PFT: Troy Aikman calls out Jerry for a 30-year Super Bowl drought

[TheSport78]

If that roster went 13-3, the credit should go to the coach who actually coached them to that record. That would be Wade Phillips, not Bill Parcells. Wade Phillips went 13-3, 9-7, 11-5, 1-7. Slightly better than Parcells' 10-6, 6-10, 9-7, 9-7. Plus, Wade Phillips went 1-2 during the playoffs. Better than Bill Parcells going 0-2.

That’s exactly the contradiction in your argument. When talking about Schottenheimer, what he inherited matters because the defense was terrible. But when talking about Parcells, suddenly what a coach inherits or leaves behind doesn’t matter because “Wade was the coach who went 13-3.”

Of course Wade gets credit for coaching them to 13-3. Nobody is taking that away from him. But who built the roster he went 13-3 with? Parcells inherited three straight 5-11 teams, no franchise QB, and a roster damaged by losing two first-round picks in the Galloway trade. He left behind Romo, Witten, Ware, Newman, Ratliff, Barber, Canty, Spears and a team ready to contend.

Wade inherited Parcells’ rebuild. Schottenheimer inherited Dak Prescott and gets excused because his defense sucked. Yet Parcells inherits Quincy Carter and a 5-11 dumpster fire and apparently context is irrelevant.

You can’t use “what he inherited” as the centerpiece of your Schottenheimer defense and then pretend it doesn’t exist when discussing Parcells. That’s not an argument. That’s moving the goalposts.

 

[cowboyed]

Agree 100%.........it's no longer about blaming players and/or coaches. It has taken me a while to see it, but this is on Jerry 100%. At a very minimum, he should have a high-level assistant GM with some authority working under him and NO, not McClay. He is also part of the problem IMO.




https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...owboys-championship-drought-is-hard-to-fathom

Troy Aikman: Cowboys’ championship drought is hard to fathom​

• By
• Michael David Smith

Published August 17, 2026 05:06 PM

Agree 100%.........it's no longer about blaming players and/or coaches. It has taken me a while to see it, but this is on Jerry 100%. At a very minimum, he should have a high-level assistant GM with some authority working under him and NO, not McClay. He is also part of the problem IMO.




https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...owboys-championship-drought-is-hard-to-fathom

Troy Aikman: Cowboys’ championship drought is hard to fathom​

• By
• Michael David Smith

Published August 17, 2026 05:06 PM

Upper management has been an unsustainable post-season team development trifecta with Jerry, Stephen, and McClay (circa 2013 to date) for decades. Once the salary cap and free agency arose around the mid 90s it exposed their lack of high football IQ. Over almost 3 decades we have leveled out to being mediocre or average too often.

 

[DogFace]

Jerry got lucky to strike oil in real life and with Jimmy in sports life. Sure he has resources and worked hard…but luck was the biggest factor imo.

 

[nate dizzle]

Aikman is a blowhard who thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room.

If getting to a Super Bowl and winning it is the metric he’s using, how many teams can say they haven’t won or haven’t even been to one?

How many division championships and competitive teams, where you know the team can compete, have the Cowboys had in 30 years?

Let’s not rewrite history to make it seem they were all bad teams. All you can ask is if they can compete, everything else is a crapshoot.

Jimmy Johnson was hired by the Dolphins because they thought he had the “secret sauce” and he even had Dan Marino. How many championships did he win after he left Jerry?

None

Troy should put his money where his mouth is and run a team and see how hard it really is the be the last team standing.

Hahaha! Cool take bro.

 

[America's Cowboy]

That’s exactly the contradiction in your argument. When talking about Schottenheimer, what he inherited matters because the defense was terrible. But when talking about Parcells, suddenly what a coach inherits or leaves behind doesn’t matter because “Wade was the coach who went 13-3.”

Of course Wade gets credit for coaching them to 13-3. Nobody is taking that away from him. But who built the roster he went 13-3 with? Parcells inherited three straight 5-11 teams, no franchise QB, and a roster damaged by losing two first-round picks in the Galloway trade. He left behind Romo, Witten, Ware, Newman, Ratliff, Barber, Canty, Spears and a team ready to contend.

Wade inherited Parcells’ rebuild. Schottenheimer inherited Dak Prescott and gets excused because his defense sucked. Yet Parcells inherits Quincy Carter and a 5-11 dumpster fire and apparently context is irrelevant.

You can’t use “what he inherited” as the centerpiece of your Schottenheimer defense and then pretend it doesn’t exist when discussing Parcells. That’s not an argument. That’s moving the goalposts.

Baloney. Quincey Carter was good enough to lead you to the playoffs. He was a 2nd round talent. You might not have personally liked him, but he definitely was good enough to be a franchise QB. Plus, Parcells did inherit some key playmakers both on offense and defense. Darren Woodson and Roy Williams were still around at the safety positions on defense. So was Dat Nguyen and Dexter Coakley at LB, as was Greg Ellis. LaRoi Glover was inherited at DT. All on defense. Parcells also inherited WR Joey Galloway, played him in 2003, then got rid of him. Only to see Galloway put up three 1,000+ yard receiving seasons right afterwards for the Buccaneers. So Parcells messed up there big time. He did the same with Emmitt Smith. Got rid of Emmitt before the 2003 started (Parcells first year as Cowboys head coach), only to see Emmitt run for almost 1,000 yards for the Cardinals in 2004 before retiring. Emmitt still would have been better than Troy Hambrick or Richie Anderson (Parcells picks). Parcells wasn't all that y'all make him out to be. He was average at best. His decisions were not the best.

 

[zrinkill]

And your point is…??

Wow, that’s some piece of detective work on your part.

Derp.

Sure FanofJerry

 

[JoeKing]

Aikman blaming Jerry for the drought is low hanging fruit. Capt. Obvious really. It goes without saying so why did Troy need to say it out loud? Does he think it makes him a football genius? I think not.

 

[John813]

Baloney. Quincey Carter was good enough to lead you to the playoffs. He was a 2nd round talent. You might not have personally liked him, but he definitely was good enough to be a franchise QB. Plus, Parcells did inherit some key playmakers both on offense and defense. Darren Woodson and Roy Williams were still around at the safety positions on defense. So was Dat Nguyen and Dexter Coakley at LB, as was Greg Ellis. LaRoi Glover was inherited at DT. All on defense. Parcells also inherited WR Joey Galloway, played him in 2003, then got rid of him. Only to see Galloway put up three 1,000+ yard receiving seasons right afterwards for the Buccaneers. So Parcells messed up there big time. He did the same with Emmitt Smith. Got rid of Emmitt before the 2003 started (Parcells first year as Cowboys head coach), only to see Emmitt run for almost 1,000 yards for the Cardinals in 2004 before retiring. Emmitt still would have been better than Troy Hambrick or Richie Anderson (Parcells picks). Parcells wasn't all that y'all make him out to be. He was average at best. His decisions were not the best.

JJ McCarthy was a first round pick. Does that mean he should be good?
Draft selection spots mean very little once the pads come on.
As you know, Dak was taken in round 4, Wentz in the 1st. One continued to work on his craft, the other burned bridges in every locker room.
Quincy may of had an arm, but he didn't have the mental ability. His off the field issues(smoking and drinking) was his way to cope with the stress of the NFL. Got him cut in 2004.

As for Galloway, I liked him, but he never flourished here. Best year was 908 yards and then in 2003 he declined down to 672 yards.
No surprise Parcells traded him for "his guy" in Keyshawn.
I always thought Smith was cut for contract reasons, too, as IIRC his cap salary in 2003 was going to be just under 10mil. The cap in 2003 was 75mil. 13% of the cap for a 34 year old back, and for a coach hired to retool the team.

Every team has some sort of talent. The Browns have talent here and there, or used to. Just poor QB and GM decisions keeping them in purgatory.
The Jets have talent too here and there.

I do feel like with every coach, there is a lifespan. I think Parcells was a coach at the edge of his useful limit, but still in the time of the NFL where a hard-*** coach would still be listened to.
We saw it with Bill B, who was also a hard-*** and then outlived his time in the ever changing NFL. Doesn't discredit what he did, but just someone stuck in his ways-which are now extinct.
I thought Parcells trying to convert the team to a 3-4 setback the lifespan of Nguyen and Glover here. Unfortunately Woody had to retire early due to injuries and then Williams sort of declined due to multiple factors.

 

[jrumann59]

Everyone knows the biggest problem is Jones and the entire family being entrenched in day to day operations.

The 2nd biggest problem over this 30 year drought are the quarterbacks they’ve trotted out to lead this team.

Carter, Henson, Romo, Prescott and everyone since Aikman..have proven to be unqualified to get the team as so much past the divisional round.

So until they draft a true winner at the position it will be more of the same.

Aikman was highly touted coming out of college, but outside the Davey O'Brien award he was not a winner in the sense no national championships. If anything he was no different than any other of the college QBs that were drafted since him that has not won a national championship. Lets also not forget Jimmy thought so highly of him early on that he used a draft pick in the supplemental to draft Steve Walsh. Aikman worked through that adversity and became a HOFer but until he won that 1st Super Bowl there were whispers on whether he was the guy.

 

[triplets_93]

Agree 100%.........it's no longer about blaming players and/or coaches. It has taken me a while to see it, but this is on Jerry 100%. At a very minimum, he should have a high-level assistant GM with some authority working under him and NO, not McClay. He is also part of the problem IMO.




https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...owboys-championship-drought-is-hard-to-fathom

Troy Aikman: Cowboys’ championship drought is hard to fathom​

• By
• Michael David Smith

Published August 17, 2026 05:06 PM

Such BS. It's a little late in the Season for Jerry to change anything... A useless post from one HOFer to another HOFer.

 

[rags747]

Aikman was highly touted coming out of college, but outside the Davey O'Brien award he was not a winner in the sense no national championships. If anything he was no different than any other of the college QBs that were drafted since him that has not won a national championship. Lets also not forget Jimmy thought so highly of him early on that he used a draft pick in the supplemental to draft Steve Walsh. Aikman worked through that adversity and became a HOFer but until he won that 1st Super Bowl there were whispers on whether he was the guy.

Aikman was labeled as a Generational talent at the position as was Elway so definitely different than most college qb’s.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Aikman was labeled as a Generational talent at the position as was Elway so definitely different than most college qb’s.

I remember when he came out. He was a no brainer #1 pick. I was so excited when we got him.

 

[rags747]

I remember when he came out. He was a no brainer #1 pick. I was so excited when we got him.

Going into the final two weeks of the 1988 season, Dallas and Green Bay were both 2–12. Green Bay held the tiebreaker, so the Packers were positioned to get the No. 1 pick, which was expected to be Troy Aikman.

Then this happened:

• Week 15: Dallas beat Washington, while Green Bay beat Minnesota.
• So both teams were 3–12, with Green Bay still holding the tiebreaker.
• Final week: Green Bay stunned Phoenix 26–17, finishing 4–12.
• Dallas lost to Philadelphia and finished 3–13.
• That gave Dallas the No. 1 pick.

And here's the really crazy part: Green Bay's win directly cost them Aikman. The Packers wound up picking Tony Mandarich at No. 2, while Dallas selected Aikman No. 1.

Aikman has actually talked about this. He went to Green Bay's final game and was rooting for the Packers to win, because he knew that would give Dallas the first pick. He reportedly bought a Cowboys cap before leaving the stadium.

And that one game essentially changed NFL history: Dallas got Aikman, then within a few years built the 1990s dynasty. Green Bay got Mandarich, who became one of the biggest draft disappointments ever.

 

[jrumann59]

Aikman was labeled as a Generational talent at the position as was Elway so definitely different than most college qb’s.

The term generational talent has been thrown about it means nothing Jeff George was a Generational talent, Ryan Leaf, Vick (talented but off the field issues), Caleb Williams, Cam Newton and even Trevor Lawrence to a certain degree I am sure there are others

 

[rags747]

Newton, Vick and Williams were not labeled as generational talents. They all had known flaws and questions to their game.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Do you know when the football season is about to start?

It’s not when guys report to training camp or preseason games begin.

It’s when all the talking heads start espousing their tired screed of the Cowboys’ Super Bowl drought.

You can make a nice following online or a lot of money on ESPN joining in.

There’s literally a small cottage industry from bashing Jerry that I don’t know what all of these people will do when they actually win.

I hope it doesn't upset you too much when you find out people are thrilled "we" (not "they") do actually win.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

That’s exactly the contradiction in your argument. When talking about Schottenheimer, what he inherited matters because the defense was terrible. But when talking about Parcells, suddenly what a coach inherits or leaves behind doesn’t matter because “Wade was the coach who went 13-3.”

Of course Wade gets credit for coaching them to 13-3. Nobody is taking that away from him. But who built the roster he went 13-3 with? Parcells inherited three straight 5-11 teams, no franchise QB, and a roster damaged by losing two first-round picks in the Galloway trade. He left behind Romo, Witten, Ware, Newman, Ratliff, Barber, Canty, Spears and a team ready to contend.

Wade inherited Parcells’ rebuild. Schottenheimer inherited Dak Prescott and gets excused because his defense sucked. Yet Parcells inherits Quincy Carter and a 5-11 dumpster fire and apparently context is irrelevant.

You can’t use “what he inherited” as the centerpiece of your Schottenheimer defense and then pretend it doesn’t exist when discussing Parcells. That’s not an argument. That’s moving the goalposts.

When people have incessant agendas (we know who they are)....they serve the agenda not logic or reason.

 

[LouBrown]

A 30-year championship drought in professional sports remains insignificant and the dumbest thing that Cowboys fans cry about.

The Cowboys are only middle of the pack in the NFL.

 

[TheSport78]

Baloney. Quincey Carter was good enough to lead you to the playoffs. He was a 2nd round talent. You might not have personally liked him, but he definitely was good enough to be a franchise QB. Plus, Parcells did inherit some key playmakers both on offense and defense. Darren Woodson and Roy Williams were still around at the safety positions on defense. So was Dat Nguyen and Dexter Coakley at LB, as was Greg Ellis. LaRoi Glover was inherited at DT. All on defense. Parcells also inherited WR Joey Galloway, played him in 2003, then got rid of him. Only to see Galloway put up three 1,000+ yard receiving seasons right afterwards for the Buccaneers. So Parcells messed up there big time. He did the same with Emmitt Smith. Got rid of Emmitt before the 2003 started (Parcells first year as Cowboys head coach), only to see Emmitt run for almost 1,000 yards for the Cardinals in 2004 before retiring. Emmitt still would have been better than Troy Hambrick or Richie Anderson (Parcells picks). Parcells wasn't all that y'all make him out to be. He was average at best. His decisions were not the best.

And congratulations, you named some good players on a roster that went 5-11 THREE YEARS IN A ROW. Nobody said Parcells inherited an expansion team. The argument is that he inherited a bad football team with no established QB and immediately doubled their wins.

The Emmitt argument is pure nostalgia. He was 33, coming off 3.8 YPC, then went to Arizona and rushed for 256 yards at 2.8 YPC his first year. Acting like Parcells dumped prime Emmitt Smith is absurd.

Galloway? Fine. He played well in Tampa. Parcells made mistakes. Every coach does.

But your logic is becoming hilarious. Schotty gets excuses because of the roster he inherited. Parcells doesn't. Wade gets all the credit for winning with the roster he inherited. Parcells, who largely BUILT that roster, doesn't.

So inheriting a roster matters when it helps Schotty, doesn't matter when it helps Parcells, and matters again when it helps Wade. You just change the rules every time your previous argument falls apart.

And frankly, there’s probably no point in discussing this any further with someone who genuinely believes Quincy Carter was good enough to be a franchise QB. You are the definition of the Dunning-Kruger effect; incredibly confident while demonstrating you have no idea what you’re talking about.

 

[Nova]

The worst thing that ever happened to the Cowboys was Jerry winning so soon into his tenure. It made him think he had the right stuff to win continuously and underestimate or completely disregard the impact other people had on the team's success.

Absolutely. The further we get from the early 90s, the more apparent it becomes.

I'd trade the dynasty for what a team like the Seahawks have had since 1990. (Rams, Packers, and even the 49ers).

That's partially influenced by the fact that I was too young to really appreciate the early 90s Cowboys. But those teams have shown the ability to retool and compete several times over.

There's always 'hope' that they can do it again, while we're waiting for it to happen by accident.