where fans are throwing in the towel for the season with a winning record, unbelievable.

You would think we were 0-5 or 1-4.

that you are loving Mike Singletary, but then wanting to hire the guy that he replaced.

but every analyst and NFL person I have heard discuss the topic have looked at Holmgren as our next head coach. One person actually believes that the Redskins and Cowboys will be fighting over him. Personally if a change is made I hope that Wade stays on a D-coordinator. He is probably the only head coach in the league with a small enough ego to take that step down with the same team.

Who then?

I really, really, really hope they hire an OC that likes to run the ball.

But I don’t think he’d like to work for JJ and I don’t blame him.

DAL is 3-2, with the number 1 offense in the league right now – jeez, let’s talk about the upcoming ATL game, not new coaches

:o)

Want to make a wager?

It depends on how this season ends, if the team implodes and goes 5-11 or 6-10 JJ along with Stephen may aquiece to the big bill approach and get a HC who is regarded as a disciplinarian. But if this teams finishes 9-7 and misses the playoffs by one game with the exception of firing WP; who knows what JJ will do.

I think this fanpost should be called wishful thinking because JJ way of thinking is something we cannot predict. I think the skins being able to poach a good HC; Zorn is there because they are the raiders of the NFC. No real coach in his right mind would want to coach that team. Also we do not know which teams will be in the HC hunt next year. The titans, raiders, skins, our boys, bucs, panthers, texans could all be searching for a HC and JJ will be a factor in obtaining a good candidate.

I think our only real hope is that Stephen is able to convince JJ to take a real HC that will pick his own staff and have more (but unfortunately not complete) control over accountability; but I do not know how much to put stock into that kind of hope. I do know that with Stephen in the wings he will give this team an option when JJ starts to go into full “crazy Al” mode and it should happen before Al dies and/or Snyder sells the team (yeah right). Until then the players that work hard and are trying to lead this team are going to be in limbo; it makes me a little sad to say that.

If it wasn’t for the blocked field goal, Dallas would have lost to the worst team other than the Raiders, in the NFL. A team that was 0-4. I hear ya that it’s way too early, but really? Is it really? Come on, you REALLY think this team is going to start clicking on all cylinders at the same time and stop making the game losing mistakes? I watch every game, read this blog every day all year long and Wade is a good DC but he just doesn’t have player accountability down. A lot of us have been saying this since after the first year. Yeah, 13-3 was fun but reality took a big bite.

That said, it’s not ALL Wade’s fault. Romo has been, well, not very good. He was better Sunday. There are some average players that haven’t lived up to their potential. He still needs a Safety that can play. The corners are still green except Newman. The WR’s are not able to get open, especially against good press defenses. May be Austin can help with this. I think he can but he won’t be facing another secondary as bad as the Chiefs.

However, Nolan would not make a good HC. He has proved before that he cant handle it, why would it work here? Nolan deserved his first Head Coaching job because he is a very good co-ordinator. However his time in San Fran proved that he isnt a competent HCing candidate. Dont become enamoured with a good co-ordinator, at least lobby for a good HC. If we hired Nolan, we would have the same situation we are in now, in that we have a co-ordinator for a HC.

Or Sporano. It won’t happen either way, but it would be nice.

We need a strong willed coach who can instill some discipline in this group. But we will not get one while Jerry is GM.

Ball was aggressive. He hit the guy in the chest and because the players all have facemasks that could cover the front of an F150 the dude’s head popped back. That was a play that was penalized correctly, but it wasn’t a stupid or dirty play. Jerry and Wade should come out on Ball’s side.

As for Wade, he’s had his full three year contract to prove himself (he should have been gone last year). There is a difference between being a player’s coach and not calling it like you see it. Regardless of what kind of work you do, people respect someone who shoots strait. If I screw up at my job, I expect to get an honest assessment from my boss. You don’t see that from Wade. He sugar coats everything, even when its blatently obvious that there is a problem. Players can’t and won’t respect that type of approach to leadership. Anything less than a playoff win is unacceptable and gives Jerry the window he needs to bring in a new coach.

My guess is that they won’t make the playoffs because this team is soft, has no visible leaders and makes too many stupid and costly penalties and bonehead plays (the Ball play not being a stupid play but a costly one). I wouldn’t want Jerry and his little tick turd to seriously consider the field of candidates until it is apparant that our season is indeed over.

The bigger problem was, the game had passed him by. Playing the field position/TOP game to wear another team down ended in this modern, pass happy NFL. By the end, the players had clearly tuned him out.

We went 180’ against that with ‘The Players Coach’ WP. The problem is he is so conflict averse, he has no effect in terms of correcting poor performance. Part of this is he is the most neutered coach in NFL History. Hell, even Al Davis protects his soon-to-be-arrested HC. JJ, with all his ‘personnel management’ practically sets the lineups. SUN he even stated he couldn’t ‘coach’ Ball out of his Personal Foul inducing hit. Add to that, WP doesn’t coach the offense and has little, if any input to offensive strategy. By giving him the additional duties of DC, JJ effectively ensures Wade stays out of the O completely.

But WP for his part, isn’t helping himself. He’s not assertive enough to defend his own turf, and appears completely lacking to challenge individual performance/performers. So either the team self-polices or the assistants manage it. But it lacks authority because no one is truly in charge.

For all the criticism that the team was a collection of parts last year, while we appear to have corrected it on the player side, but left it completely dysfunctional on the coaching level. JJ wears this. He put it together this way, deliberately.

I agree there is a lot of impatience among fans, but believe it is due to the sense this team has a window that has been open for a while and may begin to close soon. And we haven’t taken advantage of it.. Lastly, I don’t get the relentless criticism of Garrett. Had 1 great year, one less great (an over-rated TO a huge factor) and a solid start this yer. Admittedly he is not perfect, but get rid of him? Seems extreme.

I don’t dislike Wade but I do think their are better candidates, do I think Garrett is the best candidate, no, but even w/ Garrett I think he will hold the players more accountable as well as not sugar-coat everything. Also I think Jerry likes him enough to give him enough control to do what he needs to do to make sure that players know that there will be consequences for screwing up. Player-wise I think if we could find a playmaking safety our defense would go from good to nearly great alone, we don’t need Ed Reed, even w/ a Brian Dawkins type, very smart and instinctive, it would help our prevent defense as well our regular defense immensely

I feel it is all but a given that Wade is gone after this season. Like said above, by making him the DC, it basically removes Wades status as the head coach, as people know it is Jerry who is running the show, and who is in Garretts ear telling him he is going to be the next HC. I feel it is only a matter of time this season, especially if the running game keeps it up and these defensive breakdowns keep costing us close games, that Jerry will have the justification to fire Wade, promote Garrett to HC, and see what he has as a HC. This honestly, could work out one of two ways. Either it is a wake up call to the team that stuff needs to change(Garrett could do this by potentially benching a struggling player coughFlocough), and it inspires the players to play like an actual disciplined team, or it could be complete disaster, the defense falling off, and Garrett being run out of town by the end of the season.

Assuming the latter is more likely to happen, a few names I see getting thrown around are the high profile canadates(Holmgren, Shanahan, Gruden, Cowher), some potential recycles(Nolan, Capers), high profile, young coordinators(McDermontt or whatever from Philly I see leading the charge here, but at this point, it is anyones guess), typical college coaches(Pete Carroll and Bob Stoops for example), but the person who would make the most sense right now, and who I think Jerry has his beady little eyes on:

Jeff Fisher.

It just makes too much sense at this point. The Titans are off to a horrible start, despite them being expected to be good. I do see this team rebounding slightly, ending around 7-9 or so, thus giving Jerry some justification to the media. I personally would love for this to happen, so perhaps I’m looking a little idealistic here, but I think Fisher in Dallas would just work out for the best. Jeff seems like the guy who could rally the troops far better than Wade ever could, and someone who could actually get along well enough with Jerry to succeed. Is it a long term answer? No, not at all. But in the “Win Now, or Else” attitude of today’s NFL, it would make the most sense.

Now, watch Jerry not to this and try to give Norv another shot at running the show…

So, Nolan’s out. Cower is out. Gruden is out. Shanahan, may be. But Norv? Definately not!

I mean how can a coach really prevent turnovers and penalties?? Even if a coach has his players fully prepared and in the best position to win the game and has them in the best schemes, players commit turnovers and penalties regardless.

Great players make coaches look good and bad players make coaches look bad. Did you ever notice when a coaching change is made by a team, there is also a good turnover of personnel as well. Its because the new coach knows he needs his type of players to be successful.

If Jerry brings in another coach next year, that coach will have to make some significant personnel changes and I don’t see that happening with a lot of players already locked into long term contracts.

Yes, mistakes do happen. Players are human. How does a teacher correct mistakes in school? You can tell a good teacher usually by the effort and grades the classmates put forth.

Wade does not do anything when a player makes a mistake on the field. I think it’s the wrong approach. Yeah, the player feels terrible anyway but if the head coach acknowledges the mistake right away to the player, then comes back a bit later and tells them to step it up and clear his head and just play the game, it’s a confidence builder. Wade doesn’t do that and if he has, he doesn’t do it much from what I see miles away on TV.

I’m confident that he knows more about professional football than most coaches….

Here is the problem as I see it.

This team just struggled mightily to beat a winless, hapless team. It made (as it has for some time) horrible mental errors at critical points in the game and required uncommon heroics from Ratliff and Austin to pull out a win.

That is bad.

It’s bad because we’ll likely see the players and coaches extolling the virtues of “a win is a win” and “it was ugly but we’ll take it” and this is nothing more than a continuation of the laissez faire approach to the game that has been this team’s trademark under Winnie the fat, gooey, lazy, undisciplined players’ coach.

This team has no “alpha male” on the sideline to HELP these young players (especially Romo) develop and grow and teach them what it means to put team first, make sacrifices and approach the game with a dedication that is synonymous with the word, “professional”.

Now the tough part: IF YOU FIRE WADE, you are stuck with Reggie Herring as your likely DC and have to elevate Jason Garrett. That’s a definite downgrade on the defensive side of the ball. But IF YOU DON’T FIRE WADE, you’re stuck looking at Jason Garrett leaving (many see this as a good thing) at the end of the season while Jerry’s plan to groom him for a bigger role goes by the wayside or choosing him over a ShanahanCowherHolmgrenGrudenWhoever. They need to see what they have in RHG because they may not get another chance…and haven’t we lost enough of our coaches to the rest of the NFL?
 
In any logical mapping of potential outcomes, the right thing to do is have Wade exit stage left NOW since this team is NOT a contender and live to fight another day when we host the Super Bowl next year.

Sadly, it won’t happen.

I have to see more of this season before really entertaining this notion. The reason is that I need to watch the next ten games to see what exactly defines Jason Garrett. This is extremely significant because I love his attitude and his demeanor, but I am not so sure that his offensive play-calling is the “genius” that it sometimes appears to be due to our struggles in the red-zone and our proclivity to pass on first down. If over the next ten games the offense shows some improvement and doesn’t really crap the bed late in the year like it did last year, I would fall strongly in the “hire Jason Garrett” camp.

I admittedly don’t know much about him or his fb background, but look how quickly he’s turned the ST’s around.
And watch him on the sideline; he always looks like his head is in the game and his shiznit is together. Wade looks like he just wandered off from a retirement-home bingo game.
But, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate wade(he seems like a genuinely nice guy), I just think he’s better suited for DC, rather than HC.

“It’s not the coaches, it’s the players, because the one constant all along has been the players.”
  This is said in regards to comparing the mental weakness, lack of discipline (on the field) and errors through the two eras, Parcells to Phillips.

Really? No. There has been a LOT of turnover on the roster since, say, 2004, Parcells’ 2nd year.
Remember Terry Glen, Marco Rivera, Julius Jones, Anthony Henry, Jason Ferguson, LaRoi G., a QB named Bledsoe
Roy Williams #1, Ayodele, all the new guys the last few years……etc. etc.

Plus, guys like Witten and James were still learning the game and not the ‘same’ players they are now when Parcells was here.
  Actually, only 6 or 7 guys have had important roles through both eras-Flo, Newman, Gurode, Witten, James, Ware and Spears,a couple of others. And no one is naming Spears, Ware, or Witten as part of the problem!

So while I’m the first to remind some of you that you overrate the talent on this team, the truth is more could be gotten out of them by an effective coaching staff.

  The truth is the players have not stayed the same the last 6 years, but that we’ve witnessed two failed coaching staffs (Unless Wade pulls a miracle out this year-could happen!).
  Parcells failure was due to being an old blowhard that tried to use motivational techniques from 1992 in 2004, along w/ an overly conservative style.
    WadeP’s shortcomings are mostly agreed upon here, his expressions during the games say it all, he gets frustrated and bloats up instead of getting angry at the players and demanding more.

BUT, in the end, there is still a solution-the Players, led by guys like Brookings, can take over the role Wade can’t fulfill. They can hold each other accountable, and be more concerned w/winning than being friends. I didn’t see the last game, but someone mentioned that Witten was yelling at guys about the stupid mistakes. Well, someone needs to! It may not help, but it sometimes does, and is probably the only chance for this year.

+1 to Realist Larry on this issue. It IS the coach, any way you slice it. Take a look at an organization that takes players and turns them into very good if not great players consistently. The New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is a great coach. He would turn this ship around and win a few Super Bowls, no question in my mind. Ask any NFL analyst and I am sure that they would agree.

The Superbowl for the 2010 season will be played in Dallas. Jerry will do anything in his power to make sure his Cowboys play in that game.

With that in mind, a ‘rebuilding’ year or two with a completely overhauled coaching staff doesn’t seem all that likely.

If Wade gets the defense firing on all cylinders AND makes a deep playoff run, he stays.

If not, Garrett gets the nod for the HC job and we hire a 3-4 DC like Ron Rivera from the Chargers, Keith Butler from the Steelers or someone else I have never heard about, but with a strong pedigree.

In both cases, Jerry goes on a Free Agent spending spree after this season to make this team a sure contender.

Changing mid-season would be terrible. That, should never happen, very delustional.

These guys need to be LED. Mr. Nice (my new name for Wade) can only fire them up so much and there isn’t a lot of personality leaders on this team, if any. JJ could definately get a worse coach. If you hire a coach that’s up and coming, he’s not proven and could be worse. You never know. Sometimes taking the chance and rolling the dice is worth it though. Continuous 9-7 years just missing the playoffs is justifies this.

Russ Grimm?

Mike Mularkey?

Kirk Ferentz (U of Iowa)?

Brian Kelly (U of Cinn)?

Hue Jackson?

Todd Bowles?