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It's no one-person race as Jerry Jones readies his candidate list

Loss to Arizona won't hurt Jason Garrett's shot, but other candidates exist

01:50 AM CST on Tuesday, December 28, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com

IRVING – As one of the most disheartening seasons in franchise history draws to a close, Jerry Jones has set his sights on an uncertain future.

The Cowboys owner held an impromptu news conference Monday afternoon to discuss what lies ahead. Not surprisingly, questions involving the head coaching search dominated the conversation.

No timetable is in place. Jones continued to praise Jason Garrett and assured the team's loss to Arizona will not be weighed as a negative in the evaluation of the interim head coach.

Jones has put together a list but has yet to speak to any candidate outside of the building. He declared he will exceed the mandate of the NFL's Rooney Rule by interviewing Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman and at least one other minority candidate.

Jones does not intend to interview as many candidates as he did the last time this job was open and said that while the impending lockout impacts the process, it will not dictate his decision.

As for the state of this 5-10 team, Jones finds the defensive issues "inconceivable" but is committed to the 3-4 scheme. The owner believes the Cowboys should return to the playoffs next season but acknowledges the team probably needs more turnover than it had last off-season.

All of this came moments after Garrett talked about how the team was focused on Sunday's finale against Philadelphia. How does he block out the speculation that swirls about his future?

"I think I am at my best, and I think we're at our best, when we focus on what's right in front of us," Garrett said.

"You've just got to go to work. It's just the way you do it."

Garrett is clearly a Jones favorite. That makes him a favorite to become the eighth person to carry the label of head coach in franchise history. But it would be misleading to call this a one-person race.

The Cowboys are 4-3 under Garrett and are poised to finish the season on the road with a third-string quarterback against the NFC East champion Eagles. While Jones said he could focus on the negatives of a 27-26 loss to the Cardinals on Christmas night, he won't.

"I'm giving that a neutral there because I like the way our team hung in there after coming back after an adverse situation, especially after we lost [Jon] Kitna," Jones said. "I'm not negative about that game as it relates to future decisions about coaches."

You have heard Jones mention several times in recent weeks that no coach has won a Super Bowl with one team then pulled off that feat with his next team. Jones knows this because of the research he has compiled on potential candidates.

Does that mean a Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden is out of the running?

"No," Jones said. "I'm just saying that's long odds. That's worth noting.

"I'm a big believer in having never done something and then getting the opportunity to do it. And of course, that sets that up right there, to be the first coach to ever win it someplace else."

Jones said he has not interviewed anyone for the job and stressed that he has had no contact with anyone through a second, third or fourth party. He joked that the while he's proud of the 10 candidates he chose to interview in 2007 when he hired Wade Phillips, "they're falling like flies" and said the number of candidates he interviews this time won't be as extensive.

Garrett will get one interview. Sherman and at least one other minority candidate will also get interviews.

"I'll do both," Jones said on his response to the Rooney Rule. "It's too logical for me, if we've got qualified people on staff, not to interview them."

When asked about his time frame, Jones said, "I don't know yet." He said it "would be irresponsible not to" take the impending lockout on March 4 into consideration and conceded that makes hiring a new head coach and staff more difficult.

"Those are the challenges, and they're real," Jones said. "You go in here with minimum days and weeks to prepare a team and talk about wholesale changes. That would be tough to do."

A lot of challenges lie ahead for Jones and the Cowboys.

The first is to determine the next head coach.

• • •
 
C

Cr122

Guest
It's a one person race. He just wants you to think it isn't.

He'll be naming Garrett as our next head coach in a few months.

But will it work? I doubt it with Jerry in full control.
 
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