One of the biggest storylines in Dallas this offseason has been the question of who will be calling the offensive plays this season.
Many teams would have discussed it privately and then announced that offensive coordinator Bill Callahan would be taking the reins from head coach Jason Garrett, but the Cowboys took a different path. Owner Jerry Jones talked about the need to make a change early and often publicly while Garrett offered up contradictory views, leading to the latest round of criticism that Jones’ habit of micromanaging football operations while refusing to hire a general manager was hurting the franchise.
One of Jones’ former sparring partners disagrees with that take. Bill Parcells said that the image of Jones is “distorted” and that Jones is a “good listener” who will adjust his own decisions and opinions if your arguments make sense. And he said that Jones’ habit of sticking his nose into every decision was something that drew him to the job because he didn’t want to work for an owner who was blasé about running the team.
“But Jerry isn’t like that. You want to be somewhere where it’s important to the people and certainly it’s a high-profile franchise without question,” Parcells said, via the team’s website. “I just felt like those are the kinds of things I look forward to. I was trying to do something at a place like that. I like them. I think they’re a good group. I think they’re passionate. I think they’re trying to be successful in the business. Hey, that’s all a coach can ask for.”
Jones has been incredibly successful on the business side of things, but his approach to football matters hasn’t led to comparable achievements in more than a decade. Players and coaches have come and gone in that point of time while Jones has remained in charge despite results that even he admitted would lead him to fire the G.M. if he wasn’t the G.M. So while the perception of Jones as a boss may be incorrect, it’s hard to argue with the perception that he’s been part of the problem for the Cowboys on the field.