It remains to be seen whether Rob Ryan has the ability to coach up a defense as brilliantly as his dad Buddy Ryan. One thing that is not in question is whether he is a renegade like his crusty old progenitor.

In his first-ever press conference as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan bragged about what a great coach he was. He laced his braggadocio with profanity, as is his custom. He showed that brash, devil-may-care swagger so notably associated with the family name.

Now, Ryan has cost his new boss money. According to Pro Football Talk over at NBC Sports, “Several Cowboys players said before the lockout began that they had been talking to new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan about the team’s new defense.”

PFT reported that the Dallas Cowboys were fined for that action under the league rule that guarantees players a certain amount of downtime from supervised football. Apparently, the Cowboys weren’t the only team to violate the rule and receive the fine.

No doubt, Commissioner Roger Goodell is on that issue to keep it from becoming fodder for the NFL Players Association. During this hostile period of legal wrangling over the player lockout and haggling over the collective bargaining agreement, the last thing Goodell needs is for coaches like Rob Ryan to load the Players Association’s gun with “unfair labor” bullets.

But that is an aside. The point here is that Rob Ryan is going to bring the Ryan Family Circus to town with him. He is going to color outside the lines and foster controversy. If he doesn’t also bring a dominating defense that results in playoff wins, his act will get real tired real quick.

Bill Parcells once told Jerry Jones that the team had better win under him or they wouldn’t be able to stand him as a coach. He knew he created the kind of stressful atmosphere that could only be tolerated if the team was successful. Win and all sins are overlooked.

The same concept applies to Rob Ryan, only in a little different way. Sideshow Rob will cuss and make jokes and brag about his greatness and Cowboys fans will love him for it…if he wins. If the team does not succeed, if the Rob Ryan defense does not become dominant, The Ryan Family Circus will not long pitch a tent in Jerry’s World.

Roger Goodell followed up news about a bad idea, namely taking the traditional Thanksgiving Day games away from the Cowboys and Lions and spreading them around, with news of an idea whose time has come. Fox News reports that Goodell has confirmed that one of the major items discussed at the Owners’ meetings is the expansion of the NFL regular season from 16 games to 17 or 18 games.

“We are looking at a variety of formats for restructuring,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the conclusion of the meetings. “Our goal is to improve the quality of what we’re doing.”

That is as much about decreasing the number of preseason games, which Goodell acknowledged are not quality games, as adding to the regular season. The latter, of course, is a way “to grow the game,” according to Goodell, as well as create additional revenue.

Few things are a bigger waste of a fan’s time than those final two weeks of preseason football. I can only think of MLB games any time prior to September, any NBA regular season game, all NHL regular season games and cottage cheese. Moreover, being the violent sport that it is, playing four or five preseason games only increases the probability that a few teams will start – and, sometimes, even conclude – their season without the services of a key player due to unnecessary injury.

We will cross our fingers and wait expectantly for the good news that the deed is done.