The false perception Stephen is running Cowboys Football

[Doomsday101]

No I don't agree they all might like to believe Jerry has the final say. Jerry sells.

Well then I can be assured you will no longer place any blame on him, right?

 

[xwalker]

Yeah that is why they discuss and then convince Jerry? if Stephen was running it they would not have to convince Jerry. I have no doubt Stephen and Will McClay have much input and very influential but I have no doubt at all who the final word comes from. I always find it funny though when a pick is a bust it was all Jerry but when a player pans out Jerry had nothing to with it. However that normally comes from small minded people who would cut their nose off before they would ever credit Jerry for anything.

I don't think you are very far from apart from my opinions; whereas, the OP is completely the opposite of my opinions.

I don't know that it really matters what we as fans think; however, the concept of the OP not being able to understand anything that is not spelled out in black and white seems to be a recurring issue at CZ.

People like the OP think that their lack of knowledge is proof of something. If there is not a "link" clearly explaining something, then they'll refuse to believe even the most obvious indications on an issue.

It makes me think of the difference between men with regards to women. Some men just don't function well when it comes to "dating" while other men are much better at it. With most women the man must understand non-verbal communication and many things that are very subtle. Some men think that anytime a pretty girl is nice to them that it means the girl is interested.

I'm a big fan of Jerry and always have been.

I've defended criticism about him in regards to issues like how he fired Landry, etc..

I've said the Cowboys would NOT have won the 3 Super Bowls in the Nineties if Jerry had not purchased the team.

I've said that Jerry won 3 Super Bowls in what is now 30 years which is still a better SB win rate than Landry at 2 in 29.

Having said that, I think we all know Jerry has made some big mistakes, often because of emotion/ego.

The only employees that he has had that would say no to him were Jimmy and Parcells.

Stephen Jones has evolved into someone that can say no to Jerry because he is not an employee per se.

All owners have the final say. Kraft can over-rule Belichick if he wants to do it.

Most of the media believe that Belichick was grooming Jimmy Garoppolo to be the next QB for the Pats and that Kraft said no possibility of Brady departing.

I think we all know that Jerry is never going to officially give up the GM Title. He didn't give it to Parcells despite Parcells appearing to have as much power as most GMs.

It "seemed" that Jerry and his people convinced Parcells to take Ware first. It did not appear that Jerry directly over-ruled Parcells.

Jerry should definitely get credit for being the tie breaker in 2013 when Ciskowski and Garrett wanted to draft the DT Floyd and Marinelli said Floyd was not worth it in his scheme.

That 2013 debacle where Ciskowski didn't work with ALL of the coaches when putting together the draft board was the final straw and Will McClay was promoted above Ciskowski prior to the 2014 draft.

Stephen Jones appeared to have been on the Marinelli side of that difference of opinions.

After that draft, Stephen Jones when asked about Ciskowski “I don’t want to single a guy out, but ... It won’t happen again."

It was shortly after that comment that Will McClay was promoted above Ciskowski.

Then in 2014 they picked Zack Martin over Manziel. Jerry talked about wanting Manziel both before and after that draft. He lamented that he was "sick" that they might regret the decision.

Jerry again used the "I'm sick" reference in 2016 when they didn't trade up and draft Paxton Lynch. He literally said on the radio after that draft that it makes him mad to think about not getting Lynch.

If you listened to the interviews with Jerry and Stephen that year, it was abundantly clear that not drafting Lynch was an SJones decision and that Jerry would have preferred to make the trade.

Jerry and Stephen each have a weekly radio show during the season. I can't imagine anybody that listens to those does not believe that the Cowboys are operating under the SJones plan. The plan being to focus on the draft, avoid big dollar outside free agents, sign low level free agents to fill the gaps, clean up the cap in preparation to sign their own draft picks to 2nd contracts, etc..

SJones explained on radio all of the details about the process leading up to the Amari Cooper trade. He went into detail about getting word late in the week the Raiders were shopping Cooper, SJones telling the Raiders to give him until Monday, then the staff spending the weekend reviewing all aspects of trading for Cooper and finally to Monday when they agreed on the trade.

The DLaw negotiations also showed that SJones was in charge of negotiating that contract. DLaw's agent did multiple interviews afterwards and there was no doubt that Stephen was making the decisions and that Jerry was not involved.

The last time that Jerry appeared to over-ride SJones was in 2015 when they signed Dez to the big contract. This one is not quite as obvious as the other issues I've outlined above, but SJones said before that contract that they have the Franchise Tag for a reason and that they had planned from a cap perspective to be able to carry a player on the Franchise Tag without it putting them in a bind like it had in some years past.

Fast forward to April 2018 when the Cowboys cut Dez. Again, it seems also impossible for anybody that listened to all of the interviews afterwards with Jerry, Stephen and Garrett that Jerry/Garrett wouldn't have cut Dez if strictly making the decision themselves. On the flip-side SJones was almost giddy about it.

On the downside of the SJones decisions, in Feb/March of 2018 he basically empowered Linehan to have full control of all decisions on offense. SJ again in a radio interview, used the example of how it was "not really fair" back when they had Bill Callahan calling plays but didn't empower him to have control over the offense.

Side Note on Callahan: It was 2013 when Callahan called plays and it was often discussed here how Garrett would never really acknowledge when questioned by the media that Callahan would call the plays. It's also well known that Callahan departed the Cowboys for the same job with the Skins despite the Joneses trying to get him to stay. The reason he departed is because he and Garrett basically hated each other and that appears to have started back in 2012 with disagreements over OLine starters and escalated to a point that Jerry forced them to compromise and rotate 2 players at a position.

Some issues where Jerry did appear to exert some influence since 2014:

Randy Gregory: Jerry had multiple discussions directly with Gregory during the draft. According to Jerry he didn't really force the pick of Gregory but he repeatedly made it clear to everyone that he would "take the blame" if the Gregory pick failed due to character/weed related issues.

Jaylon Smith: Similar to Gregory, Jerry repeatedly made it clear that he would "take the blame" if Jaylon couldn't play due to the injury.

Jerry's explanation of "I'll take the blame" points to him not really being the one directly making the picks.

Jerry should get an A for the input on the Jaylon pick.

Most people would give the Cowboys a fail on Gregory but for me that's a grade of Incomplete. Gregory does not accrue time towards true free agency for the seasons that he is suspended and not on the 53 man roster for at least 6 games. His contract will expire but he'll be a restricted free agent until he has 4 accrued seasons of service. It does not take up a roster spot when he is suspended and he does not get paid.

The OP seems desperate to maintain that Jerry is making all GM type decisions because he wants to be able to blame Jerry for all mistakes.

The OP took comments that I made in his other thread and then created this completely new thread in an attempt to dispute that SJones is functioning like the GM for most other teams.

 

[gjkoeppen]

More head in the sand bloviation. Minimizing Stephen's positive impact on the team because you refuse to accept Jerry is relinquishing power, not all but a great deal to his eldest son.

When the league lists Stephen as GM then Stephen will be running the Cowboys. Until then Jerry is still GM and he can ultimately over rule any decisions made by anyone else in the Cowboys organization. Some may not like that but that doesn't change the facts.
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[Diehardblues]

ostriches don't really bury their heads in the sand. that would make no sense at all. neither does your reasoning. Stephen is the new sheriff. any other conclusion would be illogical.

Your late to the party. Lol

The “ Stephens running Cowboys Football “ Guy.

 

[AsthmaField]

I’d agree with this. Stephens always been an important part of the equation.

He was important when we were winning Super Bowls too. And should take some of the responsibility with Daddy for the down years. We certainly weren’t looking too good last year after letting Dez go sitting at 3-4 until Daddy stepped in .

And this is where Jerry still adds to the equation. His ability to make big and bold moves. A boss should take credit If his influence is assisting the process . It’s all about surrounding yourself with the right people.

And despite the criticism of Garretts coaching ability I believe it’s the right combination for Jerry and why he’s probably the Perfect Puppet.

I appreciate your comments here. It always pushes us to expand our knowledge challenging each other. It’s what makes this country great weighing each other’s thoughts compromising on solutions.

You’re speculating that it was Jerry who came up with the idea of bringing in Cooper.

We don’t know who wanted to do that, although I do agree that it the type of move that Jerry likes.

And had Gruden not gone off the reservation and decided to trade Amari, none of this would even matter.

It might have been Stephens idea, or McClay might have suggested it.

Most likely, it was Stephen taking a phone call from Oakland, hearing that Cooper was available, and getting the decision makers together and deciding to do their due diligence on Cooper.

Then, once they had the Cooper info in hand, Stephen, Jerry, McClay, and Garrett all helped come to a consensus to offer a first.

That doesn’t show Jerry still large-and-in-charge. That isn’t trader Jerry flying by the seat of his pants as you imply. That is decision making as it is done in all good franchises.

 

[Diehardblues]

When the league lists Stephen as GM then Stephen will be running the Cowboys. Until then Jerry is still GM and he can ultimately over rule any decisions made by anyone else in the Cowboys organization. Some may not like that but that doesn't change the facts.
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Ditto...But there’s even more evidence.

And most of all shame on Jerry for not giving Stephen more credit for running Cowboys Football. Lol

 

[cern]

When the league lists Stephen as GM then Stephen will be running the Cowboys. Until then Jerry is still GM and he can ultimately over rule any decisions made by anyone else in the Cowboys organization. Some may not like that but that doesn't change the facts.
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in the legal sense you are correct. however, in the world of common sense, stephen is clearly the ad hoc gm of the cowboys. the two biggest personnel decisions made in the last few years, namely the release of dez and dak over romo were clearly made by stephen.

 

[CouchCoach]

The question is now who's going to take responsibility for Garrett? Son is the reason he's there in the first place, they became friends and Garrett became the family favorite because he was an Ivy Leaguer and so was their daughter, who has become best friends with Garrett's wife.

It was helped along by Aikman's prediction that Garrett would be a NFL HC someday. So, the prodigal almost son returns and Son does what he can to get his bud into the HC's chair. And Garrett & Son have been co-conspirators is getting Wade, Owens and Bryant fired. Because when they come together as one, Booger can be influenced.

And let's be aware of one thing, these decisions are not critical to the success of the company. So what if Booger gets influenced and it doesn't work out, the franchise will not suffer one red cent.

I do not think any of us realize what it's like to work the center ring with a net beneath you at all times. I had to make the decisions for radio stations I managed and had to play the "OK, now what's the worst that can happen" game or "what's my exposure"? He has none of that. He can make any decision he wants and he's bulletproof to the negative effect of the wrong decision.

How many CEO's in this country would love to have a company immune to poor decisions? Think they might run them a little differently?

 

[cern]

Ditto...But there’s even more evidence.

And most of all shame on Jerry for not giving Stephen more credit for running Cowboys Football. Lol

one should be expected to do a good job, not constantly praised for doing so. everyone knew rickover was in charge of the navy's nuclear power program during the height of the cold war. doubt anyone can name a single submarine commanding officer during that same time.

 

[gjkoeppen]

in the legal sense you are correct. however, in the world of common sense, stephen is clearly the ad hoc gm of the cowboys. the two biggest personnel decisions made in the last few years, namely the release of dez and dak over romo were clearly made by stephen.

As another poster said, unless any of us sit in on their meetings and discussions all of those saying Stephen is running things is nothing more than guess work and/or opinions. Like I said until the league lists Stephen as GM, Jerry is still the one in charge.
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[JoeKing]

When the league lists Stephen as GM then Stephen will be running the Cowboys. Until then Jerry is still GM and he can ultimately over rule any decisions made by anyone else in the Cowboys organization. Some may not like that but that doesn't change the facts.
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Keep repeating that. It needs to be said over and over again. Maybe if it's said enough, it will even be true.

Jerry's power lies with the rubber stamp he's put his secretary in charge of. It doesn't matter if he's not making the actual decisions. As long as his rubber stamp is on it, Jerry gets the credit. Stephen and Will are good with this because they are well versed at how the sausage is made.

 

[cern]

The question is now who's going to take responsibility for Garrett? Son is the reason he's there in the first place, they became friends and Garrett became the family favorite because he was an Ivy Leaguer and so was their daughter, who has become best friends with Garrett's wife.

It was helped along by Aikman's prediction that Garrett would be a NFL HC someday. So, the prodigal almost son returns and Son does what he can to get his bud into the HC's chair. And Garrett & Son have been co-conspirators is getting Wade, Owens and Bryant fired. Because when they come together as one, Booger can be influenced.

And let's be aware of one thing, these decisions are not critical to the success of the company. So what if Booger gets influenced and it doesn't work out, the franchise will not suffer one red cent.

I do not think any of us realize what it's like to work the center ring with a net beneath you at all times. I had to make the decisions for radio stations I managed and had to play the "OK, now what's the worst that can happen" game or "what's my exposure"? He has none of that. He can make any decision he wants and he's bulletproof to the negative effect of the wrong decision.

How many CEO's in this country would love to have a company immune to poor decisions? Think they might run them a little differently?

every marriage begins with the words to love and honor, until death. half end in divorce in 10 years or so. we're coming up on 10 years.

 

[cern]

As another poster said, unless any of us sit in on their meetings and discussions all of those saying Stephen is running things is nothing more than guess work and/or opinions. Like I said until the league lists Stephen as GM, Jerry is still the one in charge.
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I think it's common sense, based on the decisions of late. gm is just a title.

 

[visionary]

I’m not talking about the last 20 something years V. I’m talking about the last several. Things are different now than they were 10 years ago. They are light years away from what they were 20 years ago.

This team is among the winningest this decade. They have corrected Jerry’s salary cap mess and are in great shape there. The roster is full of young, talented players, and their drafting might be the best in the league.

That is what teams try to be. It is being done the right way.

If Everything was the exact same except Jerry was no longer in the franchise, everyone would be saying that this is a whole new franchise and nothing like the 1999 Cowboys. With Jerry still there though, everyone says they’re the same old Cowboys.

Well they’re not. This franchise is run completely differently than it was.

When it was the old Jerry teams, the on-field product showed how poorly the franchise was run. You can’t hide inept.

Now, with a franchise well run like it is now... it shows. The roster, the record, the salary cap all show how well run the team is.

As for Garrett, I know people want him gone, and he may well be in his last year. I feel you and I don’t pretend to know the right answer with Garrett.

However, if they’ve held on to a guy that has only had one losing season, has appeared to improve over time, has won the division 3 out of 5 years and has the second best record over the last 3 years... well, keeping him doesn’t make this a dysfunctional team. You can question their decision to hold on to him, but it is hard to quibble with anything else they’ve done.

For me, the bottom line is that I trust this current regime in a way I haven’t trusted the Cowboys since the day Jimmy left and Michael Irvin was throwing trash cans at reporters.

For me the bottom line is winning Conf CGs and SBs which is what this franchise used to be all about

Now we’re about relevance and winning regular season games and that somehow is great

Like I said, different strokes for different folks

 

[visionary]

if JG goes 20 yrs as HC without at least competing for a conference title then he deserves to be replaced, then I agree,

I’ll let your own ridiculous statement define you

 

[CouchCoach]

in the legal sense you are correct. however, in the world of common sense, stephen is clearly the ad hoc gm of the cowboys. the two biggest personnel decisions made in the last few years, namely the release of dez and dak over romo were clearly made by stephen.

To some maybe that want that to be the case but not to me.

I might give some consideration to the "Son worshippers" if I had not seen that shot from the war room right before the McGovern pick. And the one thing that puzzles me is this embracing him as the man to guide it to glory. There are sons of owners running AZ, CIN and OAK as cause for celebration?

 

[cern]

To some maybe that want that to be the case but not to me.

I might give some consideration to the "Son worshippers" if I had not seen that shot from the war room right before the McGovern pick. And the one thing that puzzles me is this embracing him as the man to guide it to glory. There are sons of owners running AZ, CIN and OAK as cause for celebration?

I saw that same shot on tv, and came up with a completely different conclusion than yours. I saw a group in agreement with eachother. just as it should be. as for sons of other clubs, I could care less. I can't stand jerry the gm. I have nothing for praise for Stephen the ad hoc gm.

 

[Diehardblues]

For me the bottom line is winning Conf CGs and SBs which is what this franchise used to be all about

Now we’re about relevance and winning regular season games and that somehow is great

Like I said, different strokes for different folks

Does Stephen get credit for lowering the Bar here this era. Or is on Jerry ? Lol

Let me guess.. Stephen only gets credit for the good stuff. Jerry the bad.

Than goodness Jerry’s still the boss or we’d of missed the playoffs last year.

 

[TwentyOne]

Interesting how these better decisions begin with Garrett taking over in 2011. About the same time some are professing Stephen begin running Cowboys Football.
Lol ..I smell an agenda.

I do too ;-)

But then SJ was here way before Garrett. He also had some quotes after Garrett arrived like "cap space always makes me chuckle". Well we were in cap hell at that time and he didnt show me anything afterwards that showed he is capable of changing things. That comment alone gave me shivers.

When they finally put Will McClay at the GM position ( i know he isnt officially called that but imo in essenence thats what he does) things changed. I do think Garrett had his hand into that too.

SJ may be the one who has the final words with contracts. But the important work do others. I dont view SJ as the SC guru or genius some like to call him. No, things changed after the personal changes finally took place. That to me was Garretts influence but it took him some time to righten the ship.

Now i am just thankful for how we are set up. If we can keep this personal around we all can look out for great seasons to follow.

 

[cern]

I’ll let your own ridiculous statement define you

your ability to grasp sarcasm is tantamount to Sheldon cooper's.