Teams turn to young coaches for new energy

	Jason Garrett, seen here working with Joey Harrington, was the Dolphins quarterbacks coach last season. Thomas Croke/WireImage
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Myron Cope, the great Pittsburgh writer and voice of the Steelers, used to collect tidbits for his Pittsburgh radio talk show. "Shirtpocket notes,'' he'd call them. When someone told him a good nugget for his show, he'd pull an index card out of his pocket, write it down, and there you have it -- Cope would have a show.

In honor of Cope, who's in retirement in Pittsburgh and is one of my favorite football people of all time, here's a busy week of shirtpocket notes I collected:

ITEM: It's looking like Norv Turner's the leader in the clubhouse for the Dallas head coaching job.

I wrote this a few days ago, and it may come to fruition in the next couple of days: Turner coaching the Cowboys, with a pair of fresh faces coordinating each side of the ball -- Jason Garrett, 40, on offense, and Todd Bowles, 43, on defense. I also heard Sunday night there's a chance the Cowboys would bring Dave Campo back for another stint as defensive coordinator, but I still think Bowles makes more sense. Everything's still up in the air, because Turner was interviewing with the club Sunday night, this after he had met with Bill Parcells earlier in the day to pick his brain about the talent in-house. But Jerry Jones plans to go to the Super Bowl on Thursday morning and would like to have his head coach in place by then. Something could happen as soon as today.

A couple of issues. Why the relatively unsuccessful Turner for his third head-coaching post instead of giving it to a fresh face? Well, Jones knows Turner well, and he knows Turner can work well within the restrictions that a Dallas head coach has to work. In other words, Jones is going to have the final say on players and on draft day. Turner has lived this before, and he's fine with it.

Plus, Cowboys kitchen cabinet member Troy Aikman thinks Turner's the best tutor he ever had, and Jones wants to be sure Tony Romo has excellent training for the short- and long-term. Turner and Aikman's former backup, Garrett, give Dallas the best available quarterback-teaching option out there right now.

Moreover, Dallas loves Garrett and the idea that he could be Turner's successor one, two or three years down the road. By not naming Garrett the head coach, the Cowboys run the risk that he could get away to another head-coaching job after the 2007 season -- if the Cowboys have a successful season and the league continues to go in the direction of coaching youth. That's a risk they're apparently willing to take. I say apparently because no final decision had been made inside the organization as of Sunday night.

ITEM: Jason Garrett's hot. I don't mean that kind of hot, ladies. I mean, there's significant interest in him. I'm told the Cowboys were fairly blown away by his presence during his interview there, including his response when the Cowboys asked if he could he be tough enough as their leader, given that he was so recently a player. Garrett has served only two seasons as an assistant coach, with Miami the last two years. His basic message to the Cowboys was, "When I met with my quarterbacks in Miami, the first thing out of my mouth was, 'I'm not your friend. I'm a resource for you.' The guys I've been most disappointed in in my life are the coaches who didn't make me the best I could be.''

I'm told Jones was extremely impressed with Garrett and felt he had to have him in some capacity after his interview was finished, and that's how he ended up being announced as at least the offensive coordinator before the coaching search was finished.

ITEM: The Steelers acted boldly, and correctly, by picking Mike Tomlin as their new coach. You can question how Pittsburgh ran its search, which resulted in the naming of Tomlin, the unknown Minnesota defensive coordinator, as coach last week over Russ Grimm, the incumbent offensive line coach and money pick. My understanding is this is how this weird story fleshed out:

The Steelers negotiated with agents for both men, apparently figuring if one of them had some outrageous demands, they'd go with the other. But neither was tough to do a deal with. In fact, it was a near-photo finish, particularly after a very strong second interview by Grimm.

But Dan Rooney, whose gut feeling about coaches (Chuck Noll in 1969, Bill Cowher in 1992) has proved brilliant, thought he saw something special in Tomlin. Something dynamic, with a toughness belying his age (34), with the ability to shake up some on the team who'd gotten semi-comfortable under Cowher. Something charismatic, too. And since the Steelers are the most patient team in the NFL with coaches, clearly willing to give young coaches more rope than any other team, they decided: Why not go with the guy we think has the better upside?

With all due respect to Grimm, who I think is a terrific mentor and communicates as well with players as almost anyone I know, you have to give Rooney the benefit of the doubt here. No one has picked coaches better than Rooney, and since this could be his last hire, he had to go with his gut.

By the way, I don't believe anyone in the organization ever said to Grimm, "The job is yours.'' They just don't operate that way. I think because the contract was being negotiated, Grimm got the idea he must be the guy.