Head Coach Jerry Jones? We're Closer Than Ever.

By Richie Whitt Fri., Oct. 30 2009 at 12:30 PM

Categories: Dallas Cowboys

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Since the day he arrived at Valley Ranch in 1989 Jerry Jones has been in charge of well, you remember, everything from socks and jocks.

But this morning on his weekly visit with me and Newy Scruggs on 105.3 The Fan Jerry - more unequivocal, more crystal clear and more adamant than ever - reiterated that the flow chart of authority at Valley Ranch begins and ends with him. And, yes, that includes playing time, depth charts and everything in the front office and in between the lines.

I asked a rudimentary question of Jones: If a player needs to be demoted it's ultimately the head coach's decision, right?

Oh, Jerry?

"Let's just say this, the decision is made a lot of times ... the agreements call for the GM ultimately to make decisions. If not, the only one that can overrule the GM is the owner. Period. And that's always been the way it's been for 20 years."

Jerry continued to say things like "I'm 40 feet away from anything that goes on out here" and he controls "anything and everything."

We always knew it was Jerry's franchise. And it should be, he's JumboJerry for crying out loud.

But I've been covering this team for 20 years and I'm surprised that Jerry said he can, has and will continue to ride herd over who plays how much on the Dallas Cowboys' football field.

You?

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<P>Wow! You know plenty about this!!!</P>
The prices of fish oil products has risen significantly. I am giving my child 2 capsules a day to help him with math. Does anybody know where I an find an cheap solution? By the way, it is great. His grade went up 2 points after consuming fish oil capsules.
Jerry's been sniffing too many jock straps. He's more delusional than Nobama.
We are one Miles Austin-overtime-catch away from being the Raiders right now. Those that think Jerry retiring will change anything are dead wrong. Steven will act exactly the same. Anyone old enough to post on this entry will never see a Cowboy Super Bowl win again in their lifetime. Thank god I enjoyed those three super bowls. Maybe my kid's kids will get to see three more.
good job bobby here's a cookie! You guys bitch about Jerry but still buy tickets to the Death Star
Jerry might be the only person with a bigger ego than Donald Trump.
i made a play today!
@ Jack Daddy....a "real football guy" is someone whose TOTAL attention and devotion is to football. Not oil and gas wells, not residential real estate development, not constructing a stadium, not designing t-shirts and hats for the stadium (not to mention patches on jerseys to commemorate a BUILDING) and someone who is close friends with "Buno". Let's face the facts that in the last year and specifically, the pst five months, Jerry has been obsessed with that damn new building. That is all he has talked about. A "football guy" doesn't do that. I doubt Jerry Reese in New York spent all spring worrying about the Giants new digs. No, he got ready for the DRAFT and found several young players who could actually hit the field and help the team.
1. I think we tend to over-rate or overstate how big a deal it is for Jerry to be involved with the team like he is. I guarantee you there are other coaches in this league that make sure their desires are achieved. Coaches get fired all the time because they won't acquiesce to the coach. Jerry is just more direct. 2. I guarantee you that if I had my personal fortune invested in a team they would damn well play the guys I wanted. Now I would listen to my coaches/advisors, but if I disagreed with them and I had a valid basis for my position, guess who would get his way? 3. It's not like Jerry is insisting that Dale Hansen or Jerry Junior play left guard. These are decisions on the margin. 4. What makes somebody like Wade Phillips more qualified than Jerry to make some of these decisions? Because his daddy was a coach? Jerry played major college football and a championship. He learned under one of the all-time greats. He has been directly involved for 20 years. Isn't that how Phillips learned, being involved? It's not like Phillips majored in Coaching in college. Finally, Phillips is borderline genius. Phillips is borderline retarded. 5. Can we stop with the "he needs to get a real football guy in here" statements? At what point does he become a football guy? Was R. Whitt not a writer 20 years into his career? I've been a lawyer for 13 years. Am I not really a lawyer? Is a 20 year plumber not really a plumber? Does anyone not consider Jerry an expert of oil drilling? He did that less than 20 years. It's stupid. He may suck as a football guy but he IS a football guy. He may be the worst coach in the world, but I can assure he there have been worse. Rant over.
@MIckeyG- If we were in Nashville your point would be valid, but we're not and we don't give a flying f what the Titans do.
And not a single word about Vince Young being named the starter for TN by the owner, over the coach with the longest tenure with one team in the league. The haters just want to hate. I think they must all be from NY or New England.
Al Davis was mentioned earlier as the archtype for this sort of micromanager. I submit that Danny Snyder is just as bad or worse than Jerry. It is one of the few places where fans of the Deadskins and Cowboys agree, our owners are teh suck. Micromanager is a term quite often used in the business world and I avoid them like the plague. If you are willing to put up with that shit, more power to you, but I have been known to start packing up my stuff when I feel their nose over my shoulder. If you hired me to do the job, then let me do it, or else get in here and do it yourself. It is widely acknowledged that he hated having to put up with Bill's demands. He did not like having to put up with another Alpha male. Expect the same sort of behavior if we get a Holmgren, Cowher or Gruden. It might last a couple of years and then they will pack up their things and get the hell out like any other self-respecting Alpha will do in the same situation. I do not expect any changes in Jerry's behavior. He absolutely cannot admit that he made a mistake, not with Barbie Carpenter, not with Wade, not with the curtains and the sun in the face of the players. There is no battle too small for him to surrender his position, his insecurity demands that he fight every battle with the same force of will. He must be in charge of everything. Perhaps a muddle of a season is best. Several years worth of around .500 until we are all so beaten down that it just doesn't matter any more. Apathy on our part is the only thing that will get through to him. He wants us to love him or hate him. Either will do, what he cannot stand (no one with his mindset can) is to be ignored. Good mornin' to ya!
This being said, why do people constantly try to point out specifics as to what's wrong with this team. When they go into the December slump this year, it will fall on Jerry's lap, just like it always should have. It's taken him 20yrs to create a culture of no one taking charge of their own direction, and the playoff failure is Jerry's responsibility. He will never let anyone be responsible because he refuses to lose control. As a lifelong Cowboy fan, I am afraid success will elude this team as long as Jerry owns it. He wouldn't have it any other way.
Another reason why this franchise will never win another Super Bowl as long as this clown is running things.
So the depth chart is made by a guy who picks his nose on TV?
The most enjoyable moment with the Cowboy's is JerkyJerry's yearly preseason over hyped Super Bowl expectations and their eventual end of season collapse. Firing Jimmy, he cut off his nose to spite his face.
What team do all you haters watch on the weekend anyhow? Lion fans didn't hate Matt Millen and the Browns fans don't hate Randy Lerner as much as the Dallas haters hate their general manager and owner. Go watch the Mavs
@LJ -Amen. I was thinking the exact same thing.
@louis -- You can't be serious...NONE of the championship teams were built by Jerry! They were ALL built by Jimmy! The only thing Jerry deserves credit for is costing them 4 straight titles, by hiring one of his buddies to help him destroy the most talented team ever assembled. They were lucky there was still enough of Jimmy's team left, to come back and win the 3rd title. The franchise has been going nowhere but downhill, since Jimmy left. THAT is all Jerry deserves credit for!
@ louis...your post shows how little you understand football at the professional level and your grasp of the fundamentals of how to build a team is minimal, at best. I'm sure Bill Polian in Indy, Floyd Reese in Nashville, Jerry Reese with the Giants among many others would be shocked that Jerry has been "just as good as them" over the past 15 years. If YOUR idea of the GM is to sell t-shirts and program ads, then you might be right. Most of us with our head out of our arse want a GM to BUILD a consistent winner and LET THE COACHES COACH (like it is everywhere except Oakland). Jerry is dying to be thought of as a "football man" more than anything else. Sadly, he's earned the title "professional dumbass" as it relates to his evaluation of talent and letting his underlings do their jobs.
My plan now is just try to out live Jerry. That is most likely the only way I will ever see the Cowboys as world champions again. Until then I will watch them continue to be the least prepared and poorly coached NFL team ever sunday.
Maybe you'd all rather have Tom Hicks as the owner?
We can talk all we want about Jimmy, but at least one of those rings (the last one) is Jerry's, legitimately. They win the Super Bowl again as soon as they sign Deion, and that's all on Jerry. So other than Belichick and Rooney and Shanahan, Jerry's just as good or better than any other GM since the mid-90s...
Al Davis, Jr. The results will be the same.
Jerry's last sentence that its been this way for the last 20 years is a flat out lie. He has been wasting Cowboy Nation's time trying to prove it ever since he ran off Jimmy. This type of structure is fatally flawed for a team of athletes. Respect and belief in coaches is important for success in the NFL. These statements tell you everything you need to know about why we have not won a playoff game in 13 years. Bitching about half-wits like Wade is a waste of time. Jerry is the alpha and the omega of Cowboy Chronic Failure.
Has anyone considered that Jerry isn't extending Wade's contract purely because he's contemplating taking the head coach reigns for real next year?
Attention all, In the real world, whether they admit it publicly or not; most Owners, Presidents, GM's and CEO's micro-manage and control things within the organization they shouldn't. A sports business is no different than any other at the end of the day.
I love this team but I hate this owner. So, from now until he is no longer in charge I will be rooting for them to lose. This is gonna waste the first part of my adulthood. Hopefully, middle age will be better.
The DSM IV calls it pathological narcissism, which can include delusions of grandeur. Or in Jerry's case, delusions of general manager.
We're one day closer to these future headlines: Jerry Jones Probably Thinking About Signing Michael Vick http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/jerry_jones_probably Dallas Cowboys Release Jerry Jones http://www.theonion.com/content/news/dallas_cowboys_release_jerry_jones
How is that surprising to you RW..it's his toy and he'll do damn well what he wants to do..(I.E.-T.O.) you think Big Bill wanted the "player" ? it'll be a better day when Big Jerr is at home in Highland Park in his rocking chair and Stephen is in charge..POW
We shouldn't be surprised, but my God. This guy is insane.