MacMahon: Grassy knoll - Romo pulled rank on Garrett

Cotton

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Grassy knoll: Romo pulled rank on Garrett

May, 13, 2013


By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com


Things tend to get lost in translation when Jerry Jones goes off on a tangent.

So it’s no surprise that much of the initial reaction to Jerry’s post-draft declaration that Tony Romo would spend “Peyton Manning-type time” at Valley Ranch was off base. By no means did Jerry mean to call into question the prior work ethic of a man to whom he had just made a $55 million guaranteed commitment.

You want a grassy hill here? This continues the offseason trend of reducing the authority of a head coach who will enter the season on the hot seat.

As Ed Werder mentioned on ESPN Dallas 103.3’s Fitzsimmons and Durrett last week, this wasn’t a case of the owner pushing the franchise quarterback to spend more time in the film room. This was Romo requesting increased responsibility in the weekly process of creating game plans.

The company line is that it was a mutual decision between the owner, quarterback and head coach, but it’s not exactly an encouraging sign for Jason Garrett that this issue came up during Romo’s contract negotiations, when the quarterback had all the leverage.

“I want to use everything that he’s got in his computer,” Jerry told reporters during rookie minicamp, referring to Romo. “The way to do that is have him involved in a lot of the design and the preparation as we not only prepare the team in general but as we prepare for the opponents. He’s qualified to do that.”

That’s fine and dandy, but this comes on the heels of Jerry essentially questioning whether Garrett is qualified to continue serving as the head coach and running the offense.

The solution to fixing the Cowboys’ problematic yards-to-points ratio seems to be lightening Garrett’s role in the equation. The Cowboys continue to be tight-lipped about the play-caller, but all indications are that Garrett will hand those duties off to Bill Callahan, perhaps reluctantly. And it appears that the loudest voice in the meeting room on Monday and Tuesday will belong to Romo, not Garrett.

The spin is that allowing Garrett to serve as a “walkaround” head coach, to use the phrase coined by Jerry, will give him more room to make his presence felt throughout the entire team. But it’s not as if Monte Kiffin and Rod Marinelli – two defensive minds who would have been hired with or without Garrett’s approval – will need much input from a man they first met when he was Tampa Bay’s fourth-string quarterback.

Maybe Romo’s increased game-planning responsibilities are a nonissue. Or perhaps it’ll provide the spark the Cowboys’ offense needs after being mediocre in the only category that really matters (scoring) for the last five years.

Two things are clear: Jerry never meant to question the work ethic of a quarterback that he’s gone to great lengths to please; and if this doesn’t work, Romo and Garrett won’t be sharing a meeting room for much longer.
 

Carp

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The offense always moved better in situations where Romo had control of calling plays. Now part of that is it being in hurry up situations and facing Ds that are playing soft or something, but not all of it. I just hope that Kiffin is still quick enough to get him to throw the challenge flags like Ryan did...this way we are pretty much covered.
 

Clay_Allison

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Maybe Callahan hasn't replaced Garrett as OC because Romo has. That doesn't make me feel better because Romo is exactly as qualified to run an offense as Garrett.
 

ravidubey

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The reality is every offensive coordinator often defers to and always must include his veteran QB in planning. Hell, Jim Caldwell said it publicly on his NFL Network 3 second promo (when he was HC in Indy) that his goal was to "Let Peyton Manning be Peyton Manning".

In Dallas' case the perception is the OC is also the head coach, and somehow empowering Romo neuters Jason Garrett. Not true, first of all Callahan is the OC, not Garrett. Second, Romo has graduated from young QB who has to be managed to seasoned vet who's being paid like a top five QB.

You'd have to scratch your head if Romo wasn't being closely involved in offensive game-planning, play design, and play-calling. He's way too experienced and integral to execution not to be involved in every step.
 

Smitty

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Yeah, I don't think this is particularly much of a conspiracy theory.
 
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