Can you say " Quietly Rebuilding " Year ahead...?

Column by Tim Quigley ( timquig@maco.net ) West Palm Beach, Fl.

It gets a little crazy..but..

Being of semi-sound mind and body and being a Boys fan can be mutually exclusive these days...what with all the " Irvin Alerts " one must endure..all the personnel defections the team suffers year-after-year...and Mr. Jones' constant announcements of new sponsorships for Texas Stadium that sometimes border on the absurd. I'm waiting for the next announcements there to be something like the next " Official Disposable Douche of Texas Stadium or the next " Official Condom of Texas Stadium" to be Jerry's next big deals. Sound tasteless..? Sure..but no more than the words I'm about to use with this year's 1997 team..

Quietly Rebuilding....

There..I said it..and it makes you stop and say to yourself..what..? This can't be. You don't fix what's not broke..right..? Just a little tweak and a little more polish and we're on our way back to SB XXXII..Wrong there Silver and Blue breathe. This is a BIG rebuilding year for the Cowboys if they are to win one more SB in this decade and the time is now to make some serious changes and renew commitments to do so on the field. In the front office, Jones has made substantial changes by addressing the problem issues from last year. such as the hiring of Calvin Hill and his consulting firm to overhaul the Cowboys image out in the big world. But all these changes won't get us to Pasadena in January if some other fundamental changes with the team personnel aren't implemented and quickly...otherwise.. don't get too anxious about booking your SB plane tickets thinking the Boys are going to be there this year..here's why..

Reason Numero Uno...rebuild with depth and a re-commitment to depth...

Unlike in past years.. this year..I think the Boys are going to be leaning heavily on their backups to win each week. Prior to this year..the Boys have had this philosophy of winning with a core of 15-20 guys and not really focussing on the backups as important to the overall cause. but that is going to have to change. This could be costly in the early going. But by starting to play some of their backups more..more substitution in both the DEFENSIVE and OFFENSIVE lines...especially..this will help the older vets hold together at the end of the season..a critically important time to put all the pieces together and win. Dallas must go back to the formula they used in 1993 to win their first SB of the '90's. Depth and situation substitution to wear down the other teams and create guessing games for the opposing coaches to have to deal with personnel-wise.This whole philosophy has withered away over the succeeding years but has to be resurrected now. The Boys have pretty much signed their core players to contracts thru the year 2000 ( Larry Allen not withstanding ) and so have most of their competition in the NFC Conference. So now it gets down to who has the best reserves to backup these 15-20 guys...and that's the key to another title.

They didn't have that playoff push last year..and that's mostly age catching up to the players via injuries. And of course..drug suspensions to primary team players during the season must be avoided at all costs ( see Leon Lett)..but if they use some of these backups they have signed and stick to it early in training camp and then into the season.. teams may take advantage of some of these backups from time to time..but by mid-season..it may payoff with a stronger team overall.

And playing the backups more is going to help team unity.....which....over the last couple of years... has been going south with all the drug stuff on the team. With so many players being busted by the NFL and the authorities in the last two years..this is a direct indication of loss of team commitment. The entire team concept is what I'm alluding to here..not the unity as put forth by the team leaders who are highly visible like Troy and Emmitt and Bill Bates.. But the team needs to be unified at all levels from the water boy on up...In the early years of this current team...dare I say under JJ...the team had common goals and was unshakably unified in it's purpose.That golden age has slipped away as the team has been eroded by Success, Free Agency and the Salary Cap.

I say play the rookies and backups more and there will be more togetherness that EVERYBODY is important and has a role to play. More and more with all the big dollar guys on the team and then the rest kind of underpaid comparatively..there has to be some division on the team concerning this..although no one would admit it. So...the team that plays together more wins together more instead of a bunch of stars like Troy and Smith and Sanders getting all the credit. Let these other guys play more and get more contributions at every level. To me..there is a fine line between a guy like Charles Haley and a Kavika Pittman. And it's usually only a motivation thing and the Dallas coaches need to get Pittman and all the guys on the team like Pittman and get them motivated by giving them more playing time. Do that..and this team could be the best team of all the Champion Teams in this era. But it's going to be tough in the NFC this year to get to the SB and the team that has the quality depth on their squad will win it all. Last year..it was the Packers. The year before..it was Dallas.The year before..it was the 9ers.

Who this year..?

It should be Dallas if they can find a way to raise the level of play of their backups. The last three drafts have produced some good prospects but they can't find any reps in game situations because of the long standing starters ahead of them. But injuries and retirement and the salary cap have taken their toll there. and will even more at the end of this year. So getting these reserves time
in game situations now will pay dividends later. Expect that about 8-10 more rookies will stick with the team come August and that will mean that in the last three yars..about 25 of these draftees have been retained for the roster. That's about half of the squad now. By a player's third year..it's expected that player start to contribute and move into solid positions either starting or seriously contributing.to his position. Well..it's time for some of these players to move up. The team's future is riding on it.
 
 

Reason Numero Dos...rebuild with fewer carries and spread the wealth...

it is imperative that they spell Emmitt Smith or they are going to have another injury year with him. His 1,800 yrd .seasons are behind him. he's going to have to take less carries and still come up with about 1,200 yrds for them plus his backup needs to supply the other 300-400 yds. and give Smith some help in the backfield. Sherman Williams needs to fill this roll. He played very well in the last game of the regular season against Washington even thought he fumbled like three times. It wasn't all his fault as the Skins were fishing for turnovers and pounded him several times knowing he was coming thru the hole. I say give him the ball more and he'll be fine and be a real strong runner up the middle. He has a great burst of speed thru the hole and is faster than Emittt down field once in the open. Give him the chance this year. And finding a sub for Moose is also imperative. His re-signing was a key move in the off-season..but if they don't give him some breaks doing the lead blocking for Emmitt..he too is going to end up on the sidelines injured and Emmitt is going to be exposed and take a pounding. Nicky Sualua...their 4th rd draft choice.. may be the answer here..but if he's not..a FA pickup maybe needed by the end of the summer to plug this hole.

Reason Numero Tres...rebuild with new coaches and renew confidence...

Getting Troy Aikman a QB position coach to work with is a stroke of genius and I don't know exactly who is responsible for taking this action..but if it's Jerry Jones or Barry Switzer..then more power to you. Our coaching staff has been decimated by departures
over the last four years and it's high time the new coaches step-up and get counted. Last year the Boys brought in new DL and LB coaches and this year the new QB coach previously mentioned. The new strength coach this year seems to have been a success..as it's reported that off-season participation has risen some 50% over previous years. These are important issues that are critical to the teams continued success. Of course..Switzer was the new coach three years ago and everybody differs on his overall importance to the team. But make no mistake..these new coaches are Barry's responsibilities and he's going to have to motivate and oversee these guys if all these changes are going to end up with another World Title. They all have their work cut out for themselves.

The bottom line...

In closing..I really don't expect us to win it all this year. But if some of these things I've mentioned can be successfully implemented..
then the Boys stand a fighting chance of winning it all. If not..then laying down a foundation for next year and for 1999 is just as important. All one needs to do is take a look at one of our chief rivals..the 9ers..to see the turmoil and chaos that ensues from not
planning better and letting your team grow old without adjusting and signing too many mercenary players who don't plan to stay for the long term and contribute. Avoiding this same fate is one of the most urgent things facing this team presently. Jerry..I hope you're listening.