Jerry let Jimmy Johnson call the shots early; after that, it was Larry Lacewell, who was a disaster. The came Bill Parcells, who worked with Lacewell a little. After Parcells, Lacewell was back for a couple of drafts. Finally, Jerry promoted Will McClay. But McClay's modus operandi is to find out what the coaches want, and direct his scouting department to fill the orders of the coaches - which is how you get Taco Charlton instead of T.J. Watt. So, for a decade, Jerry's deference to Garrett and by extension to the other coaches through Will McClay, was holding back the Cowboys. Finally, after Garrett was fired, McClay started filling the orders of McCarthy's coaching staff. Since then, the Cowboys have been good.
In ALL OF THESE CASES, Jerry deferred to either the head coach, the Scouting Director, or some combination of the two. Jerry's skill is in recruiting players (see La'el Collins) and in handling the money. Yes, he does have final say, but as shown in the Johnny Manziel case, he defers to others and is loathe to overrule them. Like any good boss, he provides parameters, and breaks ties when there are disputes. But he isn't a bull in a China Closet when making decisions. He overruled Bill Parcells twice - with Demarcus Ware over Marcus Spears, and in signing Terrell Owens - both of which decisions were based on the pure talent of the players, and Jerry chose to side with Larry Lacewell.
For every decision like that, there are other decisions that he defers to the coaches, which have resulted in negative consequences for the Cowboys - such as refusing to draft Randy Moss because Chan Gailey didn't want him, and drafting Taco Charlton over T.J. Watt because of Rod Marinelli. What most pundits and fans are really complaining about is Jerry talking to the media, which ultimately is completely irrelevant to how the team operates.
For the life of me, I don't know why that bothers so many people. Other than Jimmy Johnson not wanting the share the spotlight with Jerry, his communication with the media has never been a problem for the team. So maybe fans and pundits are still holding a grudge about Jimmy. But Jerry paid millions for the right to talk about the Cowboys, and Jimmy was super-insubordinate in trying to shut Jerry up. If Jimmy wanted full control, then he should have ponied up the money himself. And it wasn't just Jerry that experienced insubordination from Jimmy; Jimmy did the same thing to the President of the University of Miami when he was head coach there. I refuse to blame Jerry for Jimmy being a dark puckered brown hole, regardless of how talented a coach Jimmy was.
You drink...er, ever got drunk in your life? Let's get to the real ethics now...want a quick trial or continue with a blowhart?
