[WAREWOLFE94]

Feb 01, 2007


The news in Chicago on Thursday was that defensive coordinator Ron Rivera might have a shot at becoming the next Dallas head coach and that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is waiting to interview him after Sunday’s Super Bowl.

But how about Rivera coming to Dallas as defensive coordinator?

Rivera’s contract is up at the end of the month and he knows two things: the Bears are more interested in taking care of head coach Lovie Smith’s contract and, two) he may have a better shot at being a head coach by getting away from Smith, who is considered the defensive coach of the Bears not him.
Yes, that last remark is unfair to Rivera, but in the NFL perception is often more valuable than reality to an owner looking to hire a new head coach.

The best example of this is Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. Tomlin was a one-year coordinator in Minnesota but even Dan Rooney knew that Tomlin was running that show because Vikings head coach Brad Childress was also calling the offensive plays. Tomlin was virtually his own boss. In Chicago, such lines of credit for the defense are blurred because Smith was such a great defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach.

If I’m right, Rivera would be the perfect pairing with San Francisco offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Turner and Jason Garrett could fix the Dallas offense while Rivera would be in total control of the Cowboys’ defense. Rivera would be in the spotlight and there isn’t a bigger one than in Texas.

Also, Rivera earns only $500,000 in Chicago and you can bet Jones wouldn’t hesitate to double his salary. He was paying Mike Zimmer and Sean Payton that much to be assistants under Bill Parcells. Even if the Bears matched a big offer, Rivera would be better off in Dallas because they have plenty of holes to fill and correct on defense. If he fixed them, it would help his career.

What is known about the vacant Dallas job is that Turner is still very much alive and that he hasn’t made any personnel demands with Jones. He still wants the job.

Turner, Rivera and Garrett would be a pretty strong package for Jones to pass up. It looks like the perfect trio.

fox.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

That is a strong trio...I think Big D has enough appeal to for these guys to jump at the chance....

[EmpireWF]

He has certainly been a rising candidate for a head coaching position in recent years. It should be interesting to see if he ends up getting the Cowboys job. I know many people think he'll be a fine coach.