Post by prossman on Feb 8, 2009 17:23:12 GMT -7
JFE Blog: Oops, I Think I Made Jerry Jones Mad
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Oops, I Think I Made Jerry Jones Mad
OK, the "I think" is probably unnecessary. At least based on my conversation with him Thursday.
A little background: I spend my Thursdays with Galloway and Co. on ESPN 103.3. And this Thursday, Mr. Randy of S-T fame, Brian Estridge and myself were discussing what almost "senior team consultant" Dan Reeves had said led to him bolting Valley Ranch after only 48 hours on the job.
Reeves, in a nutshell, said a single, contractual sticking point had derailed what he thought to be a done deal. "Let's just put it this way," he said, "in the 39 years that I've been coaching in the National Football League, I never had that in my contract. Well, he said it was important for him that it was in there."
So we, like everybody else, and don't pretend you weren't, were speculating about what this clause might be. And I again reiterated my opinion from my Thursday a.m. online offering which, kind of-sort of, may have said Reeves was smart to run as fast as possible away from this circus where accountability and winning take a back seat to reality shows and shenanigans, especially if Jerry was unwilling to give him control. And I stand by that assertion, then and now. For this Cowboys team to return to prominence, Jerry has to start listening to and empowering his football people to be able to make decisions and follow through.
I do not think Jerry agrees, judging by his introductory remarks when he cold-called Galloway and Co. and talked for 24 minutes Thursday right after we had finished this little clause discussion. And let me quickly note, this is what columnists and fans love about Jerry (even when you really, really want to hate him). He so obviously cares what fans think. He so obviously wants to win. He so obviously wants to add another Super Bowl ring to his collection. And when he screws up, he doesn't hide and go all sensitive like so many owners. He steps right up and goes to the woodshed or explains why he doesn't think he deserves to go. But he is out there. Anyway, this is how the interview started.
"I'm doing fine," Jerry said. "Of course, I have gotten to hear your comments regarding Dan and hearing Jennifer and some of the others. ... I know the effort you make to be accurate on all of your reporting so I thought, well surely, they'd like an accurate interpretation of exactly where I stood and the issue with contract. So, in the spirit of accuracy, knowing Jennifer will poo poo that, too, and I'm smiling when I say that I do want to begin with by saying how much I think of Dan Reeves."
OK, so maybe not mad, just annoyed.
Because Jerry is getting killed about this Reeves screw up, and not just by me, and deservedly so. Reeves told GAC "I really felt like, if I was going to have coaching in my contract, I wanted to have the authority to get those things done. When you just there as really a person that is advising on things, you don't have authority and I don't feel like that's fair. If I am going to be involved in coaching, give me authority to get those things done. So we finally settled on those and I think that was the reason Jerry put some things in there that a coach would and I've just never had those things in my contract."
Jerry countered with: "Absolutely nothing, not one thing to do with control. It had to do with a time element and he agrees that the time required but because of the nature of the contract we wanted to have that included. That's as far as I'm going."
Translation: Jerry wanted to make Dan a coach of some sort when talks began. Dan said only if I have power. Jerry said nobody gets final say-so power here except me (see corroborating Jerry quote below if you don't believe me). Dan says then I'm not a coach. Jerry comes up with senior team consultant role. Dan agrees. According to multiple NFL sources, Jerry then slips a line in the final contract stipulating he maintain the workload of an offensive coordinator. Dan becomes offended, balks, then walks.
So, technically, Jerry is right when he basically said that this deal broke down because of a commitment issues. But do we give Jerry an out based on a technicality?
I do not. The reality is, if he really wanted Dan at Valley Ranch to help clean up this mess, all he had to do was give him a little power to follow through on whatever it was Reeves felt needed to be done. And Jerry made it very clear nobody gets that kind of power except him.
"Not one time with any head coach in 23 years does anyone have an authority to hire a football player, fire a football player, draft a football player, hire a coach, an assistant coach," Jerry said. "In 20 years, not one coach has ever had it. I've always had it. I want to make that clear."
And so at the risk of further angering Jerry (and I really do like him so I feel a little bad about this), I call bs on this he-really-likes-and-respects-Reeves-and-viewed-hiring-him-as-a-real-"opportunity"-to-help-save-the-Cowboys spiel.
Go sell crazy elsewhere, we are all stocked up here. A couple of questions for Jerry:
1. Why not give Reeves power as a coach?
2. Do you really expect us to believe The Jimster did not have the power to hire or fire coaches or players? Or that Big Bill had only as much power as Dave Campo and Chan Gailey? And, if so, then what the hell was the point of bringing them in?
3. If you respect Reeves so much, why put into his contract mandatory work hours like you were worried he might not work? Isn't that a slap in his face? And why when you realized how offensive this was to him, did you not immediately pull it out?
4. And if those performance clauses mean so much to you, why not insist on one for T.O. about catching the ball? Or Ken Hamlin for actually making plays? Or Flozell Adams about offsides penalties? Or Coach Cupcake about playoff wins? I find it laughable that of all the big-money contracts handed out at Valley Ranch in recent seasons, your line in the sand about accountability started with Dan Reeves, who as far as I can sell has never been accused of being a slack butt. Why not trust him, since you say you respect him?
5. What part of "Your Team Has Won A Playoff Game In Over A Decade" do you not get? Do you not see that something needs to change? Do you not get that bringing in a respected coach for a couple of days and then squabbling over whether or not he needs to punch a time card does not fix anything?
Like I said, I like Jerry. I think he's a really good owner. I have even defended him and his right to be GM. What I can not do is slap lipstick on this pig and buy the company line of pretending "commitment" was the only thing that did in this deal. Commitment became an issue because Jerry refused to relinquish any real power when he wanted Dan to have a coaching role.
Do not let that point get lost.
They were talking about a coaching role. Dan wanted power. Jerry said no.
That, and only that, is how they came to discuss consultant and inevitably break up over hours language in the contract. Not to mention, I do not think Jerry should get credit for almost doing the right thing for the Cowboys. The reality is the one guy who maybe could have whipped Coach Cupcake into shape, helped The Redheaded Genius, ridded the place of T.O. and brought some accountability to the franchise left the building and Jerry let him walk.
-- jengel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oops, I Think I Made Jerry Jones Mad
OK, the "I think" is probably unnecessary. At least based on my conversation with him Thursday.
A little background: I spend my Thursdays with Galloway and Co. on ESPN 103.3. And this Thursday, Mr. Randy of S-T fame, Brian Estridge and myself were discussing what almost "senior team consultant" Dan Reeves had said led to him bolting Valley Ranch after only 48 hours on the job.
Reeves, in a nutshell, said a single, contractual sticking point had derailed what he thought to be a done deal. "Let's just put it this way," he said, "in the 39 years that I've been coaching in the National Football League, I never had that in my contract. Well, he said it was important for him that it was in there."
So we, like everybody else, and don't pretend you weren't, were speculating about what this clause might be. And I again reiterated my opinion from my Thursday a.m. online offering which, kind of-sort of, may have said Reeves was smart to run as fast as possible away from this circus where accountability and winning take a back seat to reality shows and shenanigans, especially if Jerry was unwilling to give him control. And I stand by that assertion, then and now. For this Cowboys team to return to prominence, Jerry has to start listening to and empowering his football people to be able to make decisions and follow through.
I do not think Jerry agrees, judging by his introductory remarks when he cold-called Galloway and Co. and talked for 24 minutes Thursday right after we had finished this little clause discussion. And let me quickly note, this is what columnists and fans love about Jerry (even when you really, really want to hate him). He so obviously cares what fans think. He so obviously wants to win. He so obviously wants to add another Super Bowl ring to his collection. And when he screws up, he doesn't hide and go all sensitive like so many owners. He steps right up and goes to the woodshed or explains why he doesn't think he deserves to go. But he is out there. Anyway, this is how the interview started.
"I'm doing fine," Jerry said. "Of course, I have gotten to hear your comments regarding Dan and hearing Jennifer and some of the others. ... I know the effort you make to be accurate on all of your reporting so I thought, well surely, they'd like an accurate interpretation of exactly where I stood and the issue with contract. So, in the spirit of accuracy, knowing Jennifer will poo poo that, too, and I'm smiling when I say that I do want to begin with by saying how much I think of Dan Reeves."
OK, so maybe not mad, just annoyed.
Because Jerry is getting killed about this Reeves screw up, and not just by me, and deservedly so. Reeves told GAC "I really felt like, if I was going to have coaching in my contract, I wanted to have the authority to get those things done. When you just there as really a person that is advising on things, you don't have authority and I don't feel like that's fair. If I am going to be involved in coaching, give me authority to get those things done. So we finally settled on those and I think that was the reason Jerry put some things in there that a coach would and I've just never had those things in my contract."
Jerry countered with: "Absolutely nothing, not one thing to do with control. It had to do with a time element and he agrees that the time required but because of the nature of the contract we wanted to have that included. That's as far as I'm going."
Translation: Jerry wanted to make Dan a coach of some sort when talks began. Dan said only if I have power. Jerry said nobody gets final say-so power here except me (see corroborating Jerry quote below if you don't believe me). Dan says then I'm not a coach. Jerry comes up with senior team consultant role. Dan agrees. According to multiple NFL sources, Jerry then slips a line in the final contract stipulating he maintain the workload of an offensive coordinator. Dan becomes offended, balks, then walks.
So, technically, Jerry is right when he basically said that this deal broke down because of a commitment issues. But do we give Jerry an out based on a technicality?
I do not. The reality is, if he really wanted Dan at Valley Ranch to help clean up this mess, all he had to do was give him a little power to follow through on whatever it was Reeves felt needed to be done. And Jerry made it very clear nobody gets that kind of power except him.
"Not one time with any head coach in 23 years does anyone have an authority to hire a football player, fire a football player, draft a football player, hire a coach, an assistant coach," Jerry said. "In 20 years, not one coach has ever had it. I've always had it. I want to make that clear."
And so at the risk of further angering Jerry (and I really do like him so I feel a little bad about this), I call bs on this he-really-likes-and-respects-Reeves-and-viewed-hiring-him-as-a-real-"opportunity"-to-help-save-the-Cowboys spiel.
Go sell crazy elsewhere, we are all stocked up here. A couple of questions for Jerry:
1. Why not give Reeves power as a coach?
2. Do you really expect us to believe The Jimster did not have the power to hire or fire coaches or players? Or that Big Bill had only as much power as Dave Campo and Chan Gailey? And, if so, then what the hell was the point of bringing them in?
3. If you respect Reeves so much, why put into his contract mandatory work hours like you were worried he might not work? Isn't that a slap in his face? And why when you realized how offensive this was to him, did you not immediately pull it out?
4. And if those performance clauses mean so much to you, why not insist on one for T.O. about catching the ball? Or Ken Hamlin for actually making plays? Or Flozell Adams about offsides penalties? Or Coach Cupcake about playoff wins? I find it laughable that of all the big-money contracts handed out at Valley Ranch in recent seasons, your line in the sand about accountability started with Dan Reeves, who as far as I can sell has never been accused of being a slack butt. Why not trust him, since you say you respect him?
5. What part of "Your Team Has Won A Playoff Game In Over A Decade" do you not get? Do you not see that something needs to change? Do you not get that bringing in a respected coach for a couple of days and then squabbling over whether or not he needs to punch a time card does not fix anything?
Like I said, I like Jerry. I think he's a really good owner. I have even defended him and his right to be GM. What I can not do is slap lipstick on this pig and buy the company line of pretending "commitment" was the only thing that did in this deal. Commitment became an issue because Jerry refused to relinquish any real power when he wanted Dan to have a coaching role.
Do not let that point get lost.
They were talking about a coaching role. Dan wanted power. Jerry said no.
That, and only that, is how they came to discuss consultant and inevitably break up over hours language in the contract. Not to mention, I do not think Jerry should get credit for almost doing the right thing for the Cowboys. The reality is the one guy who maybe could have whipped Coach Cupcake into shape, helped The Redheaded Genius, ridded the place of T.O. and brought some accountability to the franchise left the building and Jerry let him walk.
-- jengel