Cowboys Corner

Rob Ryan to interview

With Paul Pasqualoni headed to Connecticut to be the head coach, the Cowboys are still looking for a defensive coordinator and the latest name to surface is Cleveland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Two sources indicate the Cowboys will interview him Friday for the position.

The Cowboys have also been linked with Steelers secondary coach Ray Horton but they cannot talk to him until the Steelers are eliminated from the playoffs.

It also appears that the two candidates the Cowboys have spoken to so far are taking other jobs. Greg Manusky interviewed with the Cowboys on Wednesday but went to San Diego on Thursday and is leaning towards taking the job with the Chargers.

Stanford assistant Vic Fangio is apparently going to follow Jim Harbaugh to coach the San Francisco 49ers 

-- Jan Hubbard

 

Cowboys could be back to square one on defensive coordinator search

Cowboys defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni's departure to become the coach at Connecticut puts the Cowboys back at square one in their search for the defensive coordinator.

The two other known candidates that they interviewed _ Vic Fangio and Greg Manusky _ are considered front runners for the same position with other teams.

Fangio, the Stanford defensive coordinator, is expected to join former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh with the 49ers. He interviewed with the Cowboys on Monday.

 Manusky, the current 49ers coordinator, interviewed for the Chargers DC job Thursday _ one day after meeting with the Cowboys. It is believed that he would prefer a return to San Diego where he served as linebackers coach under then coordinator Wade Phillips before joining the 49ers in 2007.

Two possible candidates the Cowboys could turn to now are former Browns coach Eric Mangini and Browns defensive coordiantor Rob Ryan, who is not expected to be retained. Both have experience running the 3-4 defense. Mangini is a former coordinator with the Patriots.

Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Pasqualoni to Connecticut

Paul Pasqualoni made one decision easier for Jason Garrett. The new Dallas Cowboys head coach will no longer have to decide whether or not to retain Pasqualoni as defensive coordinator.

The University of Connecticut took care of that Thursday when they named Pasqualoni as their new head coach, according to the Boston Globe.

Pasqualoni took over for Wade Phillips when Phillips was fired at midseason and although the improvement in the most practical category – points allowed – was only slightly better, the defense played better.

Under Phillips, the Cowboys allowed 232 points in eight games and under Pasqualoni, they allowed 204 points. But they did make key stops as their second half record of 5-3 was far superior to the first half of 1-7. The other finalist was University of Miami assistant coach Mark Whipple.

In returning to college coaching, Pasqualoni will succeed Randy Edsall, who was hired by the University of Maryland.,

Pasqualoni is a native of Connecticut  and the Globe report indicated he was endorsed by the state high school coaches association. High School Coaches Association. Whipple, 53, was the former head coach at the University of New Haven.

Pasqualoni spent 14 years at Syracuse University, where he had a 107-59-1 record. His teams went to bowls in nine of those seasons. He has extensive experience in the Big East and takes over a Connecticut team that went to the Orange Bowl, where it lost to Oklahoma.

Pasqualoni will return to the area in the future. TCU joins the Big East in 2012.

The 61-year-old coach had two tenures with the Cowboys – the first for three years when he coached the linebackers and tight ends. He was hired last year after being fired by the Miami Dolphins and coached the defensive line before moving to coordinator.

The Cowboys have already interviewed Stanford assistant Vic Fangio and San Francisco 49ers assistant Greg Manusky for the coordinator position.

-- Jan Hubbard

Dan Campbell interviews for assistant OL position

Former Cowboys tight end Dan Campbell was in town Tuesday, interviewing to be the assistant offensive line coach for his former team. He would serve under Hudson Houck.

Campbell said he would be back in town in a few days to meet with Houck.

"I'll let him grill me a little bit and see if it's a fit," Campbell said in a phone interview.

Campbell was the Dolphins' assistant offensive line coach/coaching intern last season, his first as a coach. The Texas A&M product spent 11 seasons in the NFL, including 2003-05 with the Cowboys. He was a teammate of Jason Garrett's with the Giants from 2000-02.

"I've loved [coaching]," Campbell said. "It's my passion. When you can't play, you want to do the next-best thing, and that's coaching if you can. I've loved every bit of it, and I got great experience with coach [Tony] Sparano and those guys. It's been great."

The Cowboys also interviewed Alabama tight ends/special teams coach Bobby Williams on Tuesday. Williams, who was the head coach at Michigan State from 2000-02, was the running backs coach with the Dolphins when Garrett was the quarterbacks coach in 2005-06. Williams also has been a receivers coach.

The Cowboys could have a coaching vacancy at the tight end position as well as at receiver.

Tight ends coach John Garrett, whose contract expires in February, is interviewing with the Dolphins for their vacant offensive coordinator position. Garrett, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, is Jason Garrett's brother. He is one of several candidates expected to interview with Sparano, who was the Cowboys offensive line coach and assistant head coach in 2007 when John Garrett joined the staff in Dallas.

Receivers coach Ray Sherman, whose contract also expires at the end of the league year, will not return to the staff. Quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson and kicking coach Chris Boniol also have contracts that are expiring.

The Cowboys alsoare in search of a defensive coordinator. Stanford assistant coach Vic Fangio interviewed Monday, and 49ers defensive coordinator Greg Manusky will be in town today. Current Cowboys defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni, who served as interim defensive coordinator after Wade Phillips was fired, also is expected to be considered for the position.

Manusky interviewed for the Panthers' head coaching job. He is in Arizona today to discuss the Cardinals' defensive coordinator position and also could draw interest from the Chargers now that Ron Rivera is leaving for the Panthers.

Linebackers coach Reggie Herring also could be leaving the Cowboys. The Texans, who have named Phillips as their defensive coordinator, still are waiting for an answer from the Cowboys regarding Herring. They do not expect an answer to their request to interview Herring until the Cowboys name a defensive coordinator. The Cowboys' new defensive coordinator will have a say in Herring's future since Herring is under contract for next season.

-- Charean Williams

 

Deion, Haley on list of 15 Hall finalists

Deion Sanders was one of five first-year eligible candidates to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame's list of 15 modern-era finalists announced Sunday. Sanders, who played for the Cowboys from 1995-99, joined his former teammate, Charles Haley, among the finalists.

Haley is in his seventhyear of eligbility, having retired after a brief comeback with the 49ers during the 1999 season. He was a finalist last year for the first time but did not make the cut from 15 to 10.

Sanders, who played for the Falcons (1989-93), the 49ers ('94), the Redskins (2000) and the Ravens (2004-05) as well as the Cowboys, is expected to become Dallas' fifth player to be elected in five years. (If you count Sanders as a Cowboy....)

Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk, Curtis Martin and Willie Roaf are the other first-time eligible candidates to make the finalists list.

The 44-memeber selection committee will meet in downtown Dallas the day before the Super Bowl to elect the Class of 2011. The election results will be announced at 6 p.m.

Between four and seven new members will be selected. No more than five modern-era nominees can be elected in a given year. Eighty percent approval is required for election.

-- Charean Williams

 

Texans seek interview with Herring

The Texans have asked for permission to interview Cowboys linebackers coach Reggie Herring, but the Cowboys have not responded to their request yet, according to a source.

Wade Phillips was named the Texans defensive coordinator this week and also is expected to ask to speak with Cowboys safeties coach Brett Maxie.

Herring coached with the Texans in 2002-03. He was the linebackers coach under Dom Capers. He has been in Dallas since 2008.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Thursday the team has no timetable in deciding on its coaching staff, but he added that they would like to move "expediently."

"If for some reason it didn’t work out that they were going to be here, then we would want them to have every opportunity to further their careers," Stephen Jones said.

-- Charean Williams

Garrett promises more hitting in camp

When asked whether or not he like having dual camps like the Cowboys had last season, new head coach Jason Garrett said, “It’s not time to get into all that.” But one thing Garrett promised is that camp is going to be far different under him than Wade Phillips.

Some critics suggested that having camp in San Antonio and Oxnard, Calif., last year hurt the Cowboys because it was too much travel. Others watched as the Cowboys did hardly any hitting and allowed veterans to sit out many of the two-a-days and thought the camp – no matter how long – was so easy that the Cowboys were not prepared for the season.

When Garrett took over eight games into the season, he had players wear pads and do more hitting on Wednesdays. Phillips was concerned that players might get injured and didn’t want that to happen in practice.

But Garrett feels differently. When asked if he is going to continue making practices and camp more physical, Garrett said: “Absolutely. It’s a physical game. You have to practice being physical in order to be physical on Sunday afternoons. So we’ll practice that way and continue to do that.”

Jerry Jones has said nothing about training camp this season, but the Cowboys are under contract to return to San Antonio in 2011. They have no contract with Oxnard, but obviously, that could change.

-- Jan Hubbard

 

Cowboys have five starters who become free agents in February

The Cowboys have 16 players whose contracts are up after the 2010 season. That includes five starters – left tackle Doug Free, left guard Kyle Kosier, defensive end Marcus Spears, safety Alan Ball and safety Gerald Sensabaugh.

They have until the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement on March 3 to re-sign or extend their own players. They also will have almost a month – after the Super Bowl until March 3 – to waive players. There will be no free agency until a deal on a new CBA is reached.

“[This off-season] will be different, no question,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “Hopefully we’ll be good at that, be able to play option quarterback and do the things that we need to do based on what’s in place.”

The Cowboys are conducting their player evaluations now. Owner Jerry Jones said in a typical year a third of the roster is overturned.

“We will have personnel changes,” Jerry Jones said. “There’s no doubt in my mind about it.”

 -- Charean Williams

 

Garrett not worried about power struggle

For anyone wondering whether Jerry Jones is going to hire Jason Garrett’s staff or force Garrett to have certain players on the roster, Jones spent a lot of time trying to allay those thoughts, or fears, Thursday.

“Jason will have the final say on any person that leaves the coaching staff or comes to the coaching staff,” Jones said. “There won’t be a player on this team that Jason does not want on the team.”

Jones, however, would not say whether control of the coaching staff and personnel was part of Garrett’s four-year contract, but he did say: “I’m just saying, just succinctly, that’s the way we’re going to operate. I think we’ve probably had potential criticism in the past, or maybe even some ambiguity in that area. Are we clear with that, what I just said?”

Garrett seemed unconcerned with the issue.

“I do not want sole decision-making power over everything,” Garrett said. “There’s a reason you have staffs. There’s a reason you have personnel departments. You communicate, you talk, you have people you can trust and you rely on to have back and forth on a variety of topics and you come to conclusions together.”

Garrett is expected to have several openings on the defensive staff. Linebackers coach Reggie Herring and defensive backs coach Brett Maxie are expected to go to Houston, where Wade Phillips has resurfaced as defensive coordinator. Both coaches are under contract, however, and would have to get permission to talk to the Texans.

Four other assistants have contracts that have expired and it will be up to Garrett on whether or not they are renewed. When asked when he hoped to have his staff completed, Garrett said, “No timetable for that. Obviously you want to act as quickly as you can so you can go forward on the 2011 season.”

But as far as cleaning house, especially on the defensive side, Garrett said: “We don’t believe in change for change sake. A lot of people want to come in and say ‘we’re going to make some changes.’ We’re going to make the changes we think are the right changes to make.”

-- Jan Hubbard

Garrett to keep OC title

Jason Garrett has a new title, but he’s not losing his old one. He will remain the team’s offensive coordinator.

In Garrett’s four years as the team’s coordinator, the Cowboys have averaged 24.6 points and 368.5 yards per game.

“Since he’s been here, I think his work kind of speaks for itself,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “He’s helped bring Tony [Romo] along, and we’ve been very successful on the offensive side of the ball with him calling plays.”

Wade Phillips served as the defensive coordinator from the middle of the 2008 season until his departure midway through this season.

-- Charean Williams