WEBVTT - Talkin' Cowboys: Realistic Free Agency Thoughts 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:09.760 The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:21.119 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This he's Talking Cowboys 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.560 screaming live from the Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:37.120 Star in Frisco. Scott Now, your hosts, Mickey Spagnola, Rob Phillips, 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.400 Everson Walls, and Bill Jones. Boy, they got half right. 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.959 Fifty fifty fifty again, second straight week. That's okay. We'll 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.440 get it right at some point. But it is a 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.800 cloudy Tuesday, and that means more Talking Cowboys here on 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.440 Dallas Cowboys dot Com and all the various social media s. 0:00:55.560 --> 0:01:00.440 WBC Mortgage Studio hosting us again, Mickey Spagnola, Heck Harrison 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.080 back for a second straight must have something right. It's 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.720 something right. So you're back in the chair, Everson Walls, 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:07.360 And then I'm back in the chair too, So I 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:09.440 guess I did. Okay. Kyle Yeoman's here filling in for 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.760 Bill Jones and guys. Uh, it was a fun weekend. 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.240 I know, Mickey, you were down in New Orleans? How 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.399 was that? New Orleans was great? Anytime you go to 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:23.679 New Orleans, it's great and it's not great. Yeah, you 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.440 have some good food, down there. I had great food, yeah, 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:37.000 a few drinks, just a few. Wow, some great entertainment 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:39.800 in some of the little local places I know about. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:44.160 So yeah, it was. It was quite a quite a 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.000 three days yet hit up some of the famous Mickey 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.520 Spagnolla watering holes. That's right. Yeah, absolutely the biggest spot, 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.360 the biggest dive bars you've ever seen in you know, 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:56.640 the best bars that are down there are the ones 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.200 that you you don't even know the name locals. Yeah, 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:05.320 just it's the sign said drinks come in building. Yeah, 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.560 everybody got open. Yeah, Gumbo and red Bees. That's the 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.400 best you've ever had, no matter where you eat them. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:13.200 And you guys were there at the right time with 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.000 Marty Graw getting ready to start, so unfortunately it started 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:24.000 the night we left that afternoon. Say, either that are 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:27.440 real good that it's really good for a company retreat. Yeah, 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:31.919 we gotta get you guys back before start. I've never 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.040 actually been down to New Orleans during Marty Gral times, 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:39.440 so it's quite an experience. Whatever you whatever you experienced 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.720 during the regular times you went, you got turned it 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.320 up about ten times. Really, Okay, I don't even don't 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.920 even think about renting a car not walk everywhere, go 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:53.560 everywhere on fever. Everything is just backed up. Everybody's cruising, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:57.240 everybody wants to be seen. You know, it's just ridiculous, man, 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.200 But but it's fine. I mean, that's what you like about. 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.360 Actually went to my first one, probably about five or 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:07.320 seven years old, because my dad was thirty about thirty 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.400 miles up the river, and so we could go there 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.639 for vacation and it would just so happened to be 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.639 during Mardi Gras, and learned to beg for beads off 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.680 the floats. Yeah. Wow, they were begging you for beads. 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.880 So come on, you gotta show them to me. You 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:27.079 gotta show him to me. Seven years old? About that? 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:32.560 Oh gosh, already off socialized. Took us a total of 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:34.600 four and a half minutes to get off the rails 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.400 this week everything. What did you do this weekend? I 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.400 watched the All Star Game. I was about to say, 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.040 did anybody watch the NBA All Star Game? I did that. 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.720 But now, on a side note, it was my anniversary, 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.680 So okay, yeah you've been. I have to mention that 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.680 my wife told me thirty six years. Thirty six years. 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:52.880 But your wife let you know that, she let me 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.240 know that. Yeah, yeah, before I even put my foot 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.040 in my mouth, you know, happy thirty six, honey, Yeah, 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:04.240 there you go. Remember if anyone asked, happy thirty six? Congratulations, 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.080 thank you brother, that's appreciate that. And of course, kind 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:08.680 of going back to the NBA All Star Game. Of 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.960 course this is a football centered show, so I'm gonna 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.080 bring the NBA All Star Game into the conversation just 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.240 for a split second, fourth quarter. And the way that 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.239 the things kind of played out in the structuring behind 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.520 the NBA All Star Game where they basically reset said 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:26.960 first one the twenty four go have fun with it, 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.680 and it was. It was exactly that. It was fun. 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.320 It was the biggest game of pickup basketball with the 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.280 best players on the biggest stage in a great city 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.440 of Chicago. It was unbelievable. But that brings me to 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:42.279 the question of how does how does the NFL find 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.440 a way to make can't bow like that? You can't 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.679 do it ranking the same thing, you just can't do it. 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:51.560 I think, well, first of all, you have to start 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.600 all over if you're the NFL, just how you treat 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.200 your players, you know, that's where it comes from. I mean, 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.960 the NBA is just it's all include. You know, the 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.440 players have a louder voice. They are not held down 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.400 nearly as much as the young folks say they're They're 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.880 definitely more awoke in the NBA in regards to inclusion, 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.279 which is, you know, and being a global game. Yes, 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.160 we've gone to London and we played some games in 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.440 Mexico and things of that nature. But the basis of 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.560 the NFL is totally different from the culture that you 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.240 have in the NBA. And I think it's pretty obvious. 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:34.000 You've got guys who refuse to be silenced on the 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:39.040 political views, unlike uh, the NFL. Now, once again, the NBA, 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:43.200 they do demand, right that you stand during the national anthem? 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.719 Is that right? They demand that. I'm surprised that that 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:50.040 that flute with that crew. But when you look at 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:54.640 the NFL, you've just got so much more that they 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.360 could be doing in regards to making this not just 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.960 a global game, but just start right here in America 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.120 and deal with your own players and your union needs 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.279 to be stronger. So when you're talking to the the NFL 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.359 versus NBA, no comparison whatso well, we're about to find 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.120 out what we're finding out the new CBA coming up, 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:17.680 ye say, the different collective one more year. Well, that's 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.440 it's not going to be anything that revealing. No, that 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.960 that that culture, you know, the culture is changing, but 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.839 the NFL is still that's still gonna be behind the 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.520 times no matter what that CBA uh involves. You just 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:35.000 can't figure out a good way to play football the 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:39.440 way they did basketball and the way they do hockey now, right, 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.600 because they've made it competitive in a kind of a 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.600 weird way. Uh, football is kind of harden to muck up. Right, 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:50.279 The physicality of the game in general would change, uh, 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.920 you know absolutely, But that fourth quarter was as competitive 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.280 as I've seen in an NBA All Star Game. And 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.080 I've been watching it for a while, I'm sure as 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.159 you guys have. But I loved seeing it. And I 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.360 also loved the what was at stake, you know, the 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:06.960 charity for the kids and having them there and so 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:09.640 just having it be a community event and also thinking 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.560 about like how can this carry over into the NFL. 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.320 I just didn't see anything that you could. You can't 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.400 change the quarters, you can't you know, switching quarterbacks or 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.240 something like that. And I think they've done some things 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.880 like that where they've had a transitionary player with one 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.120 guy can switch sides, you know. But I think it's 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.040 really kind of hard, especially with how physical the game 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.440 is versus in the NBA again, because it's just a 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.840 pickup game and there's no way to play a pickup 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.600 football game. You know. Initially, when you think pickup game 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.760 with NBA All Stars, you think boring, you really do, 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.440 because there's no defenses, lots of scoring. They started, Hey, 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.320 we saw the first will two charges in the in 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.120 an All Star game, and you saw at the block 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:50.840 in the fourth quarter. Absolutely, that to me, Let you 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.040 know what, how they really picked the whole game up. 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.120 I wanted that to be a goalten. I mean, that's 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.360 how much I was into the game. And I didn't 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.680 even want to watch it initially because you know, we 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:03.600 know how those games are. They just throwing it up 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.560 and you know, guys are just halfway oh yeah, not 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.280 no plays, you know, no, they're not even a picking roll. 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.120 But when you give him a goal, what was it, 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:16.600 one fifty seven? Yea, they wanted to make that goal. Absolutely. 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.760 It's funny how just that made much of a difference 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.720 in the fourth court and maybe Kobe's uh, you know, 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.040 his whole legacy had a little bit to do with that. 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:27.840 What they're playing for him. I don't know if they 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.040 ever said that, but it seemed like it just meant more. 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.720 Even with the new rules that were put in playing 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.600 that Momba mentality was on display even in an All 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:42.440 Star game, even slam dunk contest that was impressive as well. 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.600 But uh, I kind of wanted to run through what 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.840 we're going to talk about today here on talking Cowboys. 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.360 I want to do a peak at the NFC East offseason, 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:52.559 what's ahead for some of the other teams around the 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.520 NFC East. I want to assess what the Cowboys have 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.120 at tight end and talk about that tight end position 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.040 a little bit. But one of the get into kind 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.480 of I want to get away let's talk about that. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.080 Let's let's get away from Dak Prescott talk. It's been 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.800 another week of kind of stagnant talk between the Cowboys 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.920 and then the armchair GM saying what should the Cowboys 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.720 do in terms of Dak Prescott, resign him, sign them 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.559 to a long term deal, tag him, et cetera, et cetera. 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.480 There's been so many different talks. Really, there hasn't been 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:25.839 a ton of contract talk at all this week. I 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:30.040 know Teddy Bridgewater is expected to receive about thirty million 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.560 dollars a year market value, which is a little scary 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:35.719 for those wanting to resign Dank Prescott. But I kind 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.040 of wanted to talk about the coaching staff, and this 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.439 is where I'm going to draw very heavily on Mickey 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:46.520 and Everson and even you Heckman as well. Just because 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:54.360 I'm a young how to brought my list? There you go, 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.960 I'm a I'm a younger guy. And so of course 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.840 Mike McCarthy named the ninth head coach and Cowboys history 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.560 a whole new coaching staff ahead of us. There's been 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.160 a lot of high expectations for McCarthy as a Super 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:11.040 Bowl winning coach. He's a guy that now basically since 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.760 Jason Garrett's gone, it seems like the grass is greener. 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.040 On the other side, I want to ask about realistic expectations. 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.320 The dust is settled, the excitement is dying down a 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.360 little bit, it's time to get to work. For all 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:26.040 of the coaching staff, including Mike McCarthy, what are the 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.120 actual expectations compared to what we've seen in the past 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:33.160 for first year Dallas head coaches. Oh, he's not a 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.880 first year coach in Dallas, though, it's win the super 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:43.680 Bowl automatically. Look at look at what happened over the 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:48.560 last look at what happened over the last three years. Okay, right, 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:52.120 can you replicate that? Yeah? Well you better yeah, because 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.680 you got to go forward, right, So I thirteen and three, 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.720 nine and seven, eight and eight. All right, let's let's 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.520 let's go. Because the reason the coach is not here 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.439 is because he didn't win the NFC's and he didn't 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:09.719 win two playoff games. So to me, it's unfortunate, or 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:13.720 maybe he welcomes it, but that's Mike McCarthy's bar. He's 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.400 got to do that at least, right because if he 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:20.640 doesn't do better, why did change coaches? So to me, 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.120 that's where you start right now, Nicky, have you ever 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.520 seen any situations that parallel this one in Dallas, say, 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:28.079 for instance, and the one that I'm thinking about is 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.360 Tony Dungee and Tampa Bay when Gruten came in and 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.160 took over a team that was expected to go to 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.640 the Super Bowl, and Gruten was that piece that took 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.520 the team to the next level with having a complete 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.679 Hall of Fame defense with you know, Sap and guys 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.320 that he had over there, but it was the offensive struggles. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.040 But now if you flip this around on this side 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.400 with the Dallas Cowboys, the offense is in place. You 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.480 bring in an offensive minded coach. But I think with 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.319 everybody is kind of looking at is the defense and 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.280 shoring up some of those that we have on defense. 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.880 And that's what I rode on Friday. Welcome to Dallas, 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:09.240 Mike Nolan. Yeah, because if the defense doesn't improve, this 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:11.560 team doesn't improve. If you look at some of the 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:16.640 things that took place defensively, um, they didn't improve save 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:20.520 from from twenty thirteen when they finished thirty second in 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.760 total defense. Every year they improved, and this was the 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.400 first year they went backwards. They went from seventh to ninth, 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.640 not still top ten, right exactly. But it wasn't good 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:36.080 enough because they never they never won a game that 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:40.040 they didn't score thirty points in. Never. Sometimes you gotta 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:44.320 win twenty four twenty one, you know, um, and you know, look, 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.400 look the Super Bowl. If you take away the last 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:51.880 garbage time touchdown with Kansas City score twenty four and 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.319 they were gonna win. So sometimes you got to win 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:58.679 those games and the Cowboys didn't win them. To is 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.920 really is passing percentage quarterback? RADI wasn't that good, right, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.280 but you still come out and see an amazing game 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.480 played by him. Now, what gave him the opportunity to 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:09.520 be in the game. It was the fact that his 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.600 defense finally stepped up, right. So when you start talking 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:16.800 about Tampa, I mean, first of all, Tampa ended on 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:20.319 the hot note, right right, went with Dungee, correct the 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.880 hot note. It wasn't the weird season that the Cowboys had, 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.600 not just not even just record wise, but there was 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:30.520 not a bunch of speculation, a lot of controversy when 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.080 when Dungee had us. So I think they won the NFC. 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.520 I'm excuse me. They lost the NFC championship that year 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.080 and you got fired because that was was that the 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:39.920 game with the catch with the third down? Yeah, that's 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:43.280 the game? Right, So so to me, you know, Mike McCarthy, 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.840 don't go to the Jets and give up a ninety 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:51.280 two yard touchdown pass, don't go to New England and 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.880 get a punt block for the only touchdown of the game. 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.720 And if the head coach can eliminate those two things. 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.880 Then you're ten and six, right, So weird things happened 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:04.880 this year. Well, let's let's look at let's look at well, 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:08.360 you know, culturally we need to change because you can 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.360 talk about those two plays and you know we probably 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.760 would have found another way to screw it up. Be real, guys, 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:16.280 Let's be real, because there was still a lot of 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:18.520 football to be played after that, so it could be 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:21.760 a lot more things. It has to start. Our identity, 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.160 to me, still needs to be on the defensive side. 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:28.720 We offensively were together. McCarthy's coming in when he was 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.280 sitting at home hoping that someone that Jerry Jones or 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:36.200 someone called him to this organization. He's thinking what he 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.400 can do with that offense. That's the first thing that 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:42.040 he's thinking as he's sitting at home, you know, probably thinking, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.120 you know inside or Jason Garrett is blowing this. If 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.800 I had this team offensively, I would have called this 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.520 player that play. That's great. We can all do that 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.480 because that's why the strength is show me what we're 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.040 going to do on the defensive side. So you're you 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.920 don't necessarily want the identity of the team to be defense. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.160 So if you just want an uptick defensively. I want 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.800 an uptick defensively. We talked about going from seventh to ninth, 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.800 of ninth to seven. That doesn't mean jack. You gotta 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.800 count all stats. Okay, you can go with numbers all 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.280 you want, but you gotta go with turnovers, you know. 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.840 And when when we Shard first came, when Christoph Shard 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.040 first came, we were known. I think we got got 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:26.280 a number of very timely turnovers. They it's not just 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.760 the numbers, but the timing of the turnovers helped us 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.440 propel us into some of the bigger games and bigger 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.640 wins that we had. We had none of that this year. Yes, 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.080 we had stops on third downs. We were horrible. I 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.200 think I'm sorry, I just can't. Yeah, you know, I 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.440 still seventh. I don't know how they still got that 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.160 that that seventh position. Well, let's you know that those 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:50.600 numbers don't mean Jack ninth in total yards. So that's 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:56.120 what it is. You gotta make plays, you gotta takeaways. Yeah, 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.360 and that's and that's bottom of the barrel as far 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.280 as getting takeaways. But I want to also say, Kyle, 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:05.480 when it comes down to the Mike McCarthy era, it's 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:09.640 very important that Stephen Jones, Will McClay and those guys 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:13.040 have synergy immediately. As far as this draft is concerned 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.640 with getting the personnel, I don't believe that the Cowboys 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:19.400 can afford to have the square peg. We'rend circle mentality 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.360 with players anymore. You have to have a guy that 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.960 comes in and it can immediately make an impact. You 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.120 said last week, Mickey, when it come down to when 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:29.040 it was related to the wide receiver position, are we're 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:30.960 gonna have guys that can play immediately? And if you 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:34.720 look at McCarthy and his time in Green Bay, Man, 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.080 he was able to draft guys that were able to 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:42.720 play immediately. The James Jones is the DeVante Freeman, Julius Pepper. 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:44.560 I mean, guys that got on the field. And so 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.600 that's what's and even in free agency, getting guys that 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.280 can play that fit the scheme right now. And that's 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.960 what I guess what the speculation is with Mike Nolan's defense, 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.120 What is his defensive philosophy going to be, because when 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:59.600 you look over the years at the success that he's had, 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.600 the only years, well, I went back to his Atlanta 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.880 years when those guys were thirteen and three you look 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:11.200 at a guy like John John Abraham, Sean Witherspoon, another 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:16.280 guy Samuel Asante, Samuel, if you're relating the personnel that 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.600 we have in making the comparison, I think we have 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:20.679 a lot of that, and so that's what's gonna be. 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:24.399 I think that's gonna dictate getting that identity, playing fast, 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.359 coming after teams and getting those turnovers and kind of 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:29.480 going off of that synergy and being on the same 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.840 page as an entire coaching staff. It goes back to 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.159 what has been said about really the Cowboys over the 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.320 past three or four years, making you even talked about 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.000 record wise. The talent is here, that's been said, but 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.920 that's not enough anymore. You can't just say the talent 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.280 is talent. Everybody has a talent. It's the NFL. There's 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.399 thirty one other teams out there that have legitimate talent. 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.320 You have talent here. Now you gotta put it together. 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.120 You gotta be on the same page. And whether that's 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.960 through the draft, building through free agency. There's a lot 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.720 of pressure on this coaching staff and Mickey, you kind 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.880 of said the expectation as Super Bowl for Mike mccarth 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:08.200 that was kind of tugging. That was kind of tugging cheek. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.000 But you gotta at least win the division and get 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.440 into the playoffs and win a game. So that's first 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.679 year this year to me, and it was to make 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:20.120 the championship, right Yeah, and so anything less. And let's 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:23.560 let's point out they got five defensive starters that are 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.080 free agents. Yeah, so that's either a good thing or 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.439 a bad thing if you didn't think the defense was 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:33.440 good enough. Right yeah, uh, eight backups on defense free agents, 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.680 And I don't know where you want to put Tyrone 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.600 Crawford in that group, but he's coming back from dual 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:44.840 hip surgeries. He may not be here, who knows, he'll 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.880 twenty nine, he'll turn this year. Then his cap hit 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:51.400 as well, maybe yeah, And I don't but you got 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.879 to have good players everybody. If you're a good player, 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:57.320 your cap HiT's going to be significant. Right. So they've 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:00.960 got a lot of rebuilding to do, either resigned these 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.800 guys or that's a lot of work to do in 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:08.000 free agency or the draft in one year. But I'll 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.560 guarantee you the expectations out there are going to be 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.119 at least what I said, at least get to the 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:18.480 championship game, win a divisional game, potentially win the division 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:22.840 would be a great start to win the division. If 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:24.600 we don't win the division, we're going to be upset. 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:28.359 One quick stat. Out of the eight previous Dallas Cowboys 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.840 head coaches, fifty percent of them have had a winning 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.520 record in their first season as a head coach. Fifty percent, 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.760 So four of eight, yeah, or winning records. Switzer was handed, 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.800 he was handed a magnificent team. There's different situations back 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.119 and forth. So and Parcels did maybe the best coaching 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:49.000 job of anybody to get that team to tenants six 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:54.120 and into the playoffs with Quincy Carter as the quarterback. 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:57.919 Pretty impressive, Pretty impressive. But I have to say on 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:00.560 the defensive side, and I went back looked at Dick 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:04.280 Nolan's record as well, and the type of personnel that 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:09.560 he has. Linebackers seemed to be the that's the basis 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.280 of his defense. That's where strength he seems top from 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.520 his strength. Unless we changed the philosophy here defensively from 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:19.680 the linebacker position, I don't know if that's gonna fit 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.360 with him. I thought we had I was way too 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.760 far back. They were very vulnerable at all times, we 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.960 thought that maybe our speed that we had was going 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:31.760 to negate. It was going to give us the ability 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.720 to have good direction and good running start to the ball. 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.960 That did not happen this year. Maybe the change of 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.119 thought process of our linebackers will allow us to be 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:46.080 as effective as the linebackers that Mike Nolan has had 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:48.680 in the past. Except for the Saints, and I said 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:52.639 this earlier in the offseason, except for the success that 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.720 he had with the Saints from there as a linebacker coach, 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.320 I didn't see much of him having much success defensively 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:04.080 as a d C. And that bothers me. Now you know, 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.320 he was dealing with just some certain players that maybe 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.320 he inherited. I'm not sure how that went. But if 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:12.880 he's gonna put the stamp on this, he better get 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:15.440 his own players and don't come in here saying well, 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:17.320 I had to play the cards that would dealp me. No, 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.600 we need to get our own players, and I think 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:22.920 I think he's going to have to bring some guys 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:25.879 in that's going to really fit the culture of what 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:28.160 he's trying to do. He's gonna have to. I don't 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:32.159 think he has it here. And I'm sorry to say that, 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:34.480 but I don't think they're here right now. Well, the 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:37.719 positive thing and the encouraging thing about the Dallas Cowboys 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:39.600 is that they're not the only team that has a 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:41.800 ton of question marks going into the off season. There's 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:45.360 three other teams, specifically in the division in the NFC 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:48.440 seas that have a ton of off season question marks. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:50.680 We're gonna address those question marks after we take a 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:53.600 quick break. You're listening to Talking Cowboys from that s 0:21:53.760 --> 0:22:03.879 WBC Mortgage studios. Here at the start, I'm Jay Novachik, 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:07.000 former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day. 0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:09.240 I was the guy who always got the tough yards 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:12.480 and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:14.800 I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.720 tractor that can handle any yardwork I need to do, 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:20.480