There’s only one surprising tidbit in the revelation that Jerry Jones and Deion Sanders have had a discussion about the head coaching vacancy with the Cowboys.

How was Jones able to place the call before Sanders picked up his cell to initiate contact?

Sanders gets to remind officials at the University of Colorado that he’s a hot commodity while he prods for an extension. Jones redirects the conversation from his culpability in the Cowboys’ current condition while offering fans and candidates a reminder that this is a high-profile job coaches crave.

Jones, the Cowboys owner and chief content creator, has done it again. Ryan Reynolds didn’t generate this much initial buzz for Deadpool & Wolverine.

But what happens in the coming days and weeks as the search unfolds and the idea of Jones and Sanders turns out to be more of a marriage of marketing convenience than a reality? Will the words of Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, who pointed out Monday that the job can be high-profile without being coveted, prove to be right?

The Cowboys will have no shortage of qualified candidates. There are enough veteran coaches searching for a fond farewell along with young, up-and-coming talents looking for their first big break to keep that pool stocked.

Back to Aikman’s point, there are other dynamics in play. One is the relative value Jones places on the position of head coach.

It was nearly 31 years ago in a hotel bar that Jones told reporters, “there are 500 coaches who could have won the Super Bowl with our team.‘’ A few days later the partnership between Jones and Jimmy Johnson came to an acrimonious end.

As he stood outside of the Cowboys locker room a few days ago after the loss to Washington to end the regular season, Jones was asked if he had a list of coaches ready if he moved on from Mike McCarthy. Jones again landed on that number, saying there would be “about 500 of them down there (Senior Bowl trip) that would love to be on the staff.‘’

Hyperbole? Sure. Jones rarely makes a point without one.

What you haven’t heard Jones say is there are 500 pass rushers who can do what Micah Parsons does or 500 quarterbacks who could start for the Cowboys.

Jones is willing to pay his top players big money because he believes they add rare value to the team’s potential success. He doesn’t hold coaches in the same regard. To him, their value is squeezed by the players on one side and by the management structure in place on the other.

Here’s another point. Past coaching hires have allowed Jones to sell hope to the fan base that a new voice, a new approach, will make a difference. That’s a tougher sell than ever.

Why? More than any other time, the ire of fans feels directly aimed at Jones. This past season was as much of a referendum on what Jerry and Stephen Jones didn’t do to build on a team that went 12-5 in three consecutive seasons as it was on the job done by McCarthy and his staff.

If you think that’s hyperbole, you weren’t at AT&T Stadium for the playoff game between UT and Ohio State. When Jones’ face flashed on the jumbotron as one of the celebrities in attendance, the crowd broke out in a comically loud boo.

The search for the 10th head coach in franchise history began with a call to Deion Sanders.

It will be interesting to see how it ends.

Catch David Moore and co-host Robert Wilonsky on Intentional Grounding on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) every Wednesday night at 7 o’clock through the Super Bowl.

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Mike McCarthy’s future has been sorted out in Dallas, and there won’t be one with the Cowboys. As for his defensive coordinator in Mike Zimmer? The question becomes a little more murky.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the 68-year old assistant is keeping his options open, even willing to return to the Cowboys should that be the desire of decision-makers. He could feasibly retire, or continue his coaching career elsewhere — nothing seems to be off the table.

“#Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer tells me ‘all options are open’ on his future after Dallas and Mike McCarthy parted ways Monday,” Pelissero reported. “Zimmer and other Dallas assistants whose contracts expired are now allowed to interview elsewhere. ‘I really enjoy coaching,’ Zimmer said.”

Zimmer made a name for himself as an assistant in Dallas from 1994 until 2006. He finally got a chance to lead a franchise in 2014 with the Minnesota Vikings, where he coached until 2021. He spent two seasons with Deion Sanders at Jackson State and Colorado as an analyst until the Cowboys called upon him to return in 2024.

Meanwhile, McCarthy’s Cowboys finished the 2024 season with a 7-10 record. The last time the Cowboys had a losing record was in 2020 when they finished 6-10. That was McCarthy’s first year in Dallas, and he then led the Cowboys to three consecutive 12-5 seasons. 

After the Cowboys lost to the Washington Commanders in Week 18, McCarthy said he wanted to be with the team going forward. “Absolutely. I have a lot invested here, and the Cowboys have a lot invested in me,” he said, per the Cowboys’ official website.  “And then there’s a personal side to all these decisions. So, they all point in the right direction.”

McCarthy then explained why he should continue to be the Cowboys head coach. “I don’t like to talk about myself that way, but I’ll just be clear: I’m a winner. I know how to win. I’ve won a championship. I won a championship in this building,” McCarthy said. “And that’s who I am. We’ll see where it goes.”

Moving forward, multiple teams are expected to speak with Mike McCarthy about their vacancy, like the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. Regardless, it didn’t work out in Dallas, and the Cowboys are moving in a different direction going forward. Whether Mike Zimmer is part of their plans remains to be seen.

Why would Dallas ever hand over 18 acres of prime real estate within its city limits to University Park?

Yet that’s what University Park asked Dallas to do as part of a boundary adjustment application that would have shifted a school and church along Northwest Highway out of Dallas.

After the request hung around City Hall for about two years, Dallas City Council members rightly questioned the proposed land gift during a summer briefing of its Quality of Life, Arts & Culture committee. University Park has since withdrawn its application after being told its approval was “unlikely,” a spokesperson for the affluent city of 25,000 told us in an email.

We’re glad to hear it and support the far more reasonable approach of hammering out an agreement to address University Park’s underlying concerns. Dallas council member Gay Donnell Willis, whose District 13 includes the area, told us conversations between the two cities are active and ongoing.

The issue arose out of concerns of families at Michael M. Boone Elementary School, which opened in 2020 at 8385 Durham St. The school is within the city of Dallas and part of the Highland Park Independent School District, but about 80% of school families reside in University Park.

Willis said families have reported confusion between Dallas and University Park first responders over which city should answer calls from the school. They also had concerns over street and drainage problems around the school, as well as conflicting signage rules between the two cities and the school district.

University Park initially asked that Dallas’ boundary adjustment include only the school. But the application was amended to include Northway Christian Church because state law required the boundary in question to be contiguous to University Park, according to a city memo. HPISD also later joined the application. Both sites, plus rights of way, total about 18 acres.

“Moving a boundary of the city of Dallas is a really big deal,” Willis said. “There is a way to solve this without taking that measure.”

Council member Paul Ridley was a bit more pointed. “I just don’t like the idea that we are abandoning part of our property to an adjacent city that thinks they can service it better than we can,” he said at the committee meeting.

This isn’t just any property, either. A stone’s throw from NorthPark Center, this is some of the most valuable real estate in the city. The school and church don’t generate property tax revenue for Dallas, but a city staff memo said that if ever converted to homes, the land could generate an average of $3 million a year in tax revenue.

We are glad Dallas won’t consider moving its boundary. Doing so would encourage similar applications from other cities. Still, the Boone Elementary families are in a predicament; Dallas should help them out of it.

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