Jones' Cowboys have just two playoff victories since Aikman retired in '01GETTY IMAGES
Troy Aikman said that he "believes major organizational changes will be needed" if the Cowboys are not able to "turn it around" in the second half of this season, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Those changes "could include" the role for Owner Jerry Jones, the "one constant during a parade of coaches." Aikman, Fox' main NFL analyst and a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Cowboys during his HOF career, said, "There has to be a complete overhaul of the entire organization." He added, "I've heard Jerry say, 'OK, look, we're going to do it differently. I'm going to do it differently.' ... But it's the same. Nothing changes. And that to me is the bigger issue. ... Yes, coaching is important, personnel, all those things are important, but how are you going about evaluating how you're going about running the organization?" Aikman: "I talk to people who have been inside the building and have a pretty good understanding [of] how things are run, and in a lot of ways there's a lot of dysfunction, and that has to change if this team is going to be able to compete on a daily basis like the teams that you look to around the league that seemingly are in the hunt each and every year" (ESPN.com, 11/6).
KEEPING UP WITH JONES: Aikman also said that Jones "running the team" as GM has been the "lone constant in the repeated failure." In Ft. Worth, Clarence Hill Jr. notes Aikman has "long said the end of his career was as frustrating as the beginning of his career was enjoyable because of the chaos [and] lack of discipline in the franchise under Jones" after coach Jimmy Johnson was fired after winning two Super Bowls. Aikman's opinion of Jones' leadership "hasn't changed and is seemingly backed by the continued failure" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/7). ESPN's Domonique Foxworth said of Aikman, "He's being cryptic and coy and trying to be gentle, but what he's really saying is Jerry Jones is the problem there" ("Get Up," ESPN, 11/7). FS1's Shannon Sharpe said Aikman is "absolutely correct" in his assessment of the franchise. Sharpe: "It's organizational. He's not talking about the players or coaches. He's talking about the top ... and that falls at the feet of Jerry Jones" ("Undisputed," FS1, 11/7).
SCORCHED EARTH: In Dallas, Brad Townsend wrote Aikman "went scorched Earth" on Jones and the organization. Aikman "emphasized" that there is "plenty of blame to spread around." Cowboys fans are now "feeling the sense that someone, finally, spoke up and said what they have been thinking for years" (DALLASNEWS.com, 11/6). ESPN's Trey Wingo said, "Football isn't a sport (in Texas), it's a religion. Football's a way of life, football is everything that you center your entire social calendar around. ... When the Cowboys aren't that thing anymore, that's a real problem" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 11/7). In Austin, Kirk Bohls writes the Cowboys "haven't been a consistent winner since their run of three Super Bowls" in the '90s, and the team is "hardly relevant anymore." Bohls: "How much is enough, Jerry?" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 11/7).
