..or is it?
Reports today indicated Norv Turner was the leading candidate for the vacant head coaching position with the Dallas Cowboys. There were no remaining scheduled interviews, and the rumor mill had the job coming down to Turner and San Diego defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
Turner has milked three years as Troy Aikman's quarterback guru (including two Super Bowl rings) into a nine-year NFL head coaching career. Turner proves that an NFL coaching career involves luck and timing as much as it does players. If he had remained in Dallas an extra couple of months, he most likely would have succeeded Jimmy Johnson as coach of the Cowboys, at the peak of their dynasty. Instead, he took the Redskins job, where he eventually wound up working for another crazy owner, Little Danny Snyder. He lasted seven years in D.C., with one playoff appearance, before getting fired. He was a coordinator in San Diego and Miami, before ending up as head coach for the Oakland Raiders, and an even more insane owner: Al Davis. He lasted two years with that black hole of a franchise before being mercifully fired after last season. This season, he helped the San Francisco 49ers back to respectability as their offensive coordinator.
Could Jerry do better? Probably. Could he do worse? Definitely.
But, there is a new candidate in the mix. Tuesday, Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary is scheduled to visit Valley Ranch for an interview with Jerry. He has spent the past two years as a defensive assistant with San Francisco. This could be an ace in the hole. He is a native Texan who was one of the best linebackers in the history of the game. He has since served as a businessman, motivational speaker, and coach. He is someone that is even more impressive off the field than he was on the field. This is someone that does not know the meaning of the word failure. This is someone that oozes greatness. I look for him to blow Jerry's socks off tomorrow. I don't know if he'll get hired this time around, but Jerry would do well to think long and hard about it.
2 comments:
Today Jerry said he was going to wait until after the Superbowl. Does that mean Norv's interview didn't go that well? Is he waiting for Rivera? Didn't Jerry say he was going to wait until after the Superbowl to announce his new head coach in the past, but ended up doing it during the Superbowl (hoping for media attention)?
I think he's waiting on Ron Rivera. I'd like to think he's waiting on Lovie Smith, but I don't think he could hide that from the media very well.
I think Jerry, in the past, may have hired a coach during Super Bowl week for media attention, but I don't remember. The Parcells resignation came just before the NHL All-Star Game in Dallas, sweeping that to the back of the sports page.
I'll never forget the one time the Rangers had the All-Star Game in Arlington. Jerry signed Charles Haley to a contract extension (not even a new contract) that day, and had the press conference at 5:30 PM that day at Valley Ranch, to suck local media attention away from the All-Star Game.
There is one thing Jerry likes more than money, and that is attention.
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