Jimmy Johnson: ". . talent, more than coaching"

[Marcus]

Jimmy Johnson's thoughts on the Houston Texans

Jimmy Johnson was on a Fox Sports conference call this week to talk about the NFL at the midpoint of the season, so I had to ask him about all your e-mails suggesting that he return to Southeast Texas as the Texans' coach and general manager.

Johnson chuckled, then said, "I enjoy what I'm doing with Fox NFL Sunday."

Howie Long, however, cut directly to the chase.

"Don't all coaches say that, though?" Long said. "They all say 'You know what, I'm perfectly happy and would like to focus on that.' "

Johnson then tried to shift the focus back to the Texans' on-field struggles, but Long wasn't having it.

"I would think that $8 million to $10 million (in annual salary) would work," Long said. "You're getting your general manager, your capologist and getting arguably one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game."

"You guys are killing me," the former Cowboys coach replied.

In the time he was able, briefly, to switch the focus off himself and back to the Texans, Johnson took another indirect swipe at general manager Charley Casserly.

"When a team hasn't developed over a period of time, the initial reaction is that they're not getting coached well," he said. "But 90 percent of the time, they don't have enough talent.

"Some of the moves that have been made talent-wise, starting off the bat with (offensive tackle Tony Boselli) have backfired with some of the free-agent moves and big-money contracts. I would point at talent more than the coaching."

[keyfro]

man that would be awesome if we could get jimmy in here for 8-10 million...let's do it mcnair...but he does have a point some of our talent hasn't developed like we would like...and some of our FA's have done nothing to earn their big pay

[Hervoyel]

I hate being teased. Hey if I owned the Texans I'd pay JJ a million just to come in and do a one time "audit" of the team and offer suggestions. Getting him to be our coach and GM would be like a dream come true.

[Texans Horror]

But as we who have watched this season know, there is something to be said for the coaching being ineffective, too. I'm not trying to take the blame off Casserly, but I think Capers, and moreso Pendry, are just as much to blame.

[brickmantexanfan]

I really don't think Johnson is going to be our next head coach,i am guessing that if this is to take place after this season it will probably be Mike Martz.I know he doesn't seem like the brightest candidate,but with the Recievers we have in A.J. and the speed that Mathis brings to the game it seems to me that it can be his style of offense.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by Marcus

"Some of the moves that have been made talent-wise, starting off the bat with (offensive tackle Tony Boselli) have backfired with some of the free-agent moves and big-money contracts. I would point at talent more than the coaching."

I respect Jimmy Johnson, but this statement is born out of pure ignorance.

We took Boselli as part of a deal to help Jacksonville with salary cap problems.

We got Seth Payne and Gary Walker out of the deal. If we hadn't taken Boselli, the Jaguars would have removed either Payne or Walker (whoever we hadn't chosen) from the expansion draft before we could pick them.

These JJ quotes are PC analyst stuff, light-weight comments. I wouldn't expect him to rip into a fellow coach, especially a niiiiice guy like Capers.

But the reality is that Capers is as much responsible for picking talent as Casserly (if not more, he is the HEAD COACH).

You can't separate the two. The 2005 Texans, at 1-7, are the Team That Capers / Casserly Built. Talent or no talent, they made this team what it is today. Period.

[Reddevil63]

Howie is going to be his D-Coordinator

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by brickmantexanfan

I really don't think Johnson is going to be our next head coach,i am guessing that if this is to take place after this season it will probably be Mike Martz.I know he doesn't seem like the brightest candidate,but with the Recievers we have in A.J. and the speed that Mathis brings to the game it seems to me that it can be his style of offense.

There is no way Martz is leaving St. Louis unless he has significant health issues, and I highly doubt we'd make him an offer if that's the case.

[Reddevil63]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

There is no way Martz is leaving St. Louis unless he has significant health issues, and I highly doubt we'd make him an offer if that's the case.

Martz days in St. Louis were numbered before he had the heart issue.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

There is no way Martz is leaving St. Louis unless he has significant health issues, and I highly doubt we'd make him an offer if that's the case.

Well, he has significant health issues and he doesn't get along with his front office....and the rumors are he is done there. That said, I don't think he is our coach of the future. He took a Super Bowl Vermeil team and ran less and less each year becoming a worse and worse NFL team in the process.

[Kaiser Toro]

If JJ comes back as GM or HC, which I do not think, expect to see Butch Davis' name mentioned as either a HC or DC at the chagrin of Razorback fans.

[5genTexan]

If some how, some way, Martz ever became our head coach, I will OFFICIALLY put my season tickets and PSLs in the paper for sale...not that anyone would buy them. That would prove to me that a good decision is not within reach of our owner. Capers was the first straw. I hope there isn't a second.

[Lucky]

Because of their old Boys vs.Skins rivalry, Jimmy has no problem throwing Casserly under the bus. Dom & Jimmy are members of the coaching fraternity, and they take care of their own.

$8-$10 million? Howie Long would be a tougher agent to negotiate with than Rosenhaus & the Postons combined.

[SicilianJag]

"We took Boselli as part of a deal to help Jacksonville with salary cap problems.

We got Seth Payne and Gary Walker out of the deal. If we hadn't taken Boselli, the Jaguars would have removed either Payne or Walker (whoever we hadn't chosen) from the expansion draft before we could pick them."

Out of pure curiosity, was this ever acknowledged by either front office? I know these rumors have been out there forever, and it makes a certain amount of sense, but it still seems a bit strange for division rivals to cooperate like that.

I know I was upset to see Walker leave our roster, and this would make it a little more understandable for me.

Throw a 60 foot Hatteras and a boat slip into your offer and you just might get Jimmy to leave his place in the Florida Keys.

[nunusguy]

Case in point: Barry Switzer "coached" the Cowboys to a SB victory.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by SicilianJag

Out of pure curiosity, was this ever acknowledged by either front office? I know these rumors have been out there forever, and it makes a certain amount of sense, but it still seems a bit strange for division rivals to cooperate like that.

I know I was upset to see Walker leave our roster, and this would make it a little more understandable for me.

From Football Digest, Oct, 2002:

For the Jaguars, the expansion draft served as a get-out-of-salary-cap-jail-free card. The salaries of players taken in the expansion draft are wiped from the books of the teams that lose them. By allowing Houston to select Boselli, Payne, and Walker, the Jaguars erased $17 million from their payroll. But that was the only positive to come out of it, especially concerning Boselli. The Jaguars had hoped he'd spend his entire career in Jacksonville, but they felt they had to let him go for the long-term good of the franchise.

"It was the most distasteful decision I've ever had to make with this franchise," Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver says. "Obviously, the last player I'd want to put [on the expansion list] is Tony Boselli. But he gave us the best chance of trying to solve the salary cap problem."

And from SportingNews.com - July 27, 2003

But this is what a lot of people don't know: The Texans cut a deal with the Jaguars before the draft, promising to take Boselli only if the Jaguars left defensive linemen Gary Walker and Seth Payne exposed. In essence, Boselli was a “throw-in” the Texans had to take in order to get Walker, who has played in the last two Pro Bowls, and Payne. . . .

Still looking for something "official" from either front office to confirm the second story, but it seems pretty reasonable if lot of analysts mention the deal in stories.


****edit: Following added:

from Big on Sports:

Jacksonville, which entered the expansion draft more than $27 million over the $71.8 million salary cap, realized nearly $15 million in cap relief thanks to Houston's selections of Boselli ($6,883,332 cap figure for '02) and starting defensive tackles Gary Walker ($5,250,000) and Seth Payne ($2,775,000). While it will be nearly impossible for Jacksonville's Tom Coughlin to replace the caliber of these three players, he was able to reduce his cap deficit to a more manageable $12 million.

"We certainly didn't want to lose Tony Boselli or our two starting defensive tackles," said Coughlin. "But this was a chance to get ourselves out of a hole."

*****edit 1.2 - added:

from sportsillustrated.com - Friday July 18, 2003

The Texans took Boselli in the 2002 expansion draft in an agreement between the two teams that allowed Houston to take defensive linemen Seth Payne and Gary Walker.

<snip>

Texans general manager Charley Casserly said he believes the deal ultimately will benefit the team despite the $6 million salary cap hit the franchise must endure this season.

"In order to get those two [Payne and Walker] you had to take the risk on Boselli. That was the deal," Casserly said.

So there you have it. It was a deal officially confirmed by the Texans GM.

[bckey]

I still think the whole Boselli thing was a bunch of bull. The Jag were in cap hell and couldn't have kept these players anyway. No deal needed to be cut. Pass on Boselli and I'll bet Walker and Payne would still have been made available.

[SicilianJag]

Thanks. That's more than enough justification for your comments.

I also can't argue with any of bckey's comments. The deal did help us get out of cap hell much more quickly than we could've dreamed, though we hated losing all 3 of those guys. And there's little doubt we would have been required to cut some big name players at the end of that year, but I don't know whom that would've been.

I don't believe either front office knew that Boselli was done at that time. I think they both just knew it was a gamble.

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Case in point: Barry Switzer "coached" the Cowboys to a SB victory.

In Barry Switzers defense he did at least know enough to not tinker with what worked. Think about that for a moment. Martz can't even say that.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Case in point: Barry Switzer "coached" the Cowboys to a SB victory.

That Cowboy's team had an awesome amount of inertia. They were pretty darn good.