Jerry Jones is more than just the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. He also serves as the general manager. Sometimes he tries to be so hands-on, he’ll hold his own press conferences and make his way onto the field during crunch time of a game. Former Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells worked under Jones for four years and has an opinion of the man that’s seemingly different than most.

Parcells’ early life and coaching career

In high school, Bill Parcells was quite the athlete. He excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. On the football team, he played quarterback, tight end, and linebacker. He was offered scholarships to play at Auburn and Clemson but decided to attend Colgate, according to ESPN. After one year, he transferred to Wichita State, where he played linebacker.

Parcells was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round in 1964 but was cut before the season began. Parcells’ coaching career began soon thereafter. After earning assistant coaching jobs at schools like Army, Florida State, and Wichita State, he got his first head coaching position with the Air Force in 1978. Not a fan of recruiting, Parcells eventually made his way into the NFL as linebackers coach for the New England Patriots in 1980.

He got his first NFL head coaching job with the New York Giants in 1983, going 3-12-1. The following season, Phil Simms became the starter and the Giants went 9-7 beginning a stretch where the Giants had winning seasons in six of the next seven years. Parcells also won Super Bowl XXI and XXV as the Giants head coach. He retired from the Giants in after the 1990 season but returned to coach the New England Patriots in 1993. He spent four seasons with the Patriots, earning a Super Bowl berth. Parcells then went on to coach the New York Jets for three years and then the Dallas Cowboys for four. His career record as a head coach in the NFL for 19 years is 172-130-1.

Jerry Jones has owned the Cowboys since 1989

Jerry Jones has been the owner of the Dallas Cowboys since 1989 after purchasing the team from H.R. ‘Bum’ Bright for $140 million. He received instant backlash when the first thing he did as owner was fire longtime head coach Tom Landry and general manager Tex Schramm. He replaced Schramm with himself.

There was a long-standing feud between Jones and Landry’s replacement, Jimmy Johnson. It was more of a power struggle. Although Johnson was to have the final say in personnel matters, it was Jones who took credit for the success during the three Super Bowls under Johnson. In a 1997 article in The Dallas Morning News, Jones said the Cowboys were so talented this decade that “500 coaches could have done what Jimmy did.”

Since 1997, however, the Cowboys haven’t won anything and have been the epitome of mediocrity with a 192-176 record. According to ESPN, Dale Hansen, a longtime sportscaster on WFAA in Dallas once said, “Jerry Jones has become one of the biggest jokes in north Texas. “He has one of the most important jobs in all of American sports, maybe in the world: He is the general manager of the Dallas Cowboys. And based on his record, there is not a single team in the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA or the NHL that would hire him to be their general manager.

Bill Parcells’ opinion of Jerry Jones

Bill Parcells coached under Dallas Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones for four seasons. Jones has the reputation of being too hands-on and interfering with coaching decisions. Parcells, who coached the Cowboys from 2003-2006, didn’t find that working under Jones was a problem.

Parcells said he believes Jones is misunderstood. He doesn’t believe Jones thinks it’s his way or no way at all. “Oh yeah, definitely. I think it’s distorted,” said Parcells, in a 2013 NFL.com article. “I think there’s a definite misperception. I just think everyone thinks things are a certain way. I didn’t see it to be that way. I think Jerry is a good businessman and a good listener. What you have to do is make sense to him.

“You’ve got to make sense to him. If he thinks you’re making sense, he’ll alter his opinion. I enjoyed him. I like him. I like him a lot.”