Cowboys Make a Right Move and Fire Bruce Read

The Cowboys announced today that they have fired special teams coach Bruce Read. Others will say that Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett are more important targets for firing, but frankly, no area of this team has been as bad as special teams coverage under Read in the past two seasons.

The stats do not quite show how bad it has been. In several games, the special teams coverage was okay, but far too many times, the coverage broke down at the absolute worst of times. Teams routinely brought kickoffs past the 30 and beyond, and punt returners often found seams for 20 or 30 yard returns.

As far as the stats, here are a few:

Kickoffs and Kickoff Coverage

Nick Folk had 75 kickoffs in 2008 but not a single touchback. He was the only regular kickoff specialist who did not have a touchback. In fact, the only other kicker who came close to Folk was John Carney of the Giants, who had three touchbacks on 79 kickoffs.

Folk’s 60.5-yard-per-kickoff average third worst among regular kickoff specialists. Only Carney (60.4) and Kansas City’s Connor Barth (58.6) were worse.

Punting and Punt Coverage

Read gets a bit of a pass in the punting game thanks to Mat McBriar’s injury early in the season, but the coverage wasn’t great with either McBriar or Sam Paulescu. Paulescu only played in 10 games, yet the return yards the Cowboys gave up in those ten games alone (246 yards on 21 returns) was more than regular punters from 21 other teams.

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Cowboys Fire Special Teams Coach Bruce Read

From: Dallas Morning News

Cowboys special teams coach Bruce Read has been fired. Read’s two years with the Cowboys were met with inconsistent to poor special teams play from the coverage units to the return game. It’s believed he had a year left on his contract.

Garrett’s Star Not as Bright as it was Last Year

From: Dallas Morning News

Jason Garrett’s genius status has been revoked, as it should’ve been, after a wretched December. See, when T.O. complained about Garrett’s offense, we all ignored him. Now that Tony Romo has publicly criticized Garrett the last two weeks, the offensive coordinator deserves the same scrutiny Wade Phillips, Romo and T.O. have received. When the quarterback says Philadelphia exposed a fundamental flaw in the Cowboys’ offensive scheme during their 44-6 loss to the Eagles, he’s ripping Garrett. Combine those comments with the knowledge that Tony Sparano handled the running game and pass-blocking schemes last year, and Romo’s statements have credence.

Cowboys’ Romo Has Support of Jerry Jones, Phillips

From: Dallas Morning News

The support for quarterback Tony Romo is everywhere, but is it justified for a quarterback who enters the off-season with a 27-12 mark as a full-time starter with no playoff wins? Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips think so. During the last four weeks of the season, Romo had more turnovers - nine - than touchdown passes - five. Even so, Phillips said he believes Romo is an elite quarterback despite his 5-8 record in December. “Certainly some things happen with him that don’t happen with other quarterbacks,” Phillips said. “But we’ve got to rein it in in some areas.

I see too many good things, too many great things that he does that other people can’t do. “I think he can be an elite quarterback and a Pro Bowl quarterback and a top player.” Jones said he can’t finger why the team, especially Romo, struggles down the stretch. But other top quarterbacks have endured similar problems. New Orleans’ Drew Brees didn’t have a winning record in the last month of the season until 2004 - his fourth year in the league, when he was still with San Diego. Eli Manning of the New York Giants went 1-4 in his rookie year of 2004.

What Happens if Dallas Were to Fire Wade Phillips?

The collective judgment of most fans and of nearly the entire Dallas press is that the first answer to the Cowboys’ problems is for the team to fire head coach Wade Phillips (though the folks at Fire Jason Garrett takes out their frustrations on a certain offensive coach).

Frankly, I am a couple steps behind in wanting to see Wade fired simply because I have yet to see a compelling argument that suggests a new coach would have that much more success. Many of the current players were here under a great disciplinarian named Bill Parcells, and the players handled his discipline as well as my nine-year-old son handles being told he cannot watch a PG-13 movie. Those who are looking back fondly at the Parcells’ years may have forgotten the 6-10 mess that was the 2004 season or the 9-7 mess in 2005 that was, like 2008, not a playoff year for the Cowboys.

As certain as everyone is that firing Phillips is a cure-all, the truth is that changing head coaches in situations where the coach has had some success is a mixed bag. Some have rebounded with the same coach on board, while others have won with new coaches at the helm. On the other hand, some teams have bombed with a new coach, and still others have failed with the same coach.

Here is a look.

What Happened at Phillips’ Previous Stops

1. Denver, 1993-94

The Broncos went to three Super Bowls with Dan Reeves as the head coach, but a feud between Reeves and John Elway became too much. After an 8-8 season in 1992, Reeves was out. Denver promoted defensive coordinator Phillips to the head coaching position, and the Broncos made the playoffs in 1993 with a 9-7 record. The Broncos fell back to 7-9 in 1994, thanks to a very weak effort by the defense (ranked #28 in yards allowed that year), and Phillips was out.

In came Mike Shanahan, the team’s former offensive coordinator. That 7-9 team improved by one win in 1995, but then had a 39-9 regular season record over the next three seasons, two of which resulted in Super Bowl championships.

Why this scenario suggests that Phillips should be fired: Phillips was a defensive coach who was elevated to head coach. But while he was head coach, the defense declined severely, and since the team was no better than mediocre, it was time to make a change. In Dallas, Phillips has been criticized because his defense has not played to its potential, and since the team was simply mediocre in 2008, maybe it’s already time for a change.

Why this scenario is different: Elway apparently wanted Shanahan to return to Denver, and so there was already a bond there. Shanahan did not have immediate success, though. Denver began the 1995 season with a 2-3 start and limped its way through the year to an 8-8 finish. A new coach in Dallas could very well have just as much trouble as Phillips in 2009, and it’s hard to think that fans and the media will be any more forgiving of a coach in this scenario as they have been of Phillips.

2. Buffalo, 1998-2000

Phillips left Denver and became the defensive coordinator in Buffalo from 1995 through 1997. In Marv Levy’s last season, the Bills finished with a miserable 6-10 record with players such as quarterback Todd Collins and running back Antowain Smith leading the way. Phillips was elevated to head coach in 1998, and the Bills had winning seasons in 1998 and 1999. However, both years ended in first-round playoff losses, and after Buffalo finished 8-8 in 2000, Phillips was out.

The year after Phillips left, the Bills fell to 3-13. And since that 2000 season, Buffalo has managed just one winning season, and that was only a 9-7 effort that did not result in a playoff berth.

Why this scenario suggests that Phillips should not be fired: Dallas may have a much better roster than the Bills did in 2001, but this Dallas team has already shown that it can be fragile (both in a physical and in an emotional sense). Bring in a disciplinarian who is not well-received, continue to have the type of injuries the Cowboys had in 2008, and it is possible that Dallas could finish with a worse record than they may have had with Phillips.

Why this scenario is different: The Bills have not been able to settle on a quarterback this entire decade, and they always seem to be in a rebuilding mode. A lot of very bad things would have to happen for the Cowboys to fall into the type of rut that the Bills have been in.

Hiring Former Super Bowl Champion Coaches

The names of Mike Holmgren and Bill Cowher have been tossed around a lot as possible replacements for Phillips, but bringing in big-name coaches has usually not solved problems for teams in the past. Here is a look at how former Super Bowl champion coaches have done when hired by other teams.

1. Hank Stram

Stram coached the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl IV title in 1969 and remained with the Chiefs until 1974. He was hired by New Orleans in 1976 to take over the Saints, but his reign was a complete failure as New Orleans finished with 4-10 and 3-11 records in 1976 and 1977.

2. Tom Flores

Flores won two Super Bowl titles in four seasons with the Raiders. He left the Raiders in 1987 but returned to coaching in 1992 with the Seattle Seahawks. Three seasons in Seattle were complete failures, as the Seahawks went 2-14, 6-10, and 6-10.

3. Joe Gibbs

One of the great coaches of the 1980s did not have the same success when returning to the Redskins in the 2000s.

4. Mike Ditka

Ditka was successful for most of his tenure in Chicago, including a win in Super Bowl XX. However, when he was hired by the Saints in 1997, he was unable to produce a winning record. His 3-13 campaign in 1999 was his last.

5. Bill Parcells

Parcells is the most successful coach on this list given that he took the Patriots to the Super Bowl and nearly did the same with the Jets in 1998. However, he was unable to produce a single playoff win in Dallas.

6. George Seifert

Seifert had amazing success in San Francisco and left the 49ers in 1996 after finishing 12-4. He returned to coaching in 1999 in Carolina. However, after the Panthers finished with records of 8-8, 7-9, and 1-15, he was out of football.

7. Jimmy Johnson

Johnson led Miami to three playoff appearances, but he was unable to have the same success with the Dolphins as he had with the Cowboys. In his final season in Miami, the Dolphins went 9-7 and were destroyed in a 62-7 loss to the Jaguars.

8. Mike Holmgren

Holmgren won a Super Bowl in Green Bay before moving on to Seattle. He had success at his next stop, including a berth in Super Bowl XL, but it took Holmgren seven years before he got Seattle to that level.

9. Dick Vermeil

Vermeil left the Rams prematurely after St. Louis won Super Bowl XXXIV and returned to the NFL in 2001 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He had two winning seasons in five years in Kansas City but was unable to win a playoff game.

Bottom Line: there is simply little precedent for bringing in a big-name coach and experiencing the kind of success that most want to see from the Cowboys– that being a Super Bowl title.

How Teams Have Handled Success and Failure Similar to the 2007 Cowboys

Between 1996 and 2006, the Cowboys never won more than ten games in a season. This changed in 2007, when the Cowboys flew through most of the regular season and finished with a 13-3 record. Many now refuse to give Phillips credit for last year’s success because the Cowboys lost in the playoffs to the Giants.

Other teams have been in a situation similar to the Cowboys in 2007 and 2008, and the results are mixed in terms of how those teams have handled instant success followed so immediately by failure in the playoffs. Most of the examples below are fairly recent.

1. Kansas City Chiefs, 1995, 1997, and 2003

Kansas City has had a number of successful seasons in the past twenty years, but three seasons stand out as being very similar to the Cowboys’ 2007 season.

Joe Montana played his last season in the NFL with the Chiefs in 1994, and Kansas City finished 9-7. One year later, Kansas City turned to former 49er Steve Bono, and the result was a 13-3 record and home field advantage in the AFC playoffs. However, Marty Schottenheimer’s playoff curse was in full force that year, as the Chiefs lost 10-7 to the 9-7 Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Kansas City stumbled in 1996, as the Chiefs finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs (sound familiar?)

The following year, Kansas City signed yet another former San Francisco quarterback in Elvis Grbac, and the Chiefs again finished the season at 13-3. One again, though, the Chiefs squandered home field advantage, losing to the Broncos in the divisional round.

The 1998 Chiefs finished 7-9, and Schottenheimer was out in Kansas City.

Couldn’t happen three times, could it? You bet. In Dick Vermeil’s third season, Kansas City went 13-3 and had the second best record in the AFC. But the Chiefs had to meet the Colts in the divisional round and lost to Indianapolis 38-31.

2004 result: 7-9.

2. Denver Broncos, 1996 and 2005

The Broncos were the best team in the AFC in 1996, finishing at 13-3, but Denver lost to the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Denver rebounded a bit better than Kansas City, for in 1997, as the Broncos upset the Packers to win Super Bowl XXXII.

Several years later, in 2005, the Broncos cruised to a 13-3 record and the number two seed in the AFC playoffs. Denver beat New England but fell to eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh.

Denver’s 2006 record: 9-7. Moreover, Denver failed to improve in either 2007 or 2008, leading to Shanahan’s dismissal that was announced on Tuesday.

3. Indianapolis Colts, 1999

The Colts went from 3-13 in Payton Manning’s first season in 1998 to 13-3 in Manning’s second season in 1999. Indianapolis lost to Tennessee in the divisional round of the playoffs, though, and then fell to 10-6 in 2000. A 6-10 record in 2001 led to Jim Mora’s firing, which also led to the hiring of Tony Dungy.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1999

Jacksonville had a great season in 1999, finishing with an AFC-best 14-2 record. However, after losing to Tennessee in the AFC Championship Game, the Jaguars fell back to Earth, recording records of 7-9, 6-10, and 6-10 in Tom Coughlin’s final three seasons.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers, 2001

Between 1998 and 2000, the Steelers struggled under Bill Cowher, recording records of 7-9, 6-10, and 9-7. However, in 2001, Pittsburgh was back near the top, recording a 13-3 record and earning the top seed in the AFC playoffs. However, the Steelers lost to the Patriots that year and then sank back a bit. Pittsburgh finished 10-5-1 in 2002 and 6-10 in 2003 before rebounding in 2004.

5. San Diego Chargers, 2004 and 2006

We’ll finish this by looking at the team that employed Phillips as defensive coordinator prior to his arrival in Dallas. San Diego finished 4-12 in 2003 but responded to Schottenheimer in 2004 when the Chargers recorded a 12-4 record. San Diego suffered a first round playoff loss to the Jets, though, and sank back to 9-7 in 2005. In 2006, though, the Chargers had their best regular season ever, finishing 14-2. That was followed by, of course, another playoff loss.

Schottenheimer was fired after the loss, and the Chargers hired Norv Turner to replace him. Turner was, of course, one of the Cowboys’ candidates, and Turner was able to lead the Chargers to 11-5 and 8-8 records along with two playoff berths.

Bottom Line: Nearly all of the teams listed above had a season similar to the Cowboys’ 13-3 campaign in 2007, and like Dallas, all failed once they reached the playoffs. The comparisons between Schottenheimer’s teams and Phillips’ 2007 team in Dallas are almost spooky. And since Schottenheimer continued to have the same problem, it does not bode well for Phillips if he learned anything from Marty while they were in San Diego.

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Tank Johnson, Zach Thomas Unlikely to Be Back in 2009

From: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Unless owner Jerry Jones changes his mind, which should never be ruled out, dramatic and sweeping changes can’t be expected at Valley Ranch this off-season. … With so many players locked into long-term contracts, and unless Jones contradicts himself and fires coaches and cuts players, improvements will have to be made in-house.

The Cowboys also do not have a first round selection in the 2009 draft. The most obvious candidates appearing in a Cowboys uniform for a final time include: Tank Johnson, who hasn’t played well since the team signed him last season. He had taken down his name plate over his locker at Valley Ranch until the equipment staff put it back. Linebacker Zach Thomas said he will “probably not” return next season.

Linebacker Greg Ellis is a pass-rush specialist, period. DE Chris Canty can be a free agent. Safety Roy Williams was limited to just three games because of injuries, and his status is uncertain.

Owens and Romo Shift Sunday’s Blame to the Offensive Coaches

From: San Antonio Express-News

Without calling them out by name, Tony Romo and Terrell Owens pointed fingers of blame at some members of the Cowboys’ offensive coaching staff after Sunday’s embarrassing 44-6 loss to the Eagles. The Cowboys’ offense, which sputtered throughout a 1-3 December, managed only two field goals in the do-or-die game.

Afterward, Romo and Owens indicated offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and others should shoulder some of the blame. “They exposed something we do fundamentally offensively,” Romo said of the Eagles. “Give (Eagles defensive coordinator) Jim Johnson credit. They did a good job and made it very difficult (for us) at different stages. It’s part of the game — it’s countering and coming back.”

LB Bradie James Attacks a Fan Sporting a Negative Sign

From: Pro Football Talk.com

Tim MacMahon of the Dallas Morning News reports that Cowboys linebacker Bradie James won’t be charged for attacking a fan who was sporting a sandwich board with negative messages regarding the team. “He said, ‘Why you guys didn’t show that fire last night?’” James told reporters. “You should have showed that heart last night!’ So next thing you know, I’m just ripping his sign off him. So I ripped the sign off him. He said I broke his glasses, so I went and gift-wrapped some Oakleys. He got something out the deal.”

Phillips Says Changes Coming for the Cowboys

From: Yahoo! Sports

The Cowboys aren’t changing coaches. Instead, coach Wade Phillips plans to change. After seeing Super Bowl hopes fizzle into a 9-7 season that wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs, team owner Jerry Jones has vowed to bring back Phillips, and Phillips vowed Monday to do things differently. “You can’t say, ‘Well, OK, everything’s going to be all right,’ because it’s not going to be all right if you do the same thing and I’m talking about myself,” Phillips said. “I have to look at myself from how I deal with things, from how we have training camp, how we have practices, whatever.”

The Doomed Era for the Dallas Cowboys Continues

At halftime of the game where the Eagles showed up to play football and the Cowboys were more interested in playing dominos, an ad came on our local Fox station:

[The screen shows Tony Romo throwing a pass to Jason Witten in a 2007 game where the Cowboys came back to beat the Detroit Lions]

[Brad Sham, Voice of the Cowboys]: “And the Dallas Cowboys are the champions of the NFC East.”

Screen: That was then.

[Pause]

Screen: All that matters is now.

Yep. And at the time the ad was showing, the Cowboys were losing 27-3 at halftime against the Eagles. The ad was for season tickets to the Cowboys’ new stadium next year. For the sake of paying my mortgage, no thanks.

It has never been so bad for the Dallas Cowboys. The early days of the franchise were not this bad for the Dallas Cowboys. The late 1980s– even with a 1-15 season– were not this bad for the Dallas Cowboys.

Three consecutive times this decade, the Cowboys went 5-11, then they followed that with a 6-10 season two years later. Three other times this decade, the Cowboys have gone 9-7, even though in each of those seasons, the Cowboys looked poised to make a push towards the playoffs.

When the Cowboys haven’t been bad or excelling at mediocrity, we have the 10-6 season with a first-round playoff loss and a 13-3 season with a divisional playoff loss.

The franchise that had two head coaches in its first 34 seasons has had five in the past 15. And most want that number to be six as soon as possible, even though Jerry Jones has said it won’t happen.

The franchise that has enough stories to fill hundreds of books with stories of glory has been reduced to this after a loss that eliminated them from the playoffs (and, mind you, these are all stories from one day):

* “Pathetic. Truly pathetic.” - Clarence E. Hill, Jr., Fort Worth Star-Telegram
* Bradie James reportedly attacked a fan holding a sign critical of the Cowboys.
* Wade Phillips, denounced by the collective whole of the Dallas press for being too Pollyannish, says he’ll change. Nobody believes him.
* Stories emerge that Tony Romo collapsed in the shower after the game. More seemed concerned whether the Cowboys are going to use their franchise quarterback as trade bait.
* Players who weren’t collapsing in the shower were reportedly have a grand time on the flight back from Philadelphia, acting like it was the last day of school. Kind of like flying off to Mexico on the weekend before a playoff game? Maybe not.

And lastly…

* “If it was me, I’d get rid of T.O. T.O. got to go from the beginning. Right from the giddy up. I take one bullet and put it right in him. Bam!” - Cris Carter on ESPN.

Ugly doesn’t describe it.

Post Dynasty Blues

The Cowboys dynasty in 1990s really ended in 1997, when the team lost its final five games and finished 6-10. The two Chan Gailey teams that went to the playoffs in 1998 and 1999 were really part of the same era– and we should know that because they were undoubtedly doomed to failure. That’s what has happened in the Doomed Era.

Long droughts have happened to every NFL dynasty in the modern era:

Green Bay Packers

After winning the second Super Bowl and their third NFL title in three years, the Packers had four winning seasons in the next 25 years. And talk about mediocrity: the Packers in the 1980s went 8-8 four out of five seasons. This drought did not end until the Packers hired a coach named Holmgren and obtained a quarterback named Favre.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers of the 1970s won four Super Bowl titles in six years. But between 1980 and 1991, the Steelers finished 9-7 four times, 8-8 once, 8-7 once, 7-9 once, and they also had a 5-11 season and a 6-10 season. Those records led to four playoff appearances in 12 years. That drought ended with the hiring of Bill Cowher in 1992. And even though Cowher’s teams were largely successful, his career as a head coach was cluttered with playoff failures that did not end until the Steelers won it all in 2005.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers kept their dynasty going longer than any other team, winning five Super Bowls during a 13-year span from 1981 to 1994. Since 1999, though, San Francisco has had only two winning seasons and two playoff appearances.

Dallas Cowboys

Since 1997, the Cowboys have had six winning seasons, five playoff appearances, and no playoff wins. The Cowboys’ drought has already lasted longer than the one experienced in Pittsburgh, but Dallas still has not suffered the way that Green Bay suffered after its dynasty in the 1960s.

The Root of the Problem

Calls for Wade Phillips’ head are really missing the big problem, I think. Wade can go, and perhaps he should, but the Cowboys’ failures are symptomatic of an organizational problem. And that organizational problem is run by Jerry Jones. Some thoughts:

* When Bill Parcells resigned, exactly who was supposed to replace him? There was a good talent base here, but the team itself had never learned to win big games because Parcells largely failed as a head coach with the Cowboys.
* Can you name a successful organization where the team’s offensive coordinator is hired before the head coach? Imagine bringing in Bill Cowher with message, “Bill, you have to win us a championship or you will be considered an utter failure. And, oh yeah, you have to use the offensive coordinator we’ve already hired.”
* Wade Phillips knew what he was stepping into, and so he’s not an innocent party. But Jerry Jones apparently didn’t know any better, so he hired Wade to serve in a position where Phillips was going to win it all or be deemed an utter failure for not doing so.
* The 13-3 season in 2007 may be have been something of a fluke. The Cowboys got break after break after break in so many of those games, and until late in the season, nobody seemed to know how to expose the Cowboys. When the Cowboys were exposed, though, they lost their confidence, and the 2008 Cowboys did not know how to get that confidence back.
* The 2008 draft was really great by the Cowboys’ standards. The team had meaningful contributions from Felix Jones, Mike Jenkins, Martellus Bennett, Tashard Choice, and Orlando Scandrick.
* Recent free agent signings and other acquisitions made little impact. Pacman Jones needs to go away. Tank Johnson needs to go away. Zach Thomas seems like a good guy, but he was hardly the leader that we expected, and he reportedly is going to go away whether we want to keep him or not.
* So after a successful draft but less-than-successful acquisitions of talent, what does Jerry do? He trades a 1st, 3rd, and 6th to Detroit for Roy Williams, who played as well as your typical fourth or fifth receiver.

There is some hope that the Cowboys can put together a quality draft with their remaining picks, and perhaps the owner and some coaches can rethink their approaches and find some different result.

But what should really expect?

Expect that the Cowboys will continue to be doomed.

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What Happened at Phillips’ Previous Stops

Hiring Former Super Bowl Champion Coaches

How Teams Have Handled Success and Failure Similar to the 2007 Cowboys

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Post Dynasty Blues

The Root of the Problem

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