1. JJT reached out to four sources with the team and asked about Rod Marinelli, or specifically, did he have "too much juice" within the organization? Says that the scouting department has tried to over rule his philosophy several times by getting bigger with run stuffers on the interior DL, but Rod was set in his ways and would rather have run stuffing pass rushers (i.e. another Warren Sapp). JJT mentioned that Rod had a lot of clout and respect within the building because of his tenured coaching career and experience (like that 0-16 Lions season
), but stated that the real problem the FO had with him was that he fell in and out of love with players. He was quick to fall in love with guys like Trysten Hill and Taco Charlton, but once you get in Rod's dog house, you never get out of it. "Rod will love you one minute, and hate you forever." In other words, he would be enamored with them in April, but by October, he'd be finished with them. In my opinion, that is
not a good leader.
2. The more and more we learn about Marinelli's personality, the more we more or less understand what went wrong with Taco. He found himself in the dog house with Hot Rod, and could never get out of it. Nothing Taco did was ever good enough. To me, this really brings into focus that picture he tweeted a few years ago of John Thompson and Allen Iverson. I believe the caption was "every athlete needs a coach that believes in them." In summation, Rod's personality negatively affected the development of two DL that we invested premium draft capital in. JJT doesn't think this current regime will ever give any coach that much "juice" again and will instead lean on the people that they pay to scout.
3. Trysten Hill is reportedly a weird guy. Not weird like Amari. Amari is just quiet. Amari likes hanging with his nieces and nephews, he likes boutique shopping, he likes playing chess, and a few other things. Trysten Hill, by all accounts, is a loner. JJT mentions that being that type of person can work for you in sports like baseball and basketball because there is a lot of emphasis on individual play. In football, where it's team oriented from the top to the bottom, it can create some issues for you, and it certainly can affect the way your teammates view you.
4. JJT mentioned a conversation he had with Will McClay. Most of what he mentioned was just him rambling and trying to sneak in a few one liners, but one thing that did stand out to me was when he asked Will if he's ever "fallen in love" at the combine. He mentioned that McClay always values the tape over the measurables. When they assign grades to players, they look for the measurables that match the tape. Not really compelling, Earth-shattering information, but again, it's what was discussed.
footwork
Didn't y'all thought last offseason that the Cowboys should've traded Collins instead of resigning him?
