Saad Yousef: Are the Cowboys set for Prime Time at HC?

So many ideas, so many thoughts. I mean we got six job openings for head coaching in the NFL. The one that people are really dialed in on right now is the Dallas Cowboys. What's Jerry Jones gonna do now that Mike McCarthy is gone? Is he bringing in somebody to kiss his ring? Is he bringing in Deion Sanders?

There's so many questions. What do they do with the roster? How's Dak doing?

What do they do with the draft? To talk about it all right now we're being joined by someone who covers the Dallas Cowboys for the athletic. Saad Yousef is joining us here to talk about it all. Hey Saad, how are you man? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm excellent.

Thank you for taking the time to join us. Let's get this question out the way. Is Deion Sanders a legitimate candidate to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys? You know that is that is the big money question and and I'm inclined to to say with Jerry Jones you can never say never. Which is kind of the perception that most people have of Jerry but if you also look at the reality, Jerry hasn't taken many gambles I would say in the last two decades. He's been a pretty, he's played a pretty safe whether it comes to signing players and free agency.

Whether it comes to his coaching hires all the way from from Wade Phillips to Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy. So I definitely think that there's obviously credible you know credible things there that they have conversations and stuff but in terms of how likely it would be hiring Deion would be the most ballsy thing that Jerry has done since probably signing Deion as a player back in the 90s. There hasn't been a whole lot of risk in the last 20 so years so it would be a surprise if it did end up coming together. Do you think it would happen and would it be a good idea? Could you see Deion coaching the team and do you think he would he would do a good job? I can definitely see it happening.

There's a path there. Mike Zimmer was the defensive coordinator in Dallas last year. He has a very close personal connection with Deion. He was Deion's coach in Dallas back in the 90s and he's maintained a close connection with him through Deion's growth in the ranks from Jackson State to Colorado. So having somebody like Zimmer on staff whether it's as the defensive coordinator or advisor to the head coach would be something that I could see enticing Deion and you know building out your staff with with other guys that you trust and Deion has done this at a it's not like he's jumping from Jackson State to the NFL and it's not like you know a lot of people throw out the name Jason Witten who would be jumping from high school to the NFL. Like Deion has done this in a power five conference in college football.

I don't think it's ridiculous to think that it could work out in Dallas. Saad Yousuf is here with us covers the Dallas Cowboys for the athletic. Who are some other legitimate coaching candidates? We hear about Kellen Moore. It'd have to be someone with a much smaller personality that would want to fit into Jerry's box right?

Yeah I think a couple of things that you look into number one is like you said a smaller personality. I think Deion is kind of the exception to all that but Kellen Moore certainly fits that bill. Also somebody the other thing is somebody that's familiar with the building and again Kellen Moore checks that box as well. The third thing and something that has been a prerequisite for Jerry in the past has been a former head coach. Again Jerry's not a very risk-taking guy so as much as Ben Johnson.

If Jerry really wanted Ben Johnson he could win any bidding war for any coach that he wanted in terms of the money that he could throw at Ben Johnson but that hasn't been Jerry's way. In the last cycle he wanted Mike McCarthy a former head coach who had a Super Bowl ring. He even interviewed Marvin Lewis last time again a former head coach. So along those lines you think of someone like Robert Sala who they are interviewing. You also think of somebody like Pete Carroll and those are the kind of the names that come to mind as well as you mentioned Kellen Moore for the other reasons. He's not a former head coach but he is somebody who's a low personality has a great rapport with Jack Prescott and then also is familiar with how the Cowboys do business.

Asad I'm going to ask you about Jerry and free agency but you mentioned Dak. How's he doing with that with that thigh and quad and leg? Is he doing better?

He's good? Yeah I think you know rehab is right on track. I mean it wasn't a injury that you know was a long-term thing it just you know the fact that he suffered that injury in November is kind of what put him out for the season and the Cowboys really being out of it by late November late November didn't help either. So I think that's you know it's not something where you're looking at you know he's I mean he's come back from a broken ankle. It's not like he shattered his knee or anything like that.

He should be on track to be ready for any off-season workouts. Yeah Dak always seems to have these well I mean besides us watching him break his leg in horrific fashion. He always has these little knick-knack injuries. It's his hand. It's his leg. You know last year and I get it he had major surgery to reconstruct that ankle.

He was walking around in the boot. There was a controversy there. How a Cowboy fans how are people in the Metro Metroplex feeling about the 60 mil that he got last year?

Not great. I'll be honest you know it's tough to be a 60 million dollar quarterback with one playoff win on your ledger at 31 years old and a big part of your success that got you the 60 million dollar contract per year was your mobility and now you know the game before Dak got hurt he trailed Joe Flacco in rushing yards on the 2024 season. So you know he hasn't been the same guy and he hasn't had the success in big games and I think that is something that really irks fans and you know I love Dak and you know I think he's a great leader. I think he understands how to navigate the spotlight that comes with being the Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback but I also understand the criticism he receives and to be quite honest with you so does he. I don't think he thinks it's unfair.

It's just something that he has to work through. Asad Yousef is here with us from the athletic covers of Dallas Cowboys. Well we know he's good friends with Ezekiel Elliott. We saw that signing last year and we saw what it did throughout the regular season on nothing. Jerry Jones criticized constantly about what took place last offseason not a whole lot and then what we saw in the regular season. What are the Dallas Cowboys going to work on and do this year? It seems like they still got a lot of holes. Yeah they do and you know they have a reputation and a history of sitting out free agency which does not bode well for filling those holes and you know they've touted themselves as a draft and develop team and for a long time that was true and you know they've had success in that but then you look at the last two drafts and you wonder why the Cowboys are having the problems they are because they basically tanked in the last two drafts. They haven't got the players that you know they needed. They have a starter here or there to come out of the draft but when you're a team like the Cowboys that sits out free agency all together you need to have success. You need to get multiple starters not just in the draft to be quite honest with you.

It's also in the undrafted free agent market and all that stuff and you know that's where they found their kicker Brandon Aubrey who was probably their best player last season which is great to find a player like that but also it tells you a lot about the team and where it's at when you say the kicker is the best player and that's not where you want to be as an organization. Well Saad we heard we heard Jerry Jones tell everybody what last week he's like listen I bought the team and not to give it to my kids or not as an investment but to run it. Like is there ever gonna be any convincing that maybe he should just move the hell up on out the way? Does he not see the results or is he delusional?

Ah yeah I mean I think that last that last option is probably what fits best. I think he is delusional. You know he understands he knows what the results are. He wears it on his sleeve.

He's you know that's the one thing about Jerry that people often misconstrue that you know that he's not accountable. I would argue he is probably one of the most accountable figures in pro sports. I mean he does radio interviews twice a week during the season. He meets with the media after every game especially after every home game. He answers every single question.

He doesn't dodge. So he's accountable and he understands how little success this franchise has had in the last 30 years. He just doesn't have a problem with it because then twice a year the Forbes list comes out and there the Cowboys are at the very top valued at 10 billion dollars and you know that's a win in Jerry's in Jerry's mind. Yeah well so is Jerry more interested and he's an excellent marketer, an excellent salesman as you you just mentioned with the Cowboys being the most valuable franchise sports franchise on earth. Everybody knows he's in it to make money but is he in it to make money or is he just saying hey one day we'll just win by accident. I know you know I think that's unfair to Jerry a little bit just because I don't think that it's not that he doesn't care about winning or he doesn't want to win it's just he wants to do everything on his own terms. He wants to make sure he's doing it the way that he wants to do it so he does want to win and I and I and I believe that as well. I just think that he wants it to be he wants it to be done on his terms which is why you know he's he's the type of guy who you know parting ways with Jimmy Johnson after winning two Super Bowls there's a reason why he did that. There's that ego in play and I think that you know that that does come into play quite a bit.

Nisad Yousef is here with us. You talk about being able to draft and develop. Dallas Cowboys going to be selecting in number 12.

We started the conversation by talking about Deion Sanders and whether or not you know he would end up on the Cowboys. Is there any thought that the Cowboys would move up from 12 or do you think they're more likely to kind of stand back? No I think they're most likely to to just stay stay put because they need all the draft picks that they have.

I don't see a situation where they want to sacrifice that. They already gave up their fourth round pick at the trade deadline by acquiring Jonathan Mingo and so yeah I think I think it's a situation where they will stand pat and and you know do do whatever is necessary and and take the number 12 pick. Well we mentioned quite a few coaches we we're here in a month's time. What do you think is most likely to be the coach of the Cowboys? Man you know if I'm being honest I really think it's going to be one of the older guys. I really think you know it's really close for me between that and Kellen Moore as an anomaly as a standalone but I'll say that I you know I can see someone like Pete Carroll or Mike Zimmer taking over and then you see someone like Jason Witten joining the staff as an assistant kind of being groomed to be the next head coach. I could definitely see that scenario. At the same time it wouldn't surprise me if Robert Saul got the job. It wouldn't surprise me if Kellen Moore did. The ones that I'm more kind of you know skeptical about is Deion getting the job. Jason Witten being handed the head coaching job. Ben Johnson getting the job. Those are the ones that would surprise me but if you're asking me likelihood I would say it's between the old guard and the guy that that knows the building and that's Kellen Moore.

Yeah well the Dallas Cowboys certainly always keep things interesting and Jerry Jones always keeps people guessing up until the last minute. Asad thank you so much for the time. Where can people follow you and all of your work with The Athletic? Yeah just right there on The Athletic and then follow me on Twitter at Saad Youssef 126. Hey appreciate you man and you you're always going to have a story so I'm happy for you Saad. You take it easy okay? All right thank you. No doubt about it that's Saad Youssef from The Athletic.