Giantone
09-10-2009, 07:16 AM
12:23 PM By Bob Glauber
The former Cowboys' running back doesn't think much of his old team, citing a lack of discipline and focus as the key ingredients to what could be another season of disappointment.
In an interview with Sirius NFL Radio's Adam Schein and Rich Gannon (the former NFL QB), Smith said head coach Wade Phillips just doesn't have that sense of discipline that a coach must have. Smith, who won three Super Bowls during his run in Dallas, cited the leadership of coaches like Tom Coughlin of the Giants and Bill Belchick of the Patriots as examples to emulate.
A coach must 'instill discipline from Day 1," Smith said. "They don't come in trying to make friends. Matter of fact, they created a bunch of enemies and then made the enemies get on their terms, and then they moved forward. And that's one thing I believe the Dallas Cowboys can use.”
Smith also had a message for quarterback Tony Romo: Demand excellence from your teammates.
"I never saw (Romo) go snatch somebody up, and say, ‘Hey, we can't win like this. We can't have guys jumping offsides. I can't have (a defender) coming at me unabated. Who is making the mistakes up front? Why aren't you picking this guy up? This is not going down this way. If you can't get your job done, get off the football field,'” Smith said.
Romo said during the off-season that he would be more active in terms of a leadership role, but Smith has his doubts.
"When you say things are going to change, and you've never been that dominant personality or in that leadership position then, as a player, you lose me,” Smith said. “I'm sitting there saying, ‘OK, now you're going to become a leader?' What happened (in previous playoff seasons) when we got knocked out both times?
“Now all of a sudden, you're going to change? And our talent level is less than it was two years ago (when the Cowboys made the playoffs as the NFC's No. 1 seed only to lose to the Giants). How much better can we be?”
The former Cowboys' running back doesn't think much of his old team, citing a lack of discipline and focus as the key ingredients to what could be another season of disappointment.
In an interview with Sirius NFL Radio's Adam Schein and Rich Gannon (the former NFL QB), Smith said head coach Wade Phillips just doesn't have that sense of discipline that a coach must have. Smith, who won three Super Bowls during his run in Dallas, cited the leadership of coaches like Tom Coughlin of the Giants and Bill Belchick of the Patriots as examples to emulate.
A coach must 'instill discipline from Day 1," Smith said. "They don't come in trying to make friends. Matter of fact, they created a bunch of enemies and then made the enemies get on their terms, and then they moved forward. And that's one thing I believe the Dallas Cowboys can use.”
Smith also had a message for quarterback Tony Romo: Demand excellence from your teammates.
"I never saw (Romo) go snatch somebody up, and say, ‘Hey, we can't win like this. We can't have guys jumping offsides. I can't have (a defender) coming at me unabated. Who is making the mistakes up front? Why aren't you picking this guy up? This is not going down this way. If you can't get your job done, get off the football field,'” Smith said.
Romo said during the off-season that he would be more active in terms of a leadership role, but Smith has his doubts.
"When you say things are going to change, and you've never been that dominant personality or in that leadership position then, as a player, you lose me,” Smith said. “I'm sitting there saying, ‘OK, now you're going to become a leader?' What happened (in previous playoff seasons) when we got knocked out both times?
“Now all of a sudden, you're going to change? And our talent level is less than it was two years ago (when the Cowboys made the playoffs as the NFC's No. 1 seed only to lose to the Giants). How much better can we be?”