Thursday, January 29, 1998

Jones to meet with Sherman Lewis for a second interview

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones scheduled another meeting today with Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis about the Cowboys' head coaching vacancy, according to published reports.

The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported today that Lewis would be in Dallas today to discuss the position.

Lewis is at least the third candidate Jones has interviewed to replace Barry Switzer, whose resignation was announced Jan. 9. Lewis described getting the second interview with Jones as reaching the semifinals.

Lewis, 55, has spoken with Arizona and Atlanta about employment in the last few years, but he does not classify those as legitimate job interviews compared with his discussions with Jones.

"I was hoping that I could get to the next stage," Lewis told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "This is like getting to the semis."

Jones declined to say if there are additional candidates for the job. He also declined to say if he plans to ask the Denver Broncos for permission to talk to offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.

So far, it is known that he has met with Lewis, former San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert and former UCLA coach Terry Donahue.

Jones interviewed Lewis for more than two hours Monday morning, the day after Denver beat the Packers 31-24 in the Super Bowl. And the Cowboys owner also met for second interviews Monday with Donahue and Seifert.

Jones said Wednesday he planned to speak to Seifert and Donahue again later in the day and added that it is likely he could meet with them again.

The owner told the Star-Telegram he likely won't complete his search for a new coach this week.

Jones said he has talked to players such as Deion Sanders and Charles Haley, who played for San Francisco, about how Seifert interacts with players. He also has talked to players on various teams who played for Donahue at UCLA.

Former Cowboys defensive coordinator Butch Davis created some excitement when he showed up at the team's Valley Ranch headquarters Wednesday. Both Jones and Davis said the University of Miami head coach just dropped by while in the area on a recruiting trip.

"Every year Butch has come by when recruiting. We did not discuss the job or any aspects of the job," Jones said. "It was a good general visit. He has never interviewed for the job."

Davis entered and left the headquarters through a private back entrance. Jones said he did so because he any speculation linking him with the Dallas job could hurt his recruiting efforts at Miami.