Getty New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
In a painstaking admission, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated Tuesday that he came thisclose to employing Bill Belichick.
Appearing on 105.3 The Fan, Jones anecdotally explained the one-off chance to hire Belichick following his 1995 firing as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach. The decision to forgo the now-legendary New England Patriots mastermind, who approached Jones about a job, seems to be regretted to this day.
Per The Athletic’s Jon Machota:
After Bill Belichick was fired by the Cleveland Browns in the mid-90s, he ran into Jerry Jones at a ski resort. Jones said Bill told the Cowboys owner not to forget about him if he had an opening in the future. Jones says he still thinks about that from time to time.
Not many know or remember Belichick as Cleveland’s head man due to his unprecedented success in New England. He spent five years with the Browns and was dismissed after compiling a — gasp! — losing record, going 36-44 across 80 games. Ironically, Belichick joined the Pats in 1996 as an assistant under Bill Parcells before bolting the next year to the New York Jets. He was selected as Parcells’ successor in 1999 but infamously tendered his resignation (on a napkin, no less) after only one day.
In 2000, Belichick was hired by the Patriots and given control of the roster, effectively making him their general manager. We all know what’s transpired in the two decades since: 234 wins, six Super Bowl titles, and three AP NFL Coach of the Year awards.
The Cowboys have had five coaches in that same span. Chan Gailey held the gig from 1998-99 before giving way to Dave Campo (2000-02), Parcells (2003-06), Wade Phillips (2007-2010) and Jason Garrett (2010-present).
Dallas will face Belichick and the Patriots in a nationally-televised road matchup Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
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Jerry Offers Final Statement on Colin Kaepernick, Cowboys
In non-coaching news, Jones doubled down on his disinterest regarding Colin Kaepernick. Without explicitly saying so, Jones declared that current Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush is a better fit for the team than Kaepernick, whose highly anticipated NFL workout Saturday has brought about zero job offers.
“We believe that we’re in great shape relative to our position. … We’re very fortunate right now that our quarterbacking is real good,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan, via The Athletic.
Originally scheduled to take place at the Falcons’ training facility, Kaepernick’s personal Scouting Combine was instead held at a local school roughly an hour away — the goal being transparency from Kaep’s camp. Few media members and even fewer scouts attended the event at Charles Drew High, which Jones believes was a dog-and-pony show.
“That situation from the get-go probably had a lot more that wasn’t about football involved in it and consequently we got the results of that dynamic,” he said.
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