Will he break Tom Landry's record of coaching 29 consecutive seasons for a single team? I think no. He's entering his 15th this season and I think he will penetrate the 20 year mark but I don't think he will make it past that.
I think that someday a coach will break Landry's record of 29 years but I don't think anyone will ever beat George Halas' record of coaching one team for 40 years, even if he didn't do it in a row.
Just 14 more to go? You never know about health issues. There are too many factors to predict if he will break Landry's record. I'd also say no, although I wouldn't mind if he did break it.
As a Cowboys fan, I would hate to see Landry's record be broken by a Steeler but I do like Cowher and if he were to break the record he would deserve it. He has won consistently in a current NFL where it is very hard to put together a playoff team. It is amazing how the Steelers have been in the playoffs 10 of the last 14 years and are likely to continue that streak with Roethlisberger.
Although I hate the Steelers, I love the longevity they give their coaches. I think that if I were an NFL owner I would try their method out. You know in most cases, Landry wouldn't have even made it past 5 years with the Cowboys. We were established in 1960 and through 1964 we had never even come close to a winning season and the people in Dallas were calling for Clint Murchison to fire Landry but instead Murchison gave Landry a "lifetime contract".
In '88, I hated to see Landry go but I think it had to happen, just not the way that Jones did it. He didn't even throw Landry one ounce of respect in his dismissal. I think that if I would have been in that position, I would have flown to Austin (where Landry lived) called Landry up and gone to his house to talk with him. I think that I would say "Im the new owner of the team, and unfortunately I feel as though we need a change at the head coaching position. Now you are one of the greatest coaches in the history of football and I want to show you the utmost respect, so I will ask you to please retire for my sake, the franchises' sake, and your own reputation's sake. After you retire, I would like you to join me in the front office and on opening day of 1989 I will induct you into the Ring of Honor. Im sorry that it has to happen this way". I think that would have been a classy way to do it and Jones would have started off on a much better foot here.
I think he just said that he wanted to hire Jimmy Johnson and the only reason that he bought the franchise was to nab Johnson. I think he had the right idea in the fact that Landry had to go and Johnson was the perfect choice for the new head coach but he didn't even throw Landry one ounce of respect and that is what I have a problem with.
Johnson was an excellent coach and it would be a good PR move for him to accept another head coaching job. He gets a bad rap for not bringing Miami to the Super Bowl but Dan Marino was pulling a "Peyton Manning" sucking up all the cap room. If he had the opportunity to build a team completely from scratch again he would win the Super Bowl.
Getting rid of Johnson was when I lost most respect for Jones. If Jerry would have kept Jimmy, free agency and salary cap wouldn't have affected us as bad because Jimmy could just continue to draft great players.
