Reasons the Dallas Cowboys Can Win the Super Bowl in 2012
By Erasmus
The last decade has shown that parity is for real in NFL Football. It is no longer unusual when a team that looked average in the regular season wins the Super Bowl. Last year’s champions were extremely lucky to even make the playoffs; your Dallas Cowboys barely lost to them by 3 points in a game that would have eliminated them.
Last year also suggests that looking goofy, appearing as though you could burst into tears with the slightest provocation, and having enormous ears may increase the likelihood that you will QB a Super Bowl team.
The point is that any decent team can win the big game if they get on a hot streak at the right time.
Hence, it might seem trite to say that the Dallas Cowboys “can” win the Super Bowl in 2012, but it is a lot different from asserting that they “will” win it. I have approximately 12, 769.3 reasons why the Cowboys can win the Super Bowl in 2012. Granted, many of them consist entirely of expletives and teams/players from the NFC East.
It would be impossible to enumerate all the reasons in one post, especially when it is being written by someone who is long-winded and finds the sound of keys being frantically pounded rhythmically soothing.
Reason #1 for you (#3322 in my list):
1. Dallas Cowboys GM Jerry Jones has quietly assembled one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL.
Previous articles on SportDFW have already featured OL Coach Bill Callahan, Strength and Conditioning Genius Mike Woicik, and WR’s Coach Jimmy Robinson. Someone should write a feature about Jerome Henderson.
All of them have important jobs to do in 2012.
Robinson has to help Dez Bryant take his game to the next level: consistent excellence. He also has to develop the many inexperienced WR’s into effective 3rd and 4th WR’s. There are few coaches in the NFL with as much history of success in accomplishing these things as Jimmy Robinson.
Remember, Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett wanted, respected, and felt they needed Jimmy Robinson enough that they made him the Assistant Head Coach.
Mike Woicik will help all of the players on the roster. One of the most important things he has to do is help the young players on the OL build mass and add strength.
Woicik’s job is also to improve the overall conditioning and endurance of the team. Many people believe that part of the reason the Dallas Cowboys seem to collapse at the end of games and play their worst football in December is because of the they lack the stamina to finish games strong and the general conditioning to stay healthy for an entire 16 game season. It is hard to imagine anyone in the NFL who would more likely to be successful at accomplishing these goals with the Dallas Cowboys than Mike Woicik.
Bill Callahan may have the most difficult job of the three of them. It will be his responsibility to improve the play of the OL and ensure that QB Tony Romo doesn’t get exposed to injury. Callahan’s impressive resume indicates that not only is he qualified for the position, but that he is one of the best coaches in the NFL at developing young lineman. Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett wanted Callahan bad enough that he was also made the Offensive Coordinator.
The issue of whether the OL improved this year from a personnel standpoint was considered here.
Jerome Henderson is the new Secondary Coach. Dave Campo devoted a large part of his professional life to the Dallas Cowboys organization, so his departure should be met with an appreciation for the many things he contributed to the franchise. That being said, something was clearly not working in the Cowboys secondary in 2011.
It will be Henderson’s job to fix what appeared to be a multitude of problems in the secondary. Henderson has a decent resume, but what is important is that he has a history of working with Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan.
When you look at each of the new coaches individually, they all appear to be upgrades to the staff. For the most part, they all seem to have a history of excellence at doing the kinds of things the Dallas Cowboys need them to do.
Jimmy Robinson and Mike Woicik will have their first full offseason with the Cowboy players, which will make the team better. New hires Jerome Henderson and Bill Callahan are being counted on to improve the two parts of the team that were the weakest last season: the secondary and OL.
All of the coaches recently hired by Jones:
If you look at the new coaching staff as a whole, the moves reveal something about the way Jerry Jones is managing the Dallas Cowboys. First, most of the important coaching positions were staffed after Garrett became the HC. Many, perhaps all, of the coaches have either a history with Garrett or Ryan or they have established reputations that make them logical choices to assist with the implementation of Garrett’s “Cowboy Way”. It seems like Garrett and Ryan are getting assistant coaches who will buy into their general football philosophy.
Is it possible that Jerry Jones has finally realized that a perennially successful NFL franchise requires a stable coaching staff where everyone shares the same basic football ideology?
If Jason Garrett is ever going to fully install the “Cowboy Way” in the organization, it is imperative that he have a coaching staff that agrees with and believes in his basic philosophy of running a football team and his vision for the future of the Dallas Cowboys franchise. The coaching changes made by Jerry Jones in the last year and half suggest that he is willing to put together a coaching staff based on the long-term assumption that Jason Garrett will be the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
The decision to make Callahan the Offensive Coordinator, like the one to make Robinson the Asst. Head Coach, suggest that Garrett may be cognizant that if he is going to be an effective Head Coach, he needs more help. Regardless of how Garrett feels about his performance last season, it is obvious that he has made a conscious decision to lighten his workload and delegate more responsibilities to his staff. You do not hire high-paid professionals with plenty of job opportunities, give them an important sounding position, and then try to tell them that the name is merely a title with no real power, responsibilities, or duties.
It is doubtful that Jason Garrett will relinquish the play-calling responsibilities on offense, but Callahan and Robinson will both take responsibility for and perform some of the tasks that Garrett could try to do himself. Garrett’s ability to realize that he can benefit from the assistance of other coaches says a lot about his dedication to building a winning team.
The Cowboys have not discovered any magical formula for instant success. But Jerry Jones is allowing Jason Garrett the freedom and control to lay the organizational foundation for a football team that will have consistent success in the future.