JAMES JORDAN
SAN ANTONIO, TX
What is the identity of this team? You demote Monte Kiffin but keep him on the payroll, you bring in Scott Linehan as the passing game coordinator but keep Bill Callahan as the OC/Line coach? Who are the Cowboys? What is their identity?
Rowan:I don't have a firm answer to that, although I'd have to assume at least offensively we'll see a similar style with an affinity for passing. It's hard to know what precisely everyone's role will be with the lack of clarity and seemingly nebulous, ambiguous roles and titles. We'll have to reserve judgment on any "identity" questions until we see it actually come together.
David: All of the confusing staff movement and job titles aside, I don't think you're going to see a drastic amount of change. Jason Garrett has worked with Linehan before. Linehan likes to throw the ball, as evidenced by Detroit's gaudy passing totals during his tenure. They also ran the ball better than Dallas last year, with Reggie Bush going for 1,006 yards and Joique Bell adding another 650. I'm not worried about the gameplan, so to speak, but I am worried about how this bizarre blueprint of a coaching staff implements it.
STEVE PROPER
PITTSBURGH , PA
Why won't they just let Bill Callahan go? We don't need this type of drama with the coaching staff. They are supposed to be a tight unit, and now all we have is guys that don't want to be here and losing job titles.
Rowan:I don't blame you at all for that opinion. I think they should have let him take the interviews elsewhere as an offensive coordinator and don't know [embedded_ad] what they stand to gain by keeping him on if he wanted to look elsewhere after what appears to be a demotion. I agree with the decisions to make some changes on both sides of the ball, but I was surprised to see them keep so many people in the process.
David: It's odd – that's the only word I can come up with to describe it. It's not unusual to see a team make a change if the results of the last season were unsatisfying, but it is pretty strange to see a team both make changes, and at the same time keep the coaches who produced those results. But players in the NFL frequently say that it's a business first, and the same goes for the coaches. Hopefully professionalism and a desire to succeed win out over what looks like a bizarre situation.
