FRISCO, Texas (KLTV) – Longtime color analyst for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network and former Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Babe Laufenberg is still relishing his alma mater’s first national championship in football.
Laufenberg joined KLTV Sports Director Michael Coleman on East Texas Now on Thursday to talk about the Hoosiers’ national championship, Fernando Mendoza’s NFL future and the Dallas Cowboys. While Laufenberg was at Indiana, he set many of the quarterback records that stood for many years until Mendoza arrived in Bloomington. Laufenberg said he sees a lot of Tom Brady in Mendoza.
“So when I left, I did have a bunch. Obviously, they throw the ball, you know, a heck of a lot more now, today and all that good stuff. But I’m wondering, Michael, if I have one. It might be obscure. You know, it wouldn’t be touchdown passes in a season,” Laufenberg said. “I just think I see a lot of Tom Brady in Mendoza. And I’m not saying he’s going to go win seven Super Bowls and be that type of a player, but just the style and two guys kind of came up.”
Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti built up the Hoosiers football team through the transfer portal when he arrived two years ago. Is that system of building a team sustainable?
“I don’t know if anything is sustainable right now in college football, as you know that. You know, it’s changing by the I want to say, by the year it’s changed about a week. Just all the different things that are coming up and you’re dealing with and but I will say this, the good coaches are going to navigate the changes. And he obviously did that,” said Laufenberg. “I do think those players, coaches, they figure out, okay, these are the rules and I’m just going to go forward. I always say, if a coach is sitting there lamenting about the good old days and boy, it used to be like this. And every minute you spend talking about what it used to be like, and it was better, and there’s a minute you’re not spending on, okay, these are the new rules.”
Laufenberg watched the national championship game on Monday at the house of former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
“I’ve been friends with Jason for 30 years. So I shut my phone down. Literally had it on do not disturb. I like locking into the game. I’m not a guy that wants to watch a football game and text and oh, that’s a bad call and tweet. And so I just locked it down,” Laufenberg said. “But when there was a coaching decision coming up in the game, I would call him Coach Garrett and I’d say, okay, coach Garrett like the fourth and four at the 12 on the Mendoza touchdown run. You know, initially they put the field goal team on the field. They called timeout. And then they came out with the offense. So I said, okay Coach Garrett you’re kicking here or you’re going for it. But it was a lot of fun.”
ESPN reported Thursday that the Cowboys agreed to terms with former Eagles passing game coordinator and secondary coach Christian Parker to be the team’s new defensive coordinator. Laufenberg said Parker will have his work cut out for him.
“Obviously personnel dictates sometimes what you can and cannot do. And, one thing he’s going to find out he had a lot better personnel in Philly than he’s going to have here in Dallas. I mean, they have some studs over there defensively and they had them,” said Laufenberg. “I know it’s a different thing for the Cowboys. It’s the first time they’ve hired a coach that has never called defensive plays before. Bill Belichick at some point called plays for the first time right? Bill Walsh called plays for the first time in that offense. So we’ll see what he brings to the table real quick.”
The Cowboys have some decisions to make with free agents this offseason, mainly George Pickens and Javonte Williams on the offensive side of the ball. Laufenberg said the focus in the draft should be defense.
“Yeah, the offense, if they do nothing other than just bring the same people back. I mean, that’s a Super Bowl contender,” Laufenberg said. “Defensively, obviously they’ve got to get a lot better. And you know you always hear Michael when the draft comes around, you know, take the best available player. And in my mind, you take the best available defensive player in the draft when their turn comes to pick.”
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