He should have approached it that way with Jimmy Johnson as he went against the grain hiring a college guy back then. He made the perfect hire as the GM but that has never filled that hole in him.
If you've seen the SEC special "Before They Were Cowboys", it is very revealing about what Booger really wanted to do but the money wasn't in it back then. He and Johnson were both influenced and inspired to go into coaching by Switzer because of his charisma and energy and their respect for Broyles.
What he's always wanted to be is the coach but he won't take that risk. It's no coincidence that his mentor, even going back to his desire to buy the Chargers, was the most involved owner/GM in the history of the AFL. Before he became Crazy Al, he was as good a football man as there had been in the NFL and Madden attested to that. He was the AFC equivalent to Paul Brown and George Halas.
Booger is the once removed HC of the Cowboys and only stopped going down to the field during games when he realized he couldn't be hands off. He makes announcements the other 31 HC's make.
Booger irritates me because of his spotlight seeking personality and the fact he can't speak after 29 years of hogging the mic but as the GM, he does not irritate me and I give him credit for learning. It took mistakes, sometimes repetitive mistakes, but I think he finally got it. I think he's done a fine job on the talent side of it but his coaching side leaves a lot to be desired but considering his motive, it is completely understandable. Should Garrett do anything, Booger will get credit for that and Garrett will make sure that happens. That is Garrett's gift, he understands what his boss wants and needs more than anything else.
Several years back, Booger made this tongue in cheek comment to the local media about "getting some credit if the team won another" only if you looked really closely at his smile and his eyes, that was anything but tongue in cheek. The man is crazy successful but still lacks that which eludes him, that which completes him in his own mind.