Aikman says Cowboys’ issues start with Jones
Says Dallas needs ‘complete overhaul’ to be elite again
Troy Aikman believes there’s “a lot of dysfunction” within the Dallas Cowboys organization and recommended “a complete overhaul” rather than a simple coaching change.
In a radio interview on KTCK in Dallas on Tuesday morning, the Fox analyst described the Cowboys’ loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night as “a terrible loss,” criticized the team for firing offensive line coach Frank Pollack at the conclusion of last season and indicated that there are significant issues in Dallas regardless of whether Jason Garrett remains its head coach.
“Go through the list and this team, over a long period of time, has been what it’s been. It hasn’t always mattered who the head coach has been,” Aikman said on 1310 The Ticket, according to parts of the interview transcribed by The Dallas Morning News.
“So to me, if you’re asking me, I’d say there has to be a complete overhaul of the entire organization. You can’t just can’t simply replace head coaches and say, ‘Now it’s going to be better.’ No, it’s been shown that it’s not better. And you have to address how everything is being done.
“And there’s been times where I’ve heard Jerry (Jones) say, ‘OK, look, we’re going to do it differently. I’m going to do it differently.’ But it’s the same. Nothing changes. And that to me is the bigger issue, beyond, ‘Yes, coaching’s important, personnel, all those things are important, but how are you going about evaluating? How are you going about running the organization?”
Jones, who owns the team and serves as general manager, said after Monday’s loss that he is not considering firing Garrett before the end of the season. The Cowboys are 3-5 with consecutive games on the road against Atlanta and Philadelphia up next.
In the radio interview, Aikman said he believes Jones’ preference is to retain Garrett, but he also warned that “Jerry has done things after seasons to at least give a fan base hope going into the following year.”
Aikman, who quarterbacked three Super Bowl-winning teams with the Cowboys and has since been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, then noted he believes there is a level of dysfunction within the organization that he believes goes beyond the head coach.
“I talk to people who have been inside the building and have a pretty good understanding of how things are run, and in a lot of ways there’s a lot of dysfunction,” Aikman said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “And that has to change if this team is going to be able to compete on a consistent basis like the teams you look to around the league that seemingly are in the hunt each and every year.”