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Monday, May 5, 1997

By Randy Galloway

The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS - Jerry Jones has been a busy, busy man. Many fences needed mending at his Valley Ranch compound, and Jerry got a late start. Something about several years of either being in denial or conveniently ignoring the truth.

But in the early spring, Jones promised changes - big changes. As it turned out, he wasn't just whistling "Lying Eyes."

Jerry, of course, can be trusted about as far as you can throw Nate Newton. Maybe all this is cosmetic makeup. Maybe, too, he decided to build a fence after the cows got out. A team's image is an acquired taste. Can you have it turned off that long, then suddenly flip a switch to make it all right again? The Cowboys' paying customers and sponsors eventually will be the judge.

For now, however, Jones appears to have things back on a positive track at Valley Ranch. At least he's no longer kidding himself by saying, "We don't have a problem," or, my personal favorite, "Our bad guys are no different than other teams' bad guys."

Jones has stepped in and revamped the training-camp regimen, meaning the Cowboys will work long hours in Austin, instead of travel the globe. I just hope Barry Switzer can hold up in all that sun.

Then, of course, he announced his intention to bring in an army of "lifestyle counselors," under the direction of a noble couple, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Hill. Jones obviously wants to flush out the locker-room mice before they grow into rats.

Security also will be heavy at Valley Ranch, which apparently means everyone who enters the door will be frisked for guns, drugs and hidden cameras. If so, Dennis Pedini will have to get a real job.

But all of these changes are minor, and maybe superficial, when compared to Jones' biggest off-season coup of all. And this is the one Jerry REALLY wanted.

Troy Aikman is now on board, riding shotgun with Jones.

For a team without a real head coach, and Jones' ego still will not allow him to address that, Jones desperately needed his most high-profile player to believe in what he was doing. Forget Barry. He's just there, the same as always, doing whatever Jerry says.

It was Aikman who demanded more discipline in Austin, and Aikman who wanted the team's image crisis to be met head on. Jerry complied. Heck, for the draft, he even made Aikman the world's highest-paid scout.

Therefore, Aikman, who in February talked both openly and privately about retiring, now comes across as the most enthusiastic he's been since Jimmy Johnson hacked off an over-served Jones.

"Jerry," Aikman said last week, "is doing a great job."

For Aikman's sake, and that of Darren Woodson, Kevin Smith, Chad Hennings, Tony Tolbert, etc., let's hope he's right. Then again, Marshall Applewhite must have been pretty convincing, too.

Aikman is not naive, and he's also one of the few who saw what was coming, coming. And said so four years ago. I don't think Jones can dupe him. If not, then his feeling are genuine.

"I just think it has been an extremely positive off-season for the team," said Aikman. "I'm excited about our approach to everything - on the field and off. What we have is a re-emphasis of the things that are important, starting with the discipline any team needs.

"We are talking about getting down to football basics again. Talking about a work ethic. We haven't had this in awhile."

And when Aikman starts passing around the praise, he begins at the top of the Cowboys' pecking order.

"It's coming from Jerry," he said. "Jerry has initiated the changes. To me, Jerry has handled the off-season very well. And I'm not one who believes he has been motivated because of a fear of losing money with his sponsors or advertisers.

"I don't think Jerry liked what we had become as a team, image-wise or anything else, any more than any of the rest of us. To change it, it had to start with Jerry. I commend him for taking a lead role and then doing a good job."

Jerry is someone who needed a Valley Ranch friend. Not one of his bootlickers - there are several of those on the coaching staff and in the locker room - but someone who would tell him the truth.

With Aikman aboard, Jones' off-season became a personal success. But give it awhile, and we'll see if Aikman still has this same opinion.

(Randy Galloway is a sports columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Write to him at: Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, Dallas, Texas 75265.)

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