A Six Pack of Coaches

With it painfully obvious that the Dallas Cowboys will have a new head coach next season I wanted to bring up some names that hopefully Jerry Jones will consider.

1. Bill Cowher (current CBS studio analyst and former Steelers Head Coach). He is the first and most obvious choice and I know I’ll hear that “No Way does a former Steelers coach come to Dallas” yeah ask the Giants about what they thought the chance of Parcells crossing over to the dark side. Jerry is going to have to take a serious step back when it comes to personnel decisions and make Bill the highest paid coach in the history of the league for this to happen. While logically it appears a long shot again it worked with Parcells for a few years. If Cowher wants to come to a high profile job, with a loaded roster and an owner who will spend whatever it takes to win Dallas is clearly his best option as stops in Carolina or Oakland would require an entire roster purge. The biggest stumbling block for Jones might be getting an endorsement from Chan Gailey for Cowher to come work for him in Big D as Cowher is known to have endorsement Gailey to replace him in Pittsburgh.

2. Tony Dungy (current NBC studio analyst and former Colts Head Coach). While it is a long long shot at best it would still be worth a conversation and Coach Dungy might realize how much more he can do for his outside causes while being connected as the head coach of the Cowboys. It appears that Coach Dungy is rare in that when he says he done he means it but it would still be wise for Jerry to make a call to the cerebral coach Dungy.

3. Jon Gruden….If Jerry strikes out with both those calls his next call needs to be to ESPN MNF host and former Tampa Bay and Oakland Head Coach. Gruden has the ego just big enough to take on this job and is not afraid to ruffle some veteran feathers. While I think it will take some serious convincing to get either Cowher or Dungy, I think Gruden is used to dealing with meddlesome owners and would come in with a list of demands on staff and some scouting personnel but would be more open to work with Jerry. Coach Gruden is someone who quietly politicked for the Notre Dame job a few years back so it would make sense that he take the equivalent of it and become the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

4. Marty Schottenheimer—likely retired from coaching but did not get the chance to go out on his own terms and might be tempted by the loaded roster of the Cowboys to show he can take a team to the Super Bowl. Again a long shot but a heck of a coach who I would certainly reach out to and gauge his interest.

5. Butch Davis---If Jerry wants to go the college route with a familiar face the likely first guy would be North Carolina’s Butch Davis. With what he has gone through this year with agent-gate he could be looking at giving the NFL another run as the Cleveland job may have been an example of too much power too fast. Plus if you fail in Cleveland that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t coach in the NFL (see Bill Belichick).

6. Bob Stoops ---If Jerry decided to go the college route with no ties to NFL his best option is sitting at Norman in Bob Stoops. He’s still young enough to relate to the current player, brash enough to take on the challenge and has the eye for talent to keep the Cowboys roster loaded for a serious playoff run for many years.