The first thing he had to say after his only SB was "How 'bout them Cowboys!" (gee, how strangely familiar, but then, all his other noteworthy pro "accomplishments" were inherited from Jimmy, so no surprise. )

Yeah, well, with Switzer we don't have much more than one or two games; wonder why that is....

As a pro coach I don't give Barry Switzer credit for anything; I don't think he had them ready for the '9ers in '94, but I also think Tagliabue had a hard on for them and a hatred of Dallas the whole time he was Commissioner, and there was no way Dallas was going to be the first team to win three straight. Maybe it's just as well they lost the Conference Championship or the next game might have turned into Black Sunday. Let's not revisit early 1995 though because the only good things that happened to me then were that I discovered WoT and just how good a friend my best friend is.

As an amateur coach I credit Switzer being so lax OU players were indicted for murder committed while dealing coke, and being PROUD when that meant they were given (and I do mean "given" ) a National Championship while on probation. Shelter murderers and you lose your TV games but still go to Bowls, but if a coach down in Houston or Bryan prevents a broke player spending a month on the street it's no TV games, no Bowls, no scholarships, no nothing, and be glad you still have a program (SMU didn't for much of the '80s, and to my knowledge none of their players ever killed anyone. ) Sorry if that turned into a rant on the NCAA, but Barry was an NCAA coach and nothing more. How long was his NFL career, again...? Comparing Switzer and other coaches is like comparing Ford and other Presidents; they had the job, technically and briefly, but only as an obvious mistake corrected ASAP.

I disagree with that strongly, and not just because head coaches are heavily involved with selecting (and instructing) coordinators even on the occasions they don't pick them personally. Largely because of another reason I disagree: The coordinators don't operate in a vacuum any more than their players, less, I'd say, and that means they have to be 1) on the same page as the head coach and 2) coordinated themselves by him.

Yeah, Marty will get his trip to Canton, most likely, but what he did with the Chargers had nada to do with The Drive or The Fumble. Oh, and guess who was coaching the Chiefs when they were the top seed in the AFC and lost the Championship to Denver. Wade has a similar problem to a lesser degree: Twice he's taken over teams that Dan Reeves (another classic example of Americas Boy Scouts, and it got him much grief in Denver, especially from Elway) coached to losing Super Bowls and failed to even get them that far again. Switzer never had to build a team, but, in all fairness, he never had the opportunity. Wade did, and Marty had more than most coaches dream of, but they couldn't even get to the Big Dance, let alone win there. Ironically, that's probably what will get Marty to Canton, though in his case it's more of a Hall of Infamy.

Coaches are odd ducks; many of them excel in several areas but are abysmal at others, and one example of that is that just as some coaches can win with but can't build good teams, the opposite is true. Every team Marty's coached was nothing when he arrived and a power when he left, but his commitment to "Martyball" (like Landryball, but more conservative ) made a ring (ANY ring) impossible. Jerry Glanville couldn't win a playoff game at gunpoint, but he rebuilt the Oilers from ashes, and his loud mouth, black leather suits and leaving tickets for Elvis at every home game put butts in the seats. Given Bud Adams threatened to move the team three times if Harris County didn't redesign the Dome to get him more revenue, and ultimately did it, that seems important, too. Not a Championship coach, no more than Marty and, I begin to fear, Wade. The Oilers were my boys and when Bud ran Bum and Earl out of town it broke my young heart: I want nothing but the best for Wade, but I don't see it happening in Dallas or anywhere.

The Broncos weren't for real; they had a head coach no one had faced and that meant no one had studied his game film as head coaches are studied. For about a month it meant that, but a stupid NFL coach is still pretty sharp about football; they adapted and he kept trying to do what no longer worked. And ended the season blaming the collapse on 53 other people whose performance is supposedly independent of his. I mean, wtf, if you want to bench your best player for discipline, maybe Thanksgiving is a better time to do that than a must win week 17 game. It doesn't matter how contrite he is on his sofa.

I think Dallas finished about where they belonged: They were the best team in the Division and a legit team, but not the best or even second best in the League or Conference.

People who hate Dallas aren't complaining, they're laughing, or haven't you noticed? Real fans don't show up just for wins or bail on their boys when they lose. Not so much now, but a few years ago people who watched Gradishar and Mecklenburg from the stands felt no little contempt for bandwagon fans who only showed up after a few SB wins. I'm a little sensitive to it myself because I got on board after I picked them to win it all in the summer of '97, but if I'd only embraced them after Elways first ring I'd be ashamed to open my mouth. If I weren't a Cowboys fan I'd be with the mockers, but my anger is because I demand better from my team.

And the price of setting a high standard is being expected to maintain it, in any arena, and especially professional ones. Though the Pats, Colts and Steelers aren't doing bad in the dynasty department. Every team Dallas fields from now till the end of time will be compared to Landrys and Jimmys; that's the way it is, just like every Denver and SF team will be compared to the ones from the '80s and '90s. I'd bet money that part of what pushes the Steelers so hard is that even after two SBs this decade fans still say, "yeah... but Chuck Noll won four.... " That's the price of greatness, and, yeah, it sucks in a lot of ways because some VERY good teams and players will still be found wanting. I despised him and still think Aikman was more accurate, but think about how good Steve Young had to be to survive as Montanas replacement.

I know how it works; I am not confident of his offensive strategizing, which, once again, he alone can do, because he has to integrate what his coordinators are doing and make sure each part of the team works in harmony for the same goals. You can't have a ballhawking, high risk/reward D creating turnovers if your offense creates plenty of its own, and you can't play "bend but don't break" if it takes you 10:00 to score a TD while they beat you with FGs.

Where was Wade when Romo was too busy watching Jessica to watch the game? Stopping by Wikipedia just now has me reassessing Romo (and Wade) again: I didn't know Romo, Jessica, Witten and Carpenter spent the week before the playoff loss to NY at Cabo (explains a lot though. ) Then he dumped her the day before her b-day; classy. Why's Wade letting three starters to to Cabo a week before a playoff game?

Where was Wade when TO was passing out popcorn? Here's what that worthy had to say about Wade vs. Parcells: "Everybody knows he's a laid-back coach, obviously a little different than Bill. ... I don't think you have to be a disciplinarian to get your point across.... I think having a new head coach is good for everybody. It's a little bit more relaxed. I think you can tell that by the atmosphere in the locker room. I don't think I just have to really spell it out for you, but I think it's very evident. "

No, you don't have to spell it out for me, and it's no surprise TO doesn't think coaches need to be disciplinarians, or that he left, not because the coach or owner got fed up, but because he thought Romo threw to Witten too much.

But the real problem, IMHO, isn't Romo or TO or even Wade: It's that JERRY doesn't think coaches need to be disciplinarians, and when his hand picked pets pull their crap, what can a coach do? Parcells never wanted Keyshawn, but he wound up starting anyway, didn't he? Who was right on that one? And how much difference did it make...?

Not the way I remember the second half, but if you want to throw lots of passes I don't recommend having a receiving tight end block Jared Allen or any Pro Bowler. Game stats list six sacks, four by DEs, so we're back to the same thing: Even if it's mostly on Witten (which I dispute) asking receiving TEs to block DEs all the time may be a poor "business decision. " Remember, Witten does so much blocking TO left town out of jealousy.

Adams always has penalties when I'm watching; maybe it's just my bad luck. And while work and life don't let me watch many games any more, I do still try to watch my teams when I can. Usually these days that means I don't see Denver but get the Houston and Dallas games every week. I was actually on break in my car when I heard the Tuck play on the radio, but hitting a guy after the whistle is a mental thing, a DISCIPLINE thing. In past years I've seen him false start on back to back plays, on more than one occasion. Also mental, also discipline. The only thing your bench or 40 time has to do with that is that if you aren't disciplined in the weight room and on the practice field you won't be disciplined on Sunday. Maybe a guy holds 'cos he got beat, but if he can't hold his water that's mental, and if he doesn't have his head in the game it's the coaches job to make sure he does or find someone who will. He's becoming what Nate Newton did at the end, for the same reasons, IMHO. Colombo is more episodic in his infractions, and they're more often holds; maybe he just doesn't have the ability. With the Cowboys it's often hard to tell....

In the final analysis whether your guys can't win the Big One or just WON'T it's the coaches job to fix that, but in professional sports coaches rarely make the decision to hire or fire (which is why every head coach who thinks he's got the leverage tries to get the GM job, too; you don't have to hope the front office will give you the guys you're begging them to give you. ) That Dallas has had one coach since Jimmy who's known for demanding performance and character makes me think the problem's higher in the food chain. As a devoted Cowboys fan, there's nothing I can do but grit my teeth, suck it up and hope Jerry either comes to his senses or sells the team to someone rational.