4 words prevent the Cowboys from being consistently competitive

The Dallas Cowboys’ problems start at the top and need to be called out

The biggest impediment to the continued success of the Dallas Cowboys can be boiled down to four words: General Manager Jerry Jones.

Fans of America’s Team just got through another painfully disappointing season. The team finished the year 6-10 and will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The Cowboys’ last ten years can be defined by one word, mediocrity. Since 2010 the organization has only managed to have four seasons with a winning record, three of which have happened in the past four years. However, this word could also be used to reasonably describe the past 25 years for Dallas.

This problem of mediocrity and inconsistency persists through coaching changes, quarterback changes, and personnel changes writ large. The fact that America’s Team, once one of the (rightfully) proudest organizations in American sports has been reduced to a perpetual state of mediocrity is profoundly depressing.

This problem also extends into the playoffs. Dallas has only won three playoff games in the 21st century and has not even been to an NFC Championship game since1995 (the team also won the Super Bowl that year).

Fans and analysts alike have tackled the question of why Dallas has been so inconsistent over the past five years. Some have placed the blame at the feet of the teams’ quarterback Dak Prescott who took over as the teams’ signal-caller back in 2016. Meanwhile, some have pointed to the coaching staff or complained about the “heart” of the team.

The problem with these theories is that Dallas has been struggling with these issues since Prescott was in diapers and the reason the organization has consistently failed to find and retain good coaches is that Jones has failed to hire and retain them. Jones has often been careless with the organizations’ cap space as well and has offered good players contracts befitting legends (cough, Ezekiel Elliott).

The Dallas Cowboys will continue to struggle until Jerry Jones gives up at least some control of the team. Whether that means formally stepping down as general manager or simply allowing the coaching staff more leeway to make major decisions (like he did with Jimmy Johnson during the teams’ “golden years”) something has to change.

This once great franchise has become consumed by mediocrity and the problem starts at the top and like most problems’ the first step to solving it is to acknowledge that it exists.