The Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 campaign ended prematurely with a 7-10 record, missing the playoffs and leading to the decision not to extend head coach Mike McCarthy’s contract.
As the Cowboys conduct their coaching search, gazes have turned to the franchise’s culture and leadership, with some of the loudest conversations being whether their pre-existing culture can change under the current ownership — and if someone like Deion Sanders, whose “Prime Time”-like charisma is something owner Jerry Jones is a big fan of, could be a viable candidate for the job.
Louis Riddick’s Comments on Jerry Jones and Cowboys’ Culture
One of the central concerns about the Cowboys’ culture, highlighted in an ESPN report from October, is that the team has been more focused on personal branding than winning games. This has led to more whispers about Jones, the team’s owner since 1989, and his way of running the franchise.
Regarding the same, Kevin Clark and Louis Riddick sat down to discuss Jones’ leadership style on Jan. 16, with Riddick saying: “The culture is never going to change because ultimately the people know they can leverage their individual relationships with you in order to get things they want that maybe aren’t in the best interest of the team.”
Riddick, a former NFL player and current ESPN analyst, continued on the state of the Cowboys, especially concerning their 2025 offseason search for a new head coach.
“I don’t know if he’s ever gonna be willing to do that [change the culture and loosen his control] because he has pretty much said in recent days as a matter of fact, ‘Look I brought this team, I’m gonna run the damn thing. I bought this so I can be involved. I bought this team so I can make decisions, not because I can turn it over and let someone else make the decisions and do all the fun stuff.’
“… And when you think of it that way, you’re just sitting and you’re going, ‘Wow, I’ve never heard an owner say that before quite honestly. I never have,’ and he never said, ‘I’m qualified for it. I’m the best man for it. I have proven that I’m the best man.’ What he said was, ‘I bought it, so it’s mine.’”
I asked @LRiddickESPN about the Cowboys and Jerry Jones then I ask him a big question: What makes a good owner? Louis goes deep on culture.
"Honestly I feel like I'm being interviewed by the Jets again, this is a lot of the stuff we talked about."
This Is Football was so good pic.twitter.com/dFqvDoPIEr
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 16, 2025
Talking about why Jones’ way works for bringing more players in and building trust through a competent voice, Riddick further said: “You really do need to have a singular voice. You need to have someone, like I said earlier today on TV, who is the tip of the sphere. You have to understand who that person is, and if you want someone like Deion if you want someone like Bill [Belichick], I don’t care what they say privately.”
“As long as you trust what their vision is, what their philosophical underpinnings are, what their communication style is, what their ability to gain trust to display competency, to positively impact people, then you let them do it.”
Although Riddick had previously mentioned that Sanders wouldn’t be a good fit at Dallas, Coach Prime and Jones had a discussion, as confirmed by the former, who has constantly reiterated and confirmed again that he wants to stay at Colorado. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have interviews lined up for Robert Saleh on Jan. 18 and Leslie Frazier on Jan. 20. The franchise has also requested an interview with Kellen Moore.