Wednesday, January 14, 1998

For Cowboys, hiring new coach a matter of pros & coordinators

By Frank Luksa

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS - When hired as an NFL head coach, insiders tabbed him as a comer, although his stature with the public was guaranteed in only one way. He stood 6-5.

He'd been hired from a Super Bowl champion, and that always carries an assumption that he knew how to win. His credits were in order. He'd held a series of progressively responsible jobs until reaching the usual launch point to becoming a head man.

Yet, his promotion failed to inspire gee-whiz gasps six years ago. The earth didn't move when Green Bay hired Mike Holmgren, then a 41-year-old offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. But it does now at mention of his name and the team he's led to the cusp of consecutive Super Bowl titles against Denver on Jan. 25.

There was more optimism and assurances of success when two coordinators left the Cowboys in following seasons: Norv Turner to Washington and Dave Wannstedt to Chicago. Turner and Wannstedt couldn't miss because they'd also been connected to a champion and, well, knew how to win big. The fact is, both do but are having a hard timing proving it.

Thus, a variation of fate awaited three ex-assistants who owned almost identical resumes. Their pedigrees looked perfect. Yet, neither Turner nor Wannstedt has produced a playoff entry, while Holmgren sits atop his profession. So much for can't-miss thoroughbreds.

Mention of coordinators as future head coaches re-introduces the search under way for a successor to Barry Switzer with the Cowboys. Beloved owner Jerry Jones may be leaning toward a hire from that position, according to the only verified contact about a candidate: Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. There's further guesswork without confirmation that offensive coordinator Jon Gruden of the Philadelphia Eagles is another prospect.

For Jones to even consider a mere coordinator instead of A Big Name Coach confounds many who are familiar with the way he prefers to do business. Jones always has provided shock when he has fired and hired coaches. He owns a peculiar history of dismissing a Hall of Famer and a consecutive Super Bowl winner before selecting someone without NFL experience who'd been coaching-idle for five years.

Try this. Name the obvious Big Name. He's not there. Former coach-turned-media consultant Switzer blurted that George Seifert, the ex-49ers head man, isn't on the list. Now who and why not a young, bright offensive coordinator?

The idea may appeal to Jones if he cam subdue an ego that believes his hire must create national gasps of approval and/or surprise. Substance will outlast glitter. The right man can make a subdued entrance without immediate acceptance and pull a Jim Fassell by winning the NFC East with the New York Giants.

Confine debate to the pros and cons of Kubiak, Gruden and any similar prospect as future head coach of the Cowboys. Do they fit? In broad overview, yes. Each is offensively oriented and therein lay the source of decline over the past two seasons. This qualification figures to please quarterback Troy Aikman, whose blessing will influence the next hire.

Energetic youth is a general plus. First task of the new coach is to energize players and a franchise gone slack. The team he inherits lost its work ethic, will to win and the joy of competing. An attitude transplant is mandatory.

This means a tough guy able to command respect and no small amount of fear in a roster of Pro Bowlers and All-Pros whose play sunk below those levels. A legitimate question arises: Is someone as young as Kubiak (36) or Gruden (34) too young?

Youth plays to Jones' advantage otherwise. Youth would accept a job of major prestige just for the visibility, no matter the nuisance of the owner's nose over his shoulder. He'd be more pliable than a veteran coach demanding control over areas that Jones commands. Jones could play genial Uncle Jerry to the relative kid.

Kubiak didn't call plays at Denver. That's a negative. He understudied John Elway for eight years and spent game days absorbing tactics from Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and predecessor Dan Reeves. That's a positive. Except Kubiak hasn't experienced the difference between making suggestions and final decisions.

Gruden has been in play-call charge of an offense for three seasons, a responsibility superior to that of Kubiak. His bloodline includes three previous years on the offensive side of Holmgren's staff at Green Bay. He owns the dossier of a for-sure, future NFL head coach.

Now the ultimate question: With his star nucleus showing signs of fade and his team's playoff status reduced to maybe two more seasons, would Jones dare entrust the future to a rookie head coach? Under conditions of such gravity, is it any wonder he can't made up his mind?

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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