Posted on 01/07/2003 1:34:46 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
01/07/2003
Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells has been busy the last four days meeting with Jerry Jones, trying to put his coaching staff together and watching playoff football games at friend Pat Summerall's house – not to mention looking for a good, New York-style bagel shop.
The big news from Mr. Parcells on Monday was that he had retained Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to run Dallas' defense next season and had hired Detroit offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon, a former player and coach for Mr. Parcells, to be the Cowboys offensive coordinator.
Mr. Parcells took a half-hour Monday to meet with four writers who cover the team on a daily basis. The topics ranged from the emotional tax his divorce had on him last year when he turned down the Tampa Bay job to his close friend Bob Knight to how he plans to remake the Cowboys into winners. Some excerpts:
Question: What will you do at quarterback, and what will you expect?
Answer: All I expect from the quarterback is to get his team in the end zone. ... You've got to get established at the quarterback position. In the other places I've been, I've been able to do that within two years. Now can I do it? Who knows? There's not 15 proven, winning quarterbacks standing around out there where I can just dial one up.
Question: Have you had a chance to look at the quarterbacks here?
Answer: No.
Question: What about the running back position? You've seen Emmitt Smith enough to have an idea what's going to happen to him.
Answer: I think Jerry and Emmitt are going to sit down. At some point in time, we know Emmitt is not going to be the future. Whether that's this year or ... two years from now, I don't really know that right now. I'm not trying to avoid that issue at all. When Jerry and I initially talked about it, he said, "Emmitt and I have agreed to talk about this when the season is over. Until we do that, anything else is preliminary." So I think when they talk, we'll see what happens.
Question: What do you like about Maurice Carthon, and do you know what kind of offense you'll run? Will it be the West Coast offense?
Answer: No. I don't think we'll be West Coast. I've never been West Coast. We have been a multiple offense, though, over the years. What do I like about Maurice? He's just a special guy for me. He was a good player, and he's a good coach. I love him. That's the best way I could put it. That would cover most ground, wouldn't it? If I ever needed to get back-to-back with someone, and I needed someone to protect me, he would be one of the guys I ask.
Question: What makes Maurice Carthon qualified for this job?
Answer: He's got his own way. All I know is his players play good, and then they play good on special teams, too. That's what he's done for me. This guy probably had as much to do with Curtis Martin as anybody. He went and scouted him for me and has coached him from day one. I think Curtis would tell you Maurice had a big influence on him.
Question: What did you like about Mike Zimmer?
Answer: I didn't know him. But he has a good reputation. I know he likes football. I know he has passion for football. It runs in his family. I like guys like that, who have been around football their whole life. They like it, they live it. Quite frankly, I think it's going to be a good fit. I hope it is. I'm not sure if he'll coach a position. He's flexible on what he can coach. I think he can have a position or not have a position. My basic feeling is that he'll have a position to coach and probably have some help with that.
Question: What's your philosophy on having a top-five pick and whether to trade down?
Answer: I've had the first pick twice. Once I kept it. Once I traded it. I had the fourth pick another time and kept it. It comes down to the same thing: if the value is there, and you think you can get a really good player. In 1998, the first pick was Peyton Manning. The second pick was Ryan Leaf. The third pick was Andre Wadsworth. Fourth pick was Shawn Springs. Fifth pick was Curtis Enis. That's three of the top five out of the league. You hear me say a lot, "They don't sell insurance for it." I picked Drew Bledsoe with the first pick (in 1993). He was a good player. We picked Willie McGinest with the fourth pick in the (1994) draft, and he's had a pretty good career. But it's hard.
Question: A lot was made about your divorce at this time last year playing a role in you not taking the Tampa Bay job. Can you address that?
Answer: I don't like to get into personal issues too much. But I will tell you this, I have an excellent relationship with my ex-wife. I'm not proud that we're divorced after 39 years. I have three wonderful daughters. I have been very lucky. I think the most ludicrous thing that was written about me is, "He's going back to coaching because he needs the money." That's ludicrous. I don't need it. My ex-wife is not a mercenary person. I have all I'll ever need. And my kids will have all they ever need. So that's not why I'm back here doing this. Now, I was going through that at the point, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. It's since been a lot better. Everything's back in order with Judy, my ex-wife, and my girls, and that's very important to me. These kids have been in football all their lives.
Question: Why did you name your daughter Dallas?
Answer: My college roommate's wife was named Dallas. And I just liked the name. My daughter didn't like it when she was young. But nobody ever forgets her now.
Question: Do you have a philosophy on expectations and what fans can expect from you and your team?
Answer: I think I know what to do. I don't mean to be cocky. But I think I know what to do. Implementing that direction is not always the easiest thing to do. It's not. It can be hard to get the ship headed where you want. My quest as a coach is to get it to play to its potential as I perceive it to be. My first year at New England, my expectations were to try to stay in a game. We opened 1-11 and finally won four in a row at the end of the year. That coaching job, I felt like my team played to its potential. ... In 1988, we were with the Giants and went 10-6, I didn't think it was a good coaching job. I didn't think the team played to its potential. That's when I changed the team because I knew we would get worse instead of better. ... My job is to get them to play to their potential.
Question: Players on this team have said they needed more discipline. That's one of your strong suits. How do you institutethat?
Answer: I tell the players what's important to me, and those things need to get important to them. Sometimes you have to tell them more than once. I don't have a lot of rules. I'm not a big rules guy. Be on time. Get in condition. Pay attention, and practice and play hard. I don't want thugs and hoodlums on my team. I'm too old for that. If that's what we've got, I'll try to get rid of them. The off-season program is going to be important to me. I'll probably have the squad in early February for a meeting.
Question: You're on the record saying you won't tolerate touchdown celebrations that draw attention to one player.
Answer: I'm a team guy. I'm not a Neanderthal. I understand what these kids do and see. I try to talk to them about things. I think I could show you some film of the New York-San Francisco game [Sunday], where lack of discipline could have cost either team that game. I'll have film of that and show that. Here it is, your whole season is on the line and here are these guys doing this stuff. I'll say, "How are you going to feel if that runs you out of the playoffs? How are you going to feel if you're the one who costs the other 44 on the team?"
Question: You probably saw Antonio Bryant dunk the ball over the goal post down 30 points against the Giants.
Answer: Hey, I don't know the kid. I don't expect anything because I see what they do now. As long as it's not a deterrent to winning, I'm not against having a little fun. I'd rather show more exuberance for your teammate. I tell them if you want to hogpile your teammate, it's OK with me. I like that. Lawrence Taylor was the best at that. If someone made a big play, he would go and jump on them and tackle them. That's great. I liked it.
Question: What about your friendship with Bobby Knight? Was that an extra incentive to come down here to Texas?
Answer: He's been a good friend to me for 30 some odd years. I think he's an unbelievably good, smart basketball coach. I think he's very bright. Extremely bright. He's my friend. And you know what a friend is, someone who knows all about you and likes you anyway. That's the way I am with him. I know all about him, and I like him anyway. I'm glad I'm going to get to spend some time with him and his boys, Timmy and Patrick, I'm close with them.
Question: How quickly will you evaluate the players on this team?
Answer: It's like first things first for me. I'm so caught up in the coaching staff, I've got to get that. I don't have peace of mind until I get that squared away. That may go even to the end of this month. Hopefully, I can start in the player evaluation when that's over, in time for free agency, make good decisions on what to do. But I'm going to have to be reliant on some people here to assist me.
Question: Do you have any ideas about what will happen to the offensive line?
Answer: You've heard me use the term "hold the fort guys." You've got to get some of those guys. I try to make a list of the things we must do this year, the things we would like to do and the things we wish we could do. I work off the must list, and we really try to do everything we can to get that done. The need list, we try to get done.
Question: Do you envision bringing in some of your own guys into the scouting department?
Answer: We haven't really talked much about that. Maybe later on, that would be something we talk about. But I wouldn't do that before this draft. And the league rules are pretty prohibitive.
Question: Do you see bringing in your own guys in other areas, such as trainers and strength and conditioning?
Answer: I would say that's a possibility. But not necessarily a probability. Again, there are certain people I'm interested in that I have not been able to approach yet. And I don't think I'll be able to approach them until either they are out of the playoffs or their contract is expired. At the end of next week, I'll have a lot better idea on where I am on everything.
So, is Parcell pushing for Emmitt to retire and free up some cash?
Renewer of Broken Franchises.
It's possible I think. It'd be a shame since he just busted Walter Payton's all time rushing record though...
http://www.nfl.com/players/features/emmitt
Chasing Payton
|
||||||||
ITA those Darn Cowboys will make the playoffs two years from now!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
