There was a ton of optimism about the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason. After their defensive woes last season, the team made a ton of investment in that side of the football. But sitting at 3-5, it doesn’t look like the team has figured things out yet.
For a lot of folks, that has turned the attention to head coach Brian Schottenheimer. But after some controversial comments from owner and general manager Jerry Jones, one analyst was perplexed by how he was running the team.
Mike Florio Isn’t a Fan of the Way Jerry Jones Thinks of Head Coaches for the Cowboys
Parting ways with Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys went through an extended search for their next head coach before settling on former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. In his first year, he led the Cowboys to a 7-9-1 record.
But in light of the Micah Parsons trade, a pedestrian defense was seen as the main culprit for their lack of success. This season, even as the NFC East has been a shell of its former self with injuries all around, the Cowboys have failed to establish themselves as true contenders.
A lot of people have therefore called for Schottenheimer’s job, even as they remain dead last on PFN’s Defense Impact Metric. But Jones has made it clear that he isn’t considering a head coaching change. Then he went a step further and claimed that head coaches’ salaries didn’t directly translate into a team’s success.
BE THE GM OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAM: PFN’s Free NFL Mock Draft Simulator
Unfortunately, with successful coaches such as Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and Kyle Shanahan among the league’s highest-paid coaches, Jones’ comments didn’t ring true for the current NFL. Those comments incensed Mike Florio of NBC Sports, who fired back at Jones during a segment on “PFT Live.”
“There is a correlation between coaching pay and coaching quality,” Florio said. “Look at the highest-paid coaches. Why are they the highest-paid coaches? Because they’re the best coaches.”
For Florio, it was a simple equation, as he explained, “So if you want one of the best coaches, you’ve got to pay to get one of the best coaches. It’s proven out time and again. And one hire makes all the difference.”
Pointing to the likes of Reid and Payton, Florio made his stance clear. But going a step further, he even pointed to recent developments in the NFC East division after the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh this offseason.
SET YOUR LINEUPS: PFN’s Free Fantasy Start/Sit Optimizer
“If John Harbaugh is not the coach of that team, the Cowboys have a much better chance of winning that game (in Week 1),” Florio added. “They’re 4-2-1, and they are in first place. It’s happening in his own division. The Giants did everything they had to do. They moved heaven and earth to get John Harbaugh.”
For Florio, given how the NFL worked today and the importance of coaches to a team’s success, Jones’ attitude was puzzling. As a result, he believes there is only one possible explanation:
“How in the world is Jerry Jones blind to that? Is he really lying to himself? I mean, this is one of those categories of he’s either lying or he’s incompetent. Either way, if I’m a Cowboys fan, I’m very concerned, and now I understand why we haven’t played in an NFC Championship since 1995.”
It remains to be seen whether Jones continues to use that logic to justify not making a coaching change. But with head coaching as important as it has ever been in the league, failing to make the right investment in that role can be a make-or-break situation for any team.