Jerry Jones does not seem like a man who settles.
Jerry Jones does not seem like a man who makes do.
So why is he so accepting of the mediocrity that Jason Garrett has so consistently delivered as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys?
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
After all, this is a man who not only saw fit to buy the Cowboys, America’s Team and all, but play such a pivotal role in transforming them into biggest and brashest money-making franchise of all, and in doing so helped transform the fortunes of the entire NFL.
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
Look closer into Jones and his time at the helm of the Cowboys and that has been the thread that has run deep through it all.
Don’t forget, one of his first acts as the man at the helm of the Cowboys was to dispense with Tom Landry at the very outset. This was a man who was as ingrained into the fabric of the organization as the star on the silver helmets. No need for sentiment. No need for loyalty.
Once success arrived, he managed to engineer a hard-headed feud that saw Jimmy Johnson, a man himself not short of ego but who had delivered multiple Super Bowls, walk out of the door and end hopes of a monumental pre-salary cap era dynasty to rival that which we have witnessed with the New England Patriots.
And on to the modern day persecution complex from Jones that saw him attempt to take on Roger Goodell and the NFL itself over the suspension handed out to Ezekiel Elliott.
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
What other owner basks in the public presence and persona that Jones does? How many owners have a regular radio show? How many other owners have such a hold and control on all organizational and operational aspects that Jones does?
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
Cut to the final minutes of every Cowboys game. The money shot is always Jones in his luxury suite. Pensive Jerry Jones. Anguished Jerry Jones. Jubilant Jerry Jones. Relieved Jerry Jones. Celebratory Jerry Jones. It is an act that repeats time and time again.
If we are lucky we get Locker Room Jerry Jones as an added bonus. TV gold. Monday night’s victory over the Philadelphia Eagles witnessed this. Jones celebrating alongside his twin stars Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, basking in a victory that in no small part saved the Cowboys season, staving off the Grim Reaper itself for another week. Another week of emboldened talk, must-win games and playoff hopes.
But for Garrett, he has yet to feel the cold steel of the scythe bearing down.
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
Lost. Won. Lost. Won. Lost. Won. Lost. Lost. Lost. Won. This is the Cowboys 2018 season so far. The vanquished Eagles are struggling to shake their Super Bowl hangover. The Washington Redskins are 6-3 but convincing nobody. The New York Giants are, well, barely reaching relevance.
The Cowboys? Did we expect anything different? An impressive win against the Eagles it may have been but it served only to highlight the level of their underachievement.
Look around the NFL and it is a season unprecedented. Patrick Mahomes is lighting up the league. Drew Bees is defying age. Sean McVay and the Rams are winning hearts and minds in Los Angeles. Los Angeles of all places!
The Cowboys though have failed to register consecutive victories all season and are facing a battle just to get back to .500. .500, the record that Garrett returned three consecutive seasons, defeated on the final week of the season each and every time, punctuated only by two seasons of dominance and the stars aligned, but where the Cowboys could, nay should, have done better. Even in his rare moment of success, Garrett managed to underachieve.
Garrett carries the air and authority of a man who strives for .500. A man who makes do. A man who settles.
He has put no stamp on his team. No philosophy. No ambition. No endeavor. The very antithesis of what Jones appears to seek. So why, after eight seasons, a 69-57 record and a solitary playoff win does Jones see Garrett as the man to entrust his Dallas Cowboys?
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
The NFL is undergoing a transformative change from an offensive standpoint during the past few seasons. Think of where the league was when Garrett was appointed as head coach and where the league sits now. Young, dynamic thinkers are entering the league with the old guard having to adapt or die. Those who can’t are being very quickly exposed.
Garrett has demonstrably remained in the shadows, away from the bright light occupied by the risk takers and the pioneers. Happy at .500. Clinging on. A surge here and there that hints at the potential that could be. A potential though that continues to remain unfulfilled.
Yet Garrett continues to be defended to the hilt. Jones shuts down questions about Garrett’s future with impressive deflective rhetoric, brushing aside the tough questions.
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
Cowboys figures as legendary as Troy Aikman have called for an organizational overhaul. Lincoln Riley has been linked as a potential candidate to take over (a report shot down, naturally, by Jones) and a job as prestigious as the Cowboys one would attract all manner of candidates.
But what would this entail? Would Jones have to cede a degree of control to a new hire that Garrett does not have the luxury of? Or would the reality be that a new hire would be the man? The man who would command the attention, the glare, the focus, the cameras, the column inches. The complete opposite of the anonymous Garrett.
Which does Jerry Jones prefer? Make no mistake, for Jerry Jones is no fool.
Because it is all about Jerry Jones.
