Jerry Jones on Cowboys' succession plan: 'I don't ever want to quit'
Jerry Jones shows no signs of slowing, but the 73-year-old knows he won't be owner and general manager forever. And when it's time to pass the torch, the transition will be a smooth one.
By
Ryan Wilson
•
2 min read
Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys in February 1989 and he's been heavily involved with the team ever since. Some might even say too involved. Jones also serves as general manager, a detail that's hard to overlook when he takes chances on players with suspect off-field records, or admits that he desperately wanted to draft Johnny Manziel.
Though Jones shows no signs of slowing, the 73-year-old knows he won't be owner and general manager forever. But don't worry, whenever it's time to pass the torch, the transition will be a smooth one.
“My succession plan has been in place almost from the first interview we had," Jones told TheMMQB.com's Peter King. "I don’t ever want to quit, I just don’t want to quit. In this case, familiarity hasn’t bred contempt; it has bred optimism. I’ not quitting.”
It's certainly good to love your job, though some Cowboys fans would prefer a world where Jones wasn't making personnel decisions. And while Jones' son, Stephen Jones, appears to have a bigger role in assembling the roster, Jerry Jones has said previously that he loves being involved in that aspect of the job.
“We are not structured that way,” Jones said back in November 2012. “We didn't structure it that way with my ownership. There's no way that I would be involved here and not be the final decision-maker on something as important as players, and that is a key area. That's never been anybody's misunderstanding.
"It's been a debated thing," he continued, "but it's just not going to happen. We've had success doing it this way, and we're going to have success in the future doing it this way. It eliminates some very serious issues when you look around the league, as to creating an additional layer that you're continually having decisions, making changes, doing those kinds of things."
In July 2014, when Broncos owner Pat Bowlen relinquished control of the team because he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Jones told the Dallas Morning News that the NFL requires owners to meet with league officials once a year to provide updates on succession plans.
“They can’t have chaos among ownership,’’ Jones said at the time. “I can’t, the Cowboys can’t afford chaos because it impacts us all. The league has every right to demand it. They are diligent about it. It’s huge as to the financial aspects, the financial consequences, the tax consequences, how it can impact fans and the league.”
“The point is, the structure and the stability of the franchise can be impacted by death or a changing of the guard. Our plan, frankly, I’ve had this plan since I bought the team. ... Sitting here 25 years later, it would have to go down as a highlight, our working relationship,” he said of working with his children.
“Anyone who knows family relationships knows that working together does not necessarily work out, especially between siblings. I’m very proud of the fact that publicly and privately, I have people say the thing that impresses them most about me is my family.”
