shits and giggles

[hlb37]

this was in one of the Dallas locals earlier in the week

 

 

Rick Gosselin

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Jerry Jones was reluctant to make a coaching change at mid-season. But public pressure demanded it in his dismissal of Wade Phillips this week. Jones knew the numbers – and the numbers do not favor interim coaches.

 

Here are those numbers and why Jones was so reluctant to abandon Phillips at mid-season:

 

There have been 72 in-season coaching changes in the game's modern era (since 1960). Only 13 of those 72 interim coaches managed to win more games than they lost, and three others broke even. In the other 56 cases, the interim coach inherited a losing team – and that team kept right on losing.

 

Only six times has a team finished the season with a winning record under an interim coach – and in half of those situations, the interim coach inherited a team with a winning record.

 

• Most recently, Gary Moeller inherited a 5-4 Detroit team from Bobby Ross in 2000. Moeller posted a 4-3 record the rest of the way and the Lions finished 9-7.

 

 

MICHAEL AINSWORTH / DMN

Jason Garrett faces an uphill battle as the interim coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

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• Raymond Berry also inherited a 5-4 New England team from Ron Meyer in 1984 and coached the Patriots to a 4-3 mark the rest of the way for a 9-7 finish.

 

• Chuck Fairbanks walked out on the 11-4 Patriots with a game left in the 1978 season. Co-interim coaches Ron Erhardt and Hank Bullough lost the finale, leaving New England 11-5.

 

The two most successful interim coaches were also the first two interim coaches, way back in 1961. Wally Lemm inherited a 1-3-1 Houston team and Mike Holovak inherited a 2-3 Boston team. Lemm went 9-0 the rest of the way, steering the Oilers to an AFL championship. Holovak went 7-1-1 the rest of the way to finish 9-4-1, a game back of the Oilers in the AFL's Eastern Division.

 

There was one interim change in 2009. Perry Fewell inherited a 3-7 Buffalo team and took the Bills 3-4 the rest of the way for a 6-10 finish. Fewell is now the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.

 

But there is hope for Cowboys interim coach Jason Garrett. Marty Schottenheimer and Jeff Fisher both received their coaching starts with in-season promotions as interims.

 

The Browns promoted Schottenheimer after a 1-7 start under Sam Rutigliano in 1984. Schottenheimer posted a 4-4 record the rest of the way to earn the chance to coach the Browns on a full-time basis.

 

Schottenheimer took Cleveland to a pair of AFC title games in the 1980s and went on to become the sixth winningest coach in NFL history with 200 career victories.

 

Fisher inherited a 1-9 Houston team from Jack Pardee in 1994 and managed just a 1-5 mark the rest of the way. Bud Adams gave Fisher the position on a full-time basis, though, and inside of five seasons he was coaching in the Super Bowl. Fisher is now the longest-tenured coach in the NFL at 17 consecutive seasons and ranks 19th on the all-time victory list with 141.

 

There's a perception that a coaching change can trigger a one-game jolt for a team – that a coaching change will suddenly inspire the Cowboys to greater heights. That would mean an upset of the New York Giants on Sunday. Don't count on it. Interim coaches are only 20-51-1 in their debut games.

[Virginia Giant]

This game still scares me. It's still the Cowboys, they could play hard for a new HC, who has been there a while and been sucessfull. And Steve Smith is out. I can easily see us losing this game.

 

 

We'll either win by 24 or lose by 7.

[JayD]

This game still scares me. It's still the Cowboys, they could play hard for a new HC, who has been there a while and been sucessfull. And Steve Smith is out. I can easily see us losing this game.

 

 

We'll either win by 24 or lose by 7.

 

 

 

 

Fear not VG, neither be affraid. Big defense, at home. No way they beat us. I wouldnt be surprised if they are playing thier 3rd string QB by half time.

[JayD]

Of course you hate to see Smith down for any length of time, but I see manningham stepping up big this game.

[Nas]

This game still scares me. It's still the Cowboys, they could play hard for a new HC, who has been there a while and been sucessfull. And Steve Smith is out. I can easily see us losing this game.

 

 

We'll either win by 24 or lose by 7.

 

You know what.. I'm looking forward to this game. I'm tired of our team playing great the first half of the season only to see our hopes get crushed in the 2nd half... in another thread some of us talked about how we really haven't played anyone yet... (we lost to the colts)... so here's our season.. it starts here. this is our chance to see what our team is made of... and why not. We got the eagles twice still.

[BleedinBlue]

I think the numbers kind of show that when things are bad on a team, it tends to be that the whole team is bad and the coaches don't make too much of a difference. There's only a few players on the cowboys I can respect (DeMarcus Ware, Miles Austin, and Jason Witten) and after that, there's a whole lot ofmediocre players playing below expectations.

 

Seeing that every team consists of professional players and footballs tend to bounce in funny directions, any team can beat any other team on any given day in the NFL. As long as the Giants bring their "A" game, they will (should) annihilate the boys.

 

Isn't it great to watch cowboy fans suffer?

[BronxRik]

This game still scares me. It's still the Cowboys, they could play hard for a new HC, who has been there a while and been sucessfull. And Steve Smith is out. I can easily see us losing this game.

 

 

We'll either win by 24 or lose by 7.

 

I'm with you on this one VG. With or without Wade-0 it's still the 'Boys and anything can happen. They've still got talent, and this will be no cake walk. I hope our D shows up to play. Go Gmen.