The Dallas Cowboys most important assistant coach is this man

Dallas Cowboys fans are obviously cheering for all of their coaches to succeed in 2019 but one assistant coach stands out as more important than the rest

Dallas Cowboys players’ success and Dallas Cowboys coaches’ success is generally thought of a mutually exclusive situation.  One can’t really succeed on their own.

If the defense performs like a top-10 unit, it’s safe to say Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard will get their share of the credit. Likewise, if the offense improves to a top-10 unit, it’s Kellen Moore and Jon Kitna who will likely be credited. So it stands to reason, fans want to see all the coaches succeed in 2019.

But one assistant, in particular, should garner the most of our support: Kellen Moore

Never have we known so little about such an important person than we do this season with Kellen Moore. His performance as a coach has the ability to lift the Dallas Cowboys to new heights or sink it to new depths. No other coach is teetering on such a significant fulcrum as Moore.

Offensive line coach, Marc Colombo, is in a critical role as he tries to guild the O-line to their previous glory. But even if he completely tanks as a coach, the offensive line is talented enough to be pretty dang good on their own. Colombo’s ability as a coach only has so much influence on this pedigreed unit.

Gary Brown could probably call in sick for half of the season and the Dallas Cowboys running game would be fine. It would take a loss of Ezekiel Elliott to really make Brown much of a factor as a coach.

Sanjay Lal admittedly has an important task developing all of this young talent on the roster. But the top two receiver targets are seasoned veterans (Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb) so even he’s not a major influencer in majority of the passing game.

Now, if one of the young guys like Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, or Jalen Guyton break out and take the passing game to the next level – that’s a different story. But barring injury, I don’t think anyone expects the receiving corps to regress this year. Even if Lal mails in his coaching duties.

The defense is much of the same. Dallas is returning a top-10 unit. And given their age, progression, and free agent additions, many are expecting them to organically improve in 2019 with or without great coaching.

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As much as we respect Rod Marinelli’s ability to develop linemen, the unit right now is pretty darn good. Looking at Kris Richard’s guys in the secondary, it’s much of the same. Byron Jones and Anthony Brown are coming off career seasons and they’re playing for new deals right now. They’re going to be at the top of their game regardless of who’s coaching.

Now Richard does have some challenges ahead for sure. Chidobe Awuzie needs to improve in 2019 or Dallas will be in the market for a new starting CB. There also isn’t a clear choice at the other safety position opposite Woods. That’s on the coach to nurture and develop.

But looking at the defense as a whole, there’s just not much room for improvement. We want to see improvement but the margin to improve isn’t nearly as significant as the offense has.

Kellen Moore is largely going to be judged on his ability to call plays. If the Dallas Cowboys are successful, then the play-calling is successful. It’s as simple as that.

The Dallas Cowboys finished in the bottom half of the NFL last season in far too many offensive categories. There’s a ton of room for improvement and most of it revolves around the passing game, red zone offense, and early down success.

The Dallas Cowboys were a 10-6 team who won the NFC East and had a realistic chance at mounting a playoff run. There weakest coaching area was undoubtedly the offensive coordinator. If that can improve in 2019, the sky is the limit for the Dallas Cowboys.

We as fans want to root for all of the Dallas Cowboys assistant coaches to succeed in 2019 but one coach has the ability to take this team to the next level and that coach is the offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore. No pressure, buddy.

• Published on 06/07/2019 at 12:30 PM
• Last updated at 06/07/2019 at 12:05 PM