I've been a little surprised at the strong opinions about the firing of Ryan, and then the potential hiring of Kiffin. The board literally exploded with those 2 happenings. Both caused such an emotional reaction that produced strong commentary both positive and negative. Clearly on a Cowboy board, any actions taken by the team to fundamentally change how we approach the game is relevant and should be talked about, but the veracity of many of the recent comments suggests that many board members have deep seated prejudices and ingrained beliefs.

I've read no commentary that provided substantive proof to indicate Ryan did a great job at his position. The common belief from his supporters was that he deserved more time to get the job done and that they really liked his fiery personality...feeling his personality alone would fire up his players to become the leagues #1 defense. Ostensibly, his supporters felt he "looked" the part...an old school tough coach full of swag...On the other end of the argument was Kiffin. The common themes against his hiring was his age and whether a 4-3 scheme would fit our personnel. Since we all know racial, religious, and gender bigotry is wrong...I shouldn't have to spend too much time defending prejudice as it portends to age, so I won't. Those that still feel this is an issue...I only have one message...grow up. As for the concern about scheme, while I'm not a follower of college football, hasn't the great majority of players coming out of college played in a 4-3? I often hear about about DE/LB having to learn to play the 3-4, but never the other way.

While there was not much corroborative statistical evidence that Ryan is a great defensive coach from all the commentary, there was actually some posted for Kiffin, which would tend to indicate he is a better coordinator, or at least has performed historically at a higher level. Now for the record, Kiffin wouldn't have been my first choice to replace Ryan, but he may be the best option. The 2 names that have been prominently thrown out were Horton and Smart, and while I also feel these two may be more interesting hires, there is either not mutual interest or availability. In the case of Kiffin, there was strong interest from Kansas City and Andy Reid to make Kiffin their DC, but alas the interest was not mutual because Kiffin didn't even take an interview. Which also blasts the media forged notion that many players/coaches don't want to come to Dallas because of Jerry Jones and his "meddling", because lo and behold, Kiffin was at Valley Ranch yesterday. Ryan chose us over Philadelphia 2 years ago. People bring up Nnamdi spurning us 2 years ago (fortunately), but look deeper and see how his agent was also TNews. No agent is going to take money out of his own pocket. Clearly Kiffin, an experienced and knowledgeable NFL coach, felt that the environment was conducive to success. Add the facts that, unlike Ryan, Garrett has a prior relationship with Kiffin when they were both at Tampa Bay and Kiffin has no aspirations to become an NFL Head Coach. Perhaps Kiffin is the best choice for our defensive coordinator. Many think this is all Jerry's doing, but would you be actually surprised to find out Garrett was behind it all? I wouldn't be...