FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones received criticism Tuesday when he said on 105.3 The Fan there is no correlation to spending money on a coach and winning in the NFL.
Appearing on the team's flagship network Friday, Jones had an answer of more than five minutes talking about the subject.
"Not one time in my life that I have ever, if I wanted to do it, let money stand in the way of doing it," he said.
Before hiring Brian Schottenheimer in 2025, the Cowboys did not have interviews with some of the more sought-after coaches, such as Ben Johnson, who ended up with the Chicago Bears. The Cowboys had interviews with Leslie Frazier, Robert Saleh and Kellen Moore before hiring Brian Schottenheimer.
Saleh (Titans) and Moore (Saints) have since gotten head coaching jobs.
"I have never on the basis of some coach saying, 'I'll come and I know you want me, but I won't because you won't pay me enough,'" Jones said. "That's never happened in my life."
Jones hinted he has been involved with high-profile coaches that had not been revealed. There had been reports of the Cowboys' interest in Sean Payton, a former Dallas assistant under Bill Parcells, when he was head coach of the Saints.
"The facts are I have been out there, and I have been trying to lure very successful coaches away from the teams they were on and knew full well that I was going to pay them for their success," he said. "So that has been done. No one knows that, but I do. And so it is absolutely ridiculous. And I actually grin when somebody says, 'Jerry's not willing to pay the money for what it would take to get the right kind of coach out there.'"
While coaching salaries are not public, Schottenheimer is believed to be in the bottom half of the league in terms of salary. His predecessor, Mike McCarthy, was making $8 million per season. In 2015, Jason Garrett received a five-year, $30 million extension.
Jones' feelings for head coaches have been questioned since the famous falling out with Jimmy Johnson after two straight Super Bowl seasons (1992-93) with Jones saying, "there are 500 coaches who could have won the Super Bowl with our team."
Jones hired Barry Switzer as Johnson's replacement and the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1995. They have not won a Super Bowl since, and Jones has had seven coaches -- Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, Garrett, McCarthy and Schottenheimer.
"Now whether I get the right kind or not, we'll all agree that it's risky. Not risky, [but] you just know it's ambiguous when you hire a coach because there have been many hired and not necessarily have won Super Bowl," Jones said. "We all get that and we understand all the nuances in between, but the fundamental issue of me not paying money for something that has a chance to be as wonderful as a Super Bowl or a successful team is ridiculous."