Ryan A Hit With Media In 1st Press Gathering

IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) - The Cowboys introduced their 2011 Coaching staff today at Valley Ranch and know this...there is a rock star in the house.  New Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan hit the locker room at about 1:45 and dropped his first F-bomb at 1:48.   "We are going to be (expletive) great."

And with those words, and a lot of laughter from the Cowboys press gathering, it was officially on with Ryan.  The only bummer of it all is that we won't get to hear him as much as we want as the Cowboys are not scheduling the coaches for any other media sessions right now.  But Ryan said all the right things, and looked the part of...well, a guy who just fixed the plumbing at Valley Ranch and then took the time to address the plumbing media.

Ryan, sporting a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt, old blue jeans, and a Willie Nelson starter kit haircut, said all the right things with that one quick statement and showed that this will not be your father's Oldsmobile approach on defense.

Yes, he gave the obligatory stuff about how much he loves his defense (praising Jay Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware as guys who will lead the defense)

"The problems and all that? Hey, I'm not here to farm anybody else's land," Ryan said. "I'm going to do a great (expletive) job and you're going to see that."

And on defensive leadership from players like Jay Ratliff:  "He's a great player and we can find a spot for any great player. He's going to do just fine over the football. I already met him and if they are all like him we are going to be in great shape."

But more than anything, Ryan showed that he is going to be a media darling when he speaks and seemingly a great infusion of personality on the coaching staff.  These days, that is important, because we've all seen the alternative.

Ryan's favorite part about taking the Cowboys job?  "Now I can say that I've worked with two of the most hated and loved teams in the NFL in the Cowboys and the Raiders."

Cowboys lovers and haters are going to keep that dichotomy via Rob Ryan.

Other nuggets from today:

* New Cowboys wide receivers coach Jimmy Robinson."Mike McCarthy has always been a guy who doesn't stand in the way of letting you advance in your career and that's part of the reason why I am here in Dallas."   Translation:  The Cowboys were willing to add "Assistant Head Coach" to his resume and Robinson also gets more money out of Dallas so it was a great opportunity.  Robinson says he "connected with Jason when we were in New York and he was a player.  Jason would always be in the film room hours after everybody left and I knew he was going to be a good one.  I actually figured that if we ever worked together, it would be me working for him and not the other way around."  Robinson was wide receivers coach with the Giants while Garrett was there as a backup quarterback.

*  Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo will remain in that position.  "I knew from the day Jason was hired that I would still be here, but wasn't sure in what capacity.  I've always been a guy who loved to teach so I'm glad that I'm still in that position and understand the need for an infusion of change."  Translation:  Campo is okay with sharing secondary duties with Brett Maxie and working under the guidance of a new defensive coordinator.  The team would not have been better off without him.

*  New Defensive line coach Brian Baker is going to be a rising star.  He is super well spoken, and handles the media like a champ.  Best nugget from him to me?  "I've been doing this a long time and to think some rookie is going to come in here and be a contributor from day one, those guys are few and far between.  The guy in Detroit (Ndamaknog Suh) is an exception."  Translation:  Not much of one here because Baker just said it.  He's not expecting a young guy to come in and make an immediate impact because the positions on the DL are so difficult.  Baker worked extensively with Julius Peppers during their time together in Carolina.   Baker is a firm, smart guy and another one who has all the tools to light a fire under guys on that side of the ball.

* In case you were wondering, the Cowboys coaching staff is 18 deep.  7 offensive, 7 defensive, 2 special teams coaches,  and 2 in strength and conditioning.