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By PATRIK WALKER Dec 12, 1:09 PM
Believe it or not, there's still not enough buzz surrounding Kris Richard.
It's easy to believe the most publicized addition to the Dallas Cowboys' coaching staff is carrying headlines, but they're more of the local variety, with not nearly as many national outlets appreciating what he's doing for the team in his first season as the team's passing game coordinator. Just yesterday, it feels like, the Seattle Seahawks saw fit to send Richard packing after an injury-riddled year derailed the prowess of their once-dominant Legion of Boom.
The day was January 10, 2018, and news broke on the ousting of Richard.
"I didn't see it coming," said All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, now with the San Francisco 49ers. "...I spoke to him throughout the whole process. We had a very open dialogue about the offers he was getting. Thank goodness he had a ton of respect around the league and had a number of offers.
"He picked the one that he thought would suit him best, and I was happy for him."
Seven days after the firing, I penned a column on why he was the perfect fit for the Cowboys, despite others either not yet seeing the benefit -- or outright alluding to Richard being "leftovers" the Cowboys shouldn't pursue. The organization was thankfully smarter than your favorite talking head and/or keyboard slapper, and five days after my column went to print, Richard was on a flight to Frisco, TX to sign his new employment contract. Fast forward to Week 15 and he's the toast of the Metroplex, having also won over those who see the light in hindsight, but still not quite seeing his stock hit fever pitch.
It's getting there though, with a select few beginning to wonder if he'll be a candidate for a possible head coaching nod somewhere in 2019. In the short-term though, there's something else he should logically be a frontrunner for, and that's NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.
"He's a young guy [with] great energy," cornerback Byron Jones told me this past offseason. "He wears his cleats out there, running patterns with us and stuff. He's got good quickness out there. He's suiting up in the cleats and everything. ...It's just energy.
"He's out there with us, and he makes a point about that. My coach is out here doing drills with me. The wide receivers can't do nothing on us.
"...We're just having fun with his energy and the talent he brings. He brings a lot of juice to this team and we all appreciate that."
It's not simply the practice field where Richard brings the juice, either. When it's game day, he's on the sideline with a barrel full of it, accepting nothing short of excellence from the Cowboys' defense.
It's no small wonder the usually praise-restrictive Rod Marinelli, the team's incumbent defensive coordinator, routinely delivers a resounding salute to Richard -- calling him the biggest free agent acquisition the Cowboys made all year.
"It’s awesome," Marinelli said, via Clarence Hill, Jr. of Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Everything he does I admire. The loyalty, the work ethic, the intelligence, the teaching, the inspiring – it’s special. It’s fun to come to work every day when you are around good people.
"He’s a special coach."
In his first 13 games with the team, Richard has fully ingratiated himself into the culture, performing tasks that span outside of his role as passing game coordinator -- a title demotion from his legendary stint with the Seahawks. Choosing Dallas over other offers was largely due in part to his belief in the current talent pool, most notably the aforementioned Jones, whom he wasted no time converting to a full-time corner. Jones is now one of the few shutdown corners in the entire NFL, and the best the Cowboys have had in a very long time, but it would not have been discovered by the team until after he potentially left in 2019 free agency for greener pastures.
With that decision, made before the wheels on his plane touched down in Dallas, Richard had figured out something in a matter of days no one in the building could figure out in three years:
Jones is not a safety.
Xavier Woods is, however, and his marriage to Richard -- which includes film study of All-Pro safety Earl Thomas -- has the second-year safety putting up top-10 numbers at his position. Getting that type of production from a former sixth-round pick is beyond impressive, and just a glimpse at what may be to come.
Those are two of the more prominent impacts from Richard, but far from the last, as he continually helps to improve on Marinelli's already solid defense. In 2017, the Cowboys ranked 13th in points allowed, eighth-best in yardage allowed, forced 18 fumbles and recovered 12 of those fumbles, but grabbed only eight interceptions. In Richard's short tenure, the Cowboys are the second-best team in points allowed, fourth-best in yards allowed, and have already reeled in 11 INTs -- with three games still to play in the regular season.
For those following along at home, a statistical top-10 defense is now top five, and only a few more takeaways from being top dog.
There are others to be appreciated within the defensive coaching ranks as well, from Leon Lett(defensive tackles) to Greg Jackson (safeties) to Ben Bloom (linebackers), but it's Richard working hand-in-glove with Marinelli to install new wrinkles to the playbook and oversee the success of the entire unit. Richard, probably more so than any of the others named, strapping on cleats and walking the line between being a player's coach and being a player -- the latter being a reference to his days as an NFL defensive back and former third-round pick.
Realizing he's also responsible for aiding in the development of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch simply deepens the reasoning behind my argument, with both playing at a pro bowl level and Vander Esch having set the record for fastest Cowboys' player ever to 100 tackles -- also tying with Woods for a team-high two INTs. The presence of Vander Esch has instantly solved the availability issues on Sean Lee, but it's his physical abilities and skill set that allow Richard to unleash him in coverage, and there is usually no hesitation to deploy the Idahoan missile or his Notre Dame counterpart in that respect.
On-demand, the two are morphed into pass rushers, as the Cowboys have found themselves blitzing at a much higher rate in 2018 than in years past, and successfully.
The Richard Effect.
Much like he does in practice and on the sideline during games, his players have been flying all over the place this season.
Quite deserving of a nod for Assistant Coach of the Year, the irony is Richard may find himself up against Marinelli for the honor, based simply on title alone. The 39-year-old may be a de facto defensive coordinator, but he isn't on paper, and here's how the award was fleshed out over the last four seasons:
2017: Pat Shurmur (Vikings OC), 13-3 record
2016: Kyle Shanahan (Falcons OC), 11-5 record
2015: [tie] Hue Jackson (Bengals OC), 10-5 record + Wade Phillips (Rams DC), 12-4 record
2014: Todd Bowles (Cardinals DC), 11-5 record
__
As an aside, oddly (and disrespectully) enough, Richard has never landed the award, despite being the driving force behind the historic "Legion of Boom" defense.
What may be concerning in the list above is obvious to the discerning eye, because aside from Phillips, every winner went on to land a head coaching position immediately after winning the award. Philips is the exception here, but mostly because he moved in the opposite direction, having most recently been head coach of these very same Cowboys as recently as 2010 -- before being fired and Jason Garrett ascending to the role.
Point being, possibly even without garnering the national honor, Richard could still be in play for other teams. Tuck away your inhalers though, because owner Jerry Jones didn't bring Richard in to see him excel and let him leave without a fight. Jones is also not adverse to paying deserving assistant coaches exorbitantly large sums of money to see them stay put, as he did in the case of Garrett vs. Philips, plus there's another variable on the table I floated in January that is even more of a viable conversation today.
In reality, Richard is being groomed for the seat Marinelli could soon vacate, rumors of the latter's potential retirement having swirled about in the same timeframe wherein the former found his phone ringing with Jones on the other end.
Coincidence? There's no such thing. He chose the Cowboys over several others, and they chose him -- this all hinting at things to come.
Time will tell if Richard digs his heels into the Metroplex deeper going forward, but I feel the stage is set for him to do just that. Until we find out what the future holds, we know for certain what the present and recent past has taught us, and that's a reality recognized as easily as one's own reflection in the mirror. Richard deserves the award, the recognition and any offers that come his way, but the Cowboys also deserve to have him stick around for a long, long time. All of the pieces are in place for that to be the case, and that's great news for a defense that is now arguably the best in the league next to the Chicago Bears.
It didn't happen overnight, a salute to what Marinelli has built, but things didn't turn the corner until Richard entered the correct address into the GPS.
Recalculating...
Believe it or not, there's still not enough buzz surrounding Kris Richard.
It's easy to believe the most publicized addition to the Dallas Cowboys' coaching staff is carrying headlines, but they're more of the local variety, with not nearly as many national outlets appreciating what he's doing for the team in his first season as the team's passing game coordinator. Just yesterday, it feels like, the Seattle Seahawks saw fit to send Richard packing after an injury-riddled year derailed the prowess of their once-dominant Legion of Boom.
The day was January 10, 2018, and news broke on the ousting of Richard.
"I didn't see it coming," said All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, now with the San Francisco 49ers. "...I spoke to him throughout the whole process. We had a very open dialogue about the offers he was getting. Thank goodness he had a ton of respect around the league and had a number of offers.
"He picked the one that he thought would suit him best, and I was happy for him."
Seven days after the firing, I penned a column on why he was the perfect fit for the Cowboys, despite others either not yet seeing the benefit -- or outright alluding to Richard being "leftovers" the Cowboys shouldn't pursue. The organization was thankfully smarter than your favorite talking head and/or keyboard slapper, and five days after my column went to print, Richard was on a flight to Frisco, TX to sign his new employment contract. Fast forward to Week 15 and he's the toast of the Metroplex, having also won over those who see the light in hindsight, but still not quite seeing his stock hit fever pitch.
It's getting there though, with a select few beginning to wonder if he'll be a candidate for a possible head coaching nod somewhere in 2019. In the short-term though, there's something else he should logically be a frontrunner for, and that's NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.
"He's a young guy [with] great energy," cornerback Byron Jones told me this past offseason. "He wears his cleats out there, running patterns with us and stuff. He's got good quickness out there. He's suiting up in the cleats and everything. ...It's just energy.
"He's out there with us, and he makes a point about that. My coach is out here doing drills with me. The wide receivers can't do nothing on us.
"...We're just having fun with his energy and the talent he brings. He brings a lot of juice to this team and we all appreciate that."
It's not simply the practice field where Richard brings the juice, either. When it's game day, he's on the sideline with a barrel full of it, accepting nothing short of excellence from the Cowboys' defense.
It's no small wonder the usually praise-restrictive Rod Marinelli, the team's incumbent defensive coordinator, routinely delivers a resounding salute to Richard -- calling him the biggest free agent acquisition the Cowboys made all year.
"It’s awesome," Marinelli said, via Clarence Hill, Jr. of Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Everything he does I admire. The loyalty, the work ethic, the intelligence, the teaching, the inspiring – it’s special. It’s fun to come to work every day when you are around good people.
"He’s a special coach."
In his first 13 games with the team, Richard has fully ingratiated himself into the culture, performing tasks that span outside of his role as passing game coordinator -- a title demotion from his legendary stint with the Seahawks. Choosing Dallas over other offers was largely due in part to his belief in the current talent pool, most notably the aforementioned Jones, whom he wasted no time converting to a full-time corner. Jones is now one of the few shutdown corners in the entire NFL, and the best the Cowboys have had in a very long time, but it would not have been discovered by the team until after he potentially left in 2019 free agency for greener pastures.
With that decision, made before the wheels on his plane touched down in Dallas, Richard had figured out something in a matter of days no one in the building could figure out in three years:
Jones is not a safety.
Xavier Woods is, however, and his marriage to Richard -- which includes film study of All-Pro safety Earl Thomas -- has the second-year safety putting up top-10 numbers at his position. Getting that type of production from a former sixth-round pick is beyond impressive, and just a glimpse at what may be to come.
Those are two of the more prominent impacts from Richard, but far from the last, as he continually helps to improve on Marinelli's already solid defense. In 2017, the Cowboys ranked 13th in points allowed, eighth-best in yardage allowed, forced 18 fumbles and recovered 12 of those fumbles, but grabbed only eight interceptions. In Richard's short tenure, the Cowboys are the second-best team in points allowed, fourth-best in yards allowed, and have already reeled in 11 INTs -- with three games still to play in the regular season.
For those following along at home, a statistical top-10 defense is now top five, and only a few more takeaways from being top dog.
There are others to be appreciated within the defensive coaching ranks as well, from Leon Lett(defensive tackles) to Greg Jackson (safeties) to Ben Bloom (linebackers), but it's Richard working hand-in-glove with Marinelli to install new wrinkles to the playbook and oversee the success of the entire unit. Richard, probably more so than any of the others named, strapping on cleats and walking the line between being a player's coach and being a player -- the latter being a reference to his days as an NFL defensive back and former third-round pick.
Realizing he's also responsible for aiding in the development of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch simply deepens the reasoning behind my argument, with both playing at a pro bowl level and Vander Esch having set the record for fastest Cowboys' player ever to 100 tackles -- also tying with Woods for a team-high two INTs. The presence of Vander Esch has instantly solved the availability issues on Sean Lee, but it's his physical abilities and skill set that allow Richard to unleash him in coverage, and there is usually no hesitation to deploy the Idahoan missile or his Notre Dame counterpart in that respect.
On-demand, the two are morphed into pass rushers, as the Cowboys have found themselves blitzing at a much higher rate in 2018 than in years past, and successfully.
The Richard Effect.
Much like he does in practice and on the sideline during games, his players have been flying all over the place this season.
Quite deserving of a nod for Assistant Coach of the Year, the irony is Richard may find himself up against Marinelli for the honor, based simply on title alone. The 39-year-old may be a de facto defensive coordinator, but he isn't on paper, and here's how the award was fleshed out over the last four seasons:
2017: Pat Shurmur (Vikings OC), 13-3 record
2016: Kyle Shanahan (Falcons OC), 11-5 record
2015: [tie] Hue Jackson (Bengals OC), 10-5 record + Wade Phillips (Rams DC), 12-4 record
2014: Todd Bowles (Cardinals DC), 11-5 record
__
As an aside, oddly (and disrespectully) enough, Richard has never landed the award, despite being the driving force behind the historic "Legion of Boom" defense.
What may be concerning in the list above is obvious to the discerning eye, because aside from Phillips, every winner went on to land a head coaching position immediately after winning the award. Philips is the exception here, but mostly because he moved in the opposite direction, having most recently been head coach of these very same Cowboys as recently as 2010 -- before being fired and Jason Garrett ascending to the role.
Point being, possibly even without garnering the national honor, Richard could still be in play for other teams. Tuck away your inhalers though, because owner Jerry Jones didn't bring Richard in to see him excel and let him leave without a fight. Jones is also not adverse to paying deserving assistant coaches exorbitantly large sums of money to see them stay put, as he did in the case of Garrett vs. Philips, plus there's another variable on the table I floated in January that is even more of a viable conversation today.
In reality, Richard is being groomed for the seat Marinelli could soon vacate, rumors of the latter's potential retirement having swirled about in the same timeframe wherein the former found his phone ringing with Jones on the other end.
Coincidence? There's no such thing. He chose the Cowboys over several others, and they chose him -- this all hinting at things to come.
Time will tell if Richard digs his heels into the Metroplex deeper going forward, but I feel the stage is set for him to do just that. Until we find out what the future holds, we know for certain what the present and recent past has taught us, and that's a reality recognized as easily as one's own reflection in the mirror. Richard deserves the award, the recognition and any offers that come his way, but the Cowboys also deserve to have him stick around for a long, long time. All of the pieces are in place for that to be the case, and that's great news for a defense that is now arguably the best in the league next to the Chicago Bears.
It didn't happen overnight, a salute to what Marinelli has built, but things didn't turn the corner until Richard entered the correct address into the GPS.
Recalculating...
