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Sherrington: Rod Marinelli's stock is rising to Barry Switzer levels in the eyes of Jerry Jones
Kevin Sherrington
Published: 18 March 2014 12:04 AM
Updated: 18 March 2014 09:21 AM
If you’re under the impression Jerry Jones hears nothing but the steam turbines of his ego at full tilt, you should know he listens a lot. It’s when he stops listening and does something that problems generally start.
Jerry has a tendency — like Tom Hicks did in his years with the Rangers and Stars — to go with the last person he hears. Even when it works out, it’s not exactly a sound business model.
What it usually means is more reversals of field than an entire season of Johnny Football.
All any Cowboys fan can hope for outside a coup is that Jerry listens to someone in-house who knows what he’s talking about.
Good news: Rod Marinelli appears to be growing in influence.
Before Jerry made the bold decision to part ways with DeMarcus Ware, you better believe Marinelli gave his blessing. Same with Jason Hatcher. The Cowboys’ vital pursuit of his former pupil, Henry Melton, carries Marinelli’s stamp, too.
A coach in Jerry’s world hasn’t risen so far, so fast since Barry Switzer got up off his couch.
Marinelli went to work at Valley Ranch last year as the defensive line coach, a job description not unlike a guy being handed a mop and a pail on the Titanic. He was missing three starters almost immediately, and it got worse from there. He ended up using 20 different linemen. Most organizations don’t spend more than 30 players on their entire defense in a season. Marinelli took on more volunteers than the Continental Army and lived to tell about it.
He turned Hatcher from a nice defensive lineman into a guy good enough to get a $27.5 million deal from the Redskins.
On Twitter, Hatcher recently confessed his debt to his former position coach.
Or as Hatcher described him, “my father figure, my mentor.”
And Marinelli only coached him one season. If it’d been two, he’d have had to adopt him.
Don’t think this mission work goes unnoticed by Jerry. A draft record like his requires a coach to pick him up occasionally, if not annually. You may have noticed they don’t all work out like Dez Bryant.
Jerry was so impressed by Marinelli’s first year that he wouldn’t let him go to Tampa Bay when the Bucs came calling. He gave Monte Kiffin a trumped-up title of assistant head coach and elevated Marinelli to defensive coordinator.
If he’s half as good putting together an entire defense from genuine NFL parts as he was assembling a defensive line from spares, the improvement should be fairly obvious.
And if he has any sway over Melton signing with the Cowboys?
Marinelli’s stock soars right through the top of JerryWorld.
Even coming off a knee injury, Melton might be the best defensive tackle available. He’s also just 27. This is precisely the direction the Cowboys’ defense needs to go.
Last year, they didn’t draft a single defensive lineman because they considered the line a strong point. Unfortunately, it was also one of the team’s oldest departments. Even if it hadn’t all gone bad at once, the youngest starter would have been Anthony Spencer, at 29. Any team that counts on a unit so old flirts with danger. Jerry Glanville didn’t get much right as a head coach, but when he said NFL stands for “not for long,” he was practically Lombardi.
No matter what Ware does this year, the Cowboys made the right decision letting him go. They need a wider range of help on defense than any 32-year-old defensive end can offer, even if he somehow regains his prime. A team on the cusp, like Denver, can afford to take a chance on a comeback. A mediocre team like Dallas can’t.
For the same reason, it doesn’t make much sense to target Jared Allen. He’ll also be 32 this season, and he’ll want the same deal Ware got with the Broncos.
Of course, a risk comes with any free agent. The Cowboys haven’t made a big signing that paid off the same since the Super Bowl days. If they could sign Melton and keep Spencer, though, they can still salvage this off-season. Use the first pick on a tackle such as Pitt’s Aaron Donald or Florida State’s Timmy Jernigan, and they might actually have the nucleus of something big on defense.
Anyway, it hinges on the Cowboys’ ability to get Melton under contract. Other than a big pile of money, the key appears to be Marinelli. If he’s as good at recruiting as he is coaching, no telling where this leads. Jason Garrett may not be looking over his shoulder, but Jerry’s boys probably should.
Kevin Sherrington
Published: 18 March 2014 12:04 AM
Updated: 18 March 2014 09:21 AM
If you’re under the impression Jerry Jones hears nothing but the steam turbines of his ego at full tilt, you should know he listens a lot. It’s when he stops listening and does something that problems generally start.
Jerry has a tendency — like Tom Hicks did in his years with the Rangers and Stars — to go with the last person he hears. Even when it works out, it’s not exactly a sound business model.
What it usually means is more reversals of field than an entire season of Johnny Football.
All any Cowboys fan can hope for outside a coup is that Jerry listens to someone in-house who knows what he’s talking about.
Good news: Rod Marinelli appears to be growing in influence.
Before Jerry made the bold decision to part ways with DeMarcus Ware, you better believe Marinelli gave his blessing. Same with Jason Hatcher. The Cowboys’ vital pursuit of his former pupil, Henry Melton, carries Marinelli’s stamp, too.
A coach in Jerry’s world hasn’t risen so far, so fast since Barry Switzer got up off his couch.
Marinelli went to work at Valley Ranch last year as the defensive line coach, a job description not unlike a guy being handed a mop and a pail on the Titanic. He was missing three starters almost immediately, and it got worse from there. He ended up using 20 different linemen. Most organizations don’t spend more than 30 players on their entire defense in a season. Marinelli took on more volunteers than the Continental Army and lived to tell about it.
He turned Hatcher from a nice defensive lineman into a guy good enough to get a $27.5 million deal from the Redskins.
On Twitter, Hatcher recently confessed his debt to his former position coach.
Or as Hatcher described him, “my father figure, my mentor.”
And Marinelli only coached him one season. If it’d been two, he’d have had to adopt him.
Don’t think this mission work goes unnoticed by Jerry. A draft record like his requires a coach to pick him up occasionally, if not annually. You may have noticed they don’t all work out like Dez Bryant.
Jerry was so impressed by Marinelli’s first year that he wouldn’t let him go to Tampa Bay when the Bucs came calling. He gave Monte Kiffin a trumped-up title of assistant head coach and elevated Marinelli to defensive coordinator.
If he’s half as good putting together an entire defense from genuine NFL parts as he was assembling a defensive line from spares, the improvement should be fairly obvious.
And if he has any sway over Melton signing with the Cowboys?
Marinelli’s stock soars right through the top of JerryWorld.
Even coming off a knee injury, Melton might be the best defensive tackle available. He’s also just 27. This is precisely the direction the Cowboys’ defense needs to go.
Last year, they didn’t draft a single defensive lineman because they considered the line a strong point. Unfortunately, it was also one of the team’s oldest departments. Even if it hadn’t all gone bad at once, the youngest starter would have been Anthony Spencer, at 29. Any team that counts on a unit so old flirts with danger. Jerry Glanville didn’t get much right as a head coach, but when he said NFL stands for “not for long,” he was practically Lombardi.
No matter what Ware does this year, the Cowboys made the right decision letting him go. They need a wider range of help on defense than any 32-year-old defensive end can offer, even if he somehow regains his prime. A team on the cusp, like Denver, can afford to take a chance on a comeback. A mediocre team like Dallas can’t.
For the same reason, it doesn’t make much sense to target Jared Allen. He’ll also be 32 this season, and he’ll want the same deal Ware got with the Broncos.
Of course, a risk comes with any free agent. The Cowboys haven’t made a big signing that paid off the same since the Super Bowl days. If they could sign Melton and keep Spencer, though, they can still salvage this off-season. Use the first pick on a tackle such as Pitt’s Aaron Donald or Florida State’s Timmy Jernigan, and they might actually have the nucleus of something big on defense.
Anyway, it hinges on the Cowboys’ ability to get Melton under contract. Other than a big pile of money, the key appears to be Marinelli. If he’s as good at recruiting as he is coaching, no telling where this leads. Jason Garrett may not be looking over his shoulder, but Jerry’s boys probably should.
