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March-26th-2009, 06:33 PM
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/032709dnspoarcher.7317d625.html
02:23 PM CDT on Thursday, March 26, 2009
Late last season, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said continuity would be a key to his team's success.
Almost four months into the off-season, however, change is the operative word.
Roy Williams is gone. Terrell Owens is in Buffalo. Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart is out. So to is special teams coach Bruce Read. Adam Jones is now earning money from Pros vs. Joes. Tank Johnson doesn't have a home. Anthony Henry was traded to Detroit.
Chris Canty and Kevin Burnett have new homes in New York and San Diego, replaced by Igor Olshansky and Keith Brooking, which closed the door on Zach Thomas' return. Gerald Sensabaugh will replace Williams.
But those "changes" are a given for every team because of how rosters turn over and coaches come and go regardless of the reason.
"Obviously, there's been change already and some of it's modification. It's an adjustment," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said Wednesday at the NFL owners' meetings in Dana Point, Calif. "That is change. Those things are change, too. Everybody is going to say, 'Hey you ought to be a tyrant instead of the person you are.' I have a lot of pride in how I work with players and how they respond to how I coach. There's going to be certainly some things that we'll do different, but I'm not going to go into everything we're going to do different. I think it'll be noticed as we go along."
It appears one thing Phillips won't change is the approach to training camp. While he has been criticized in a lot of circles for running what is perceived to be a soft camp, the Cowboys have won seven of their eight games in September under Phillips.
If camp was so "soft," surely it would be reflected in how the team plays early in the season, no? Phillips does not put his team in full pads often, but a lot of teams go that way now with smaller roster sizes and the practice time teams get in the off-season.
"We've come out 3-0 and 5-0 out of training camp, so some of those things we don't want to change," Phillips said. "You analyze what you need to change, but you don't want to change everything just to change."
But what has to change is the approach as the season goes on. Phillips proudly talks about the 22 wins the Cowboys have put up the last two years, pointing out it is almost equal to the 24 the team had in Bill Parcells' last three seasons.
Well, there's also this statistic: Since the scintillating 12-1 start to Phillips' time in Dallas, the Cowboys are just 10-10 in their last 20 games, including the playoff loss to the Giants. That's the stat that matters most.
The Cowboys' problem is not starting. It's finishing. And if they can't finish in 2009, then there will be even more change in the future.
02:23 PM CDT on Thursday, March 26, 2009
Late last season, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said continuity would be a key to his team's success.
Almost four months into the off-season, however, change is the operative word.
Roy Williams is gone. Terrell Owens is in Buffalo. Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart is out. So to is special teams coach Bruce Read. Adam Jones is now earning money from Pros vs. Joes. Tank Johnson doesn't have a home. Anthony Henry was traded to Detroit.
Chris Canty and Kevin Burnett have new homes in New York and San Diego, replaced by Igor Olshansky and Keith Brooking, which closed the door on Zach Thomas' return. Gerald Sensabaugh will replace Williams.
But those "changes" are a given for every team because of how rosters turn over and coaches come and go regardless of the reason.
"Obviously, there's been change already and some of it's modification. It's an adjustment," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said Wednesday at the NFL owners' meetings in Dana Point, Calif. "That is change. Those things are change, too. Everybody is going to say, 'Hey you ought to be a tyrant instead of the person you are.' I have a lot of pride in how I work with players and how they respond to how I coach. There's going to be certainly some things that we'll do different, but I'm not going to go into everything we're going to do different. I think it'll be noticed as we go along."
It appears one thing Phillips won't change is the approach to training camp. While he has been criticized in a lot of circles for running what is perceived to be a soft camp, the Cowboys have won seven of their eight games in September under Phillips.
If camp was so "soft," surely it would be reflected in how the team plays early in the season, no? Phillips does not put his team in full pads often, but a lot of teams go that way now with smaller roster sizes and the practice time teams get in the off-season.
"We've come out 3-0 and 5-0 out of training camp, so some of those things we don't want to change," Phillips said. "You analyze what you need to change, but you don't want to change everything just to change."
But what has to change is the approach as the season goes on. Phillips proudly talks about the 22 wins the Cowboys have put up the last two years, pointing out it is almost equal to the 24 the team had in Bill Parcells' last three seasons.
Well, there's also this statistic: Since the scintillating 12-1 start to Phillips' time in Dallas, the Cowboys are just 10-10 in their last 20 games, including the playoff loss to the Giants. That's the stat that matters most.
The Cowboys' problem is not starting. It's finishing. And if they can't finish in 2009, then there will be even more change in the future.