Let me get this straight: Jerry Jones let everyone think Mike McCarthy might be a lame duck in order to keep other teams from rushing Dan Quinn, because if they knew how hard the Cowboys were working to keep their defensive coordinator, someone surely would have hired him. Quinn, that is. Wow. Even for your intrepid reporter, an expert in Jerry’s native tongue after more than 30 years of intensive study, this is Greek.
Whenever Jerry resorts to this level of obfuscation, it usually means he’s covering his tracks.
Frankly, if McCarthy can’t see that his boss now has a replacement in the building and another on the couch if he doesn’t better prepare the Cowboys for a deep playoff run next season, he’s got more problems than we thought.
Sean Payton would still be my first choice if Year 3 doesn’t prove to be the charm, but if a one-season respite isn’t enough to recharge Payton’s batteries, Quinn would be a nice consolation prize.
One more thing: If Jerry’s explanation for leaving McCarthy dangling were actually true, and he was only out to keep Quinn, what does it say about his desire to retain Kellen Moore, still on the interview circuit? The problem with dealing in half-truths is that you can lose track of which half is true.
Anyway, Jerry couldn’t let the opportunity on 105.3 The Fan pass without crowing about the fact that he has now talked three coordinators out of taking jobs as head coaches. He resorts to this sort of thing to rebut the old bromide that no credible coach would want to work for him. I’m sure some wouldn’t. But Bill Parcells, once a critic, came around. Taking a paycheck from Jerry apparently isn’t as problematic as paying to watch his product.
Did Quinn really turn down an offer or offers to be a head coach, as Payton did in 2004 and Jason Garrett in ‘07? Jerry says he believes so, but that hardly constitutes proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Denver seemed to be Quinn’s destination until the Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett, son of Paul, the former Cowboys assistant once thought to be Tom Landry’s heir before Jerry tore up the will. Vic Fangio may or may not have established a blueprint for beating the Cowboys last season, but he was a defensive coach, first and foremost. The Broncos’ offense has been pitiful for years. Any time you fire a coach, you look to remedy his biggest weakness. Quinn has a lot of appealing traits, but I don’t know that an offensive fix is in his bag of tricks.
Besides, maybe Hackett packs a quarterback from Green Bay to the Mile High City.
For the sake of Cowboys fans and NFC playoff paths in general, let’s hope Aaron Rodgers soon wings his way west.
Even if the gravitational pull of the orbit around the Star really did reel in another coach, it’s intriguing, to say the least, that Jerry doesn’t take much credit for his biggest coup. Will McClay, vice president of player personnel and the man who basically ended the Cowboys’ long draft drought after Jimmy Johnson’s exit, also signed an extension.
If the prospects of McCarthy coaching the Cowboys without Quinn running the defense scared you, imagine Jerry in the war room without McClay.
McClay remains at the Star for family reasons, and he’s loyal to the organization that gave him his start. Jerry also threw a little more money on the pile, and he can afford it. Forbes ranks the Cowboys as the world’s most valuable sports franchise at $5.7 billion. The magazine also recently ranked Jerry’s entire portfolio — which includes Legends Hospitality, Complexity Gaming and the Star — fourth among sports owners at $8.85 billion.
BTW: Still wondering why Jerry moved from Valley Ranch to the 91-acre campus in Frisco? Basically a real estate deal. Landlocked in Irving, he’s got all sorts of partners in Collin County.
Now that he’s made good on his original $140 million investment, the least Jerry could do is give McClay the title of GM. He’s earned it. Of course, that’s not happening in Jerry’s lifetime. At this rate, probably not mine, either.
So what do we make of the fact that the top layer of the coaching staff is staying in place?
Jerry’s decision to keep McCarthy isn’t as difficult as it might seem. As he’s said on multiple occasions, firing Chan Gailey after just two seasons remains among his biggest regrets. Then again, he didn’t have Payton in his hip pocket in those days, either.
Burnt out from NFL life without Drew Brees, Payton will take off this season much like he did in 2012, at the NFL’s insistence, after Bountygate. Funny, but Netflix came out Friday with a movie based on Payton’s year away from the Saints. “Home Team,” starring Kevin James as Payton in the latter’s real-life role coaching his son’s Argyle youth football team, won’t win any Oscars, but Cowboys fans might warm to it. A writer for The Ringer believes it decodes Payton’s future.
At a pivotal point, Payton’s movie son, wanting dad closer to home, speaks for Cowboys fans everywhere when he asks why he can’t coach Jerry’s team.
“Because Dallas already has a coach.”
As they say in the oil patch, these things are fluid.
