Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is an incredible businessman. There is little to no doubt about that. For proof, look no further than his Cowboys being the most valuable sports franchise on the planet for years (current value—$5.7 billion).
He is the face of the franchise—and he likes it that way. Jones has worked hard to make sure he gets credited with the team’s success (and its subsequent failures, too). Jones is the only owner that speaks with the press after every game.
However, while he is an outstanding businessman, he has not been much of a general manager. Many of his decisions have been questionable, to say the least.
But since it is his team and he always has the final say, he remains in control.
If some of his recent comments are any indication, though, it appears that Jones may finally be willing to take ownership of some of his poor decisions—like getting rid of Jimmy Johnson. As training camp got underway, Jones had this to say during time with the press:
“Jimmy’s a great coach. My job was to keep it together—should have had deference to something that was working well… I’ve never been able to know why I (messed) it up. I can’t answer those questions.”
For long-time fans, the admission was nice to hear. The deterioration of the relationship between Jones and Johnson led to Johnson walking away and the team’s ongoing run of mediocrity. Several questionable decisions have kept the team from returning to prominence—like Jones insisting that he remain the team’s general manager.
While he may not quite be ready to relinquish the role, his desire to return to the Super Bowl may have him open to help. When asked recently about firing ‘Jerry, the GM,’ Jones reiterated his stance on the issue:
“…But my philosophy remains that the best way to get to a decision is the quickest way, and the quickest way is to have the guy with the checkbook be involved at the ground level. Doing it that way has had a lot of advantages over the years.”
Jones went on to say he would consider adding his former star quarterback, Troy Aikman, in an advisory role:
“I would consider it, and I do consider it. I would not be averse to that. … I’d put Troy at the head of the list if we were gonna make a decision as far as football personnel.”
Aikman has been asked in the past if he would be open to serving as a GM. While he thinks he could be good at it, he also said that it would be tough to fill the role in Dallas. With the Cowboys being a family-run team, it would be tough for him (or anyone) to step into that role.
However, the fact that Jones is talking about someone else getting involved in personnel decisions could be a step in the right direction—or it could be nothing.
Only time will tell.