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You can bet Jerry Jones is up to something

By Gil LeBreton

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

The news from New York - i.e., that Owner Jones might one day become Coach Jethro - brought a chuckle and a wry smile to most faces.

I suspect, however, that down in Miami Jimmy Johnson wore a daylong smirk and that Vince Lombardi probably spun a time or two in his grave.

Oh, that wacky Jerry. First, Pepsi. Then, strutting onto the sidelines with Nike's Phil Knight. Now, this "New York Times" story, wherein Jones said he may or may not, while suggesting that he could or could not, all the while hinting that he has the itch to and yet doesn't, one day coach the Cowboys.

I get it. Sort of like human Nintendo.

If Owner Jones does, indeed, ever become Coach Jethro, put me down. I want season tickets.

Better yet, I want to be in Norman, Okla., sitting on that sofa, watching the game alongside Barry Switzer. Please, coach, no loose weapons.

Few bystanders, of course, will take this latest Jones manifesto seriously. Cowboys fans will ring it up to some Yankee reporter cornering Owner Jones and then twisting his Arkansas wisdom to make him appear foolish.

Except, alas, this was "The New York Times," and Owner Jones has the media savvy to know to whom he's speaking. You only have to see Jones' face light up when "Sports Illustrated" comes to town to know this.

Once an easy target, prone to run-on sentences and thoughts that resembled shanked punts, the King of the Cowboys has elevated himself over the years from Owner Jethro to Owner Jones. From hillbilly owner to semi-welcomed denizen of Highland Park. From "socks and jocks" to rings and more rings.

Which is why I'm having a hard time believing that the esteemed esteemed "Times" caught Jones off guard. He just doesn't wander that far off-course much anymore.

The question is, why didn't he dismiss the coaching question immediately when it was brought up? And why even be associated with such a remark now - after Switzer's little pistol-packing incident and all?

Is Jones that calculating? There are about a half-billion dollars in his personal bank account that answer yes.

Most owners, Jones included, would know how to answer a loaded question like, "Would you ever want to coach this team?"

Most would see it as an open entree to launch an impassioned endorsement of their current head coach. Most would dismiss the notion as folly.

Most, except maybe Oakland's Al Davis. The same Al Davis who, in many ways, is Jones' kindred spirit in NFL affairs. Jones has long been equal parts rascal and Al Davis wannabe.

But Davis was once a real coach. Owner Jones knows better.

I think.

Where he errs are in the subliminal messages being sent. He once said that any one of 500 living males could coach the Cowboys to ongoing success. It didn't say much for how highly he values the daily impact that an NFL head coach brings.

Now, in a way, Owner Jones suggests that the job is so brainless, all it takes is a good background in oil and gas.

Not exactly a vote of confidence for Switzer, is it?

Coach Boomer reacted with rare aplomb, dismissing the "Times" story with a line about the media and a classic quote about the values of coaching experience. It bears repeating.

"I think that's the problem anyone would have - that you wouldn't know," Switzer said. "You don't know that you don't know, but you don't know. It's as simple as that, and he doesn't (know) either."

On second thought, maybe Jones could coach.

But seriously, the owner did not do any favors for his head coach in the "Times" interview. Having failed to laud Coach Boomer with faint praise, he now damns him with a wistful remark about he, too, wanting to coach the Cowboys.

Oh, the story will die. But it will be unearthed again, you watch, whenever Switzer misses a step or packs another loaded gym bag. Jerry's words have a way of taking on a spirited life of their own.

The feeling here is that he knows that.

The question here is, why say them now?

(Gil LeBreton is a sports columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Write to him at: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, Texas, 76101.)