coaching up Trent Green to a good performance in just his 2nd year in the league. However, as with the other quarterbacks, he enjoyed greater success later in his career with Kansas City which begs the question: was Trent Green coached to play well or was he just a good player?

Brad Johnson -- Succeeded elsewhere, but credit is due to Norval for his 1999 offense which ranked 2nd in the league. It should be noted that post Cowboys Norv Turner ran offenses currently rank, on average, 17th in the league.

Doug Flutie -- Norv Turner coached the veteran down to a pedestrian 15 touchdowns against 18 interceptions season that immediately gave way to the Drew Brees era in San Diego. His offense would finish 15th (out of 31), with LT. The Chargers offense post-Norv Turner: 16th, 14th, 11th, 10th, and 7th.

The Dolphins guys -- Take your pick of this "Where are they now" crew: Jay Fiedler, Brian Griese, Ray Lucas...

Alex Smith -- He did turn one of the worst starting QB performances (1 TD on 16 ints) into merely a very bad one. I wouldn't count having the 26th ranked offense in the league a coaching victory for Norv though, despite how bad the team was prior to him.

Troy Aikman might've just been awesome. With or without Norv Turner.

Hogs Haven

by Skin Patrol @ Blogging The Boys on Feb 4, 2007 3:15 PM CST reply actions

Good research

but on the other hand guys like Aikman and Green have been the ones to credit Turner. I think most of us can recall a coach or teacher or boss who got us to improve beyond where we thought we could be. Has to be something to it.

I think most in the league consider him an great offensive mind even if his head coaching resume is weak.