McCarthy's Cowboys Making Changes in the Strength-and-Conditioning Program (And It's Just The Start)
FRISCO - In detailing the "Cowboys Staff Tracker'' starting a week ago we noted the fairly obvious coming dismissal of Dallas Cowboys strength-and-conditioning coach Mike Woicik thusly:
Director of Strength and Conditioning - Mike Woicik oversees a group that includes Brett Bech, Markus Paul and Kendall Smith. Woicik has a safe full of Super Bowl rings. But it's time to modernize here.
We would also add this: McCarthy (maybe teaming with Will McClay) would be doing the Joneses a favor by surveying the football ops and the practice sideline asking guys especially a former player or two not technically employed by the club), "What exactly is it you do here?''
We bet McCarthy also involves himself deeply in Cowboys analytics, something the Jones spend a fortune on but may have been under-utilized in the Jason Garrett Era.
Additionally, under grandfatherly Jerry, the Cowboys have a sort of open-door policy when it comes to former players coming and going. It's a lovely idea ... but what if said former player is a turd, a distraction or a leech?
If Mike McCarthy is really about "Fear, Accountability and Discipline'' ... turds, distractions and leeches should be minimized.
We took no pleasure in writing this ... and we took a lot of crap for writing this. But the view that some of what some of these Cowboys department do is "outmoded'' is the view of some of the actual players most involved in these programs.
On Monday night comes a more official confirmation of what was easy to forecast, with the report that Woicik will not be retained as the team’s director of strength and conditioning in Mike Woicik. As ESPN put it: “After spending the last nine years as Cowboys director of strength-and-conditioning in his second tour with the franchise, Woicik will not return on Mike McCarthy’s staff, according to sources. Woicik has six Super Bowl rings, three with the Cowboys and three with the New England Patriots.”
We take no glee in "being right'' here. But we are obliged to use this space again to suggest, with no disrespect intended, that under McCarthy's reign should be in place a "what exactly is it you do here?'' mode as well as a "what have you done lately here?'' mode. To a great degree that's what's just occurred ... and we believe it's just the beginning of behind-the-curtain change at The Star.
