Saturday, January 10, 1998

New coach to replace ISP isn't the answer for Cowboys

By Randy Galloway / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS -- Outside of the humor caused by the continuous contradictions, Friday's exit scene at Valley Ranch was a waste of valuable time, certainly for Jerry Jones.

Jerry should have been on the street, searching for a real head coach. Provided, of course, he really wants a real head coach.

In a minor development, Insignificant Sideline Personnel (ISP) took flight Friday, not even bothering to be present for his own burial. But there were a few laughs anyway.

A statement, said to be penned by ISP, was passed out to the gathered media mass, where the claim was made that ISP had voluntarily resigned for the good of the Cowboys.

Jones then took the podium. In a rambling address, where he was stumbling over words and not making sense half the time, Jones, normally a fluid speaker, praised ISP as if he had been the second coming of Vince Lombardi.

If Jerry believed a word of it, he wouldn't have been firing ISP on Friday, and by the time Jerry was finished with his statement, he was basically telling the world this was a firing. Which, of course, it was.

ISP has nothing else to do. He would have loved to stay around Valley Ranch, making a million bucks a year and impersonating a "head coach." ISP even publicly pleaded for his job as the 6-10 disaster of a '97 season came crashing to an end.

But Jones, the close personal friend of ISP, he says, didn't even allow his man to remain on the property. Jerry wouldn't give him a desk in a broom closet. All ties with the Cowboys were severed.

Mark it down on the historical calendar of one of America's great sports franchises -- on Jan. 9, 1998, Jerry Jones admitted his stupidity of four years earlier.

Unfortunately, it is way, way, way too late.

Void of football leadership for four seasons, the Cowboys have within that period been quickly downgraded from dynasty to ding-dong status. It was a team that grew old and wobbly under the ISP watch. Drafts were wasted, and free-agent signings were jokes. Again, no football leadership.

Jones, trying to shovel his disaster under the rug, wanted to stress again Friday that four years ago was the right time for ISP. But there is never a right time for weakness at the top of a football structure.

Daryl Johnston said it all on ESPN over the weekend. Starting four seasons ago, an erosion of discipline and work ethic descended upon Valley Ranch, and the downfall of a once-great team quickly followed.

Again, the only thing remotely important about Friday was this preliminary event had to happen before the main event. The official removal of the coach in place was a necessary procedure. Now the way has been cleared for the right replacement to be hired.

But that, of course, puts a load of responsibility on Jones, probably more than his ego can handle.

A real head coach will not come here and work under the thumb of Jones. This will be a tough enough job as is. The destruction of the Cowboys over the last four years is so widespread, there may not be a quick fix. Or any fix at all.

But with Jones meddling, that's another dimension which will eliminate qualified candidates. At the moment, there is no reason to believe the meddling will stop. Jones made statements Friday confirming he plans to remain an out-of-control, sideline-prowling owner.

Start with this Jerry quote:

"I pretty well know the direction we will go, offensively and defensively." Jones personally is overseeing what the football philosophy will be in 1998 without input from the head coach, still waiting to be hired.

Jones also noted that, by gosh, upcoming free agency and the upcoming draft "are not an urgency for a new coach to be here." That means Jerry wants to handle it himself.

And there's more. Jerry has indicated for weeks he will personally rehire several assistant coaches, which means the new head guy won't have control of his own staff.

All this smacks of Jerry eventually ending up with another ISP hire. If that's the case, he should have kept the one he had. For laughs, if nothing else.

What happened under the ISP watch should not be blamed on ISP. That falls in Jones' lap. So does the responsibility for hiring a replacement. Chances appear slim that Jerry will make amends.

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(Randy Galloway is a sports columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Write to him at: Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, Dallas, Texas 75265.)