Kevin B. Blackistone: Seems like Parcells has nothing to say
Jones does all the talking during his coach's disappearing act
01:58 AM CDT on Sunday, April 30, 2006
IRVING – In front of a drape decorated with Cowboys logos, and behind a long table on which a microphone rested, sat a couple of white plastic chairs. Or at least that was the arrangement in the Cowboys' interview room at Valley Ranch early Saturday evening before team spokesman Brett Daniels walked in to oversee a much-anticipated state-of-the-draft address from Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells.
Daniels stepped behind the table, removed one of the chairs and positioned the other squarely in the middle of the stage all by itself. He then informed gathered members of the media that only Jerry would be showing up. Bill, the coach, would not.
You'd be hard-pressed to find an NFL franchise Saturday when the draft started, whose coach wound up unavailable to talk about the new charges he was adding to his arsenal. You'd be hard-pressed to find such a precedent with the Cowboys for that matter. This doesn't happen. And it shouldn't have.
But moments after Daniels redesigned Valley Ranch's interview theater, Jerry, sporting a blue jacket with a silver star in the lapel, strode in. And when asked about his coach, Jerry responded: "He's doing fine, but he's gonna let me do the talkin' today."
Only time will tell if what we watched Daniels do Saturday just before the boss came in was actually rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. But one thing is for certain: Cowboys headquarters these days is not to be confused with The Good Ship Lollipop, no matter how much dancing around is going on.
This was the second time this off-season that Bill wasn't at his boss's side to discuss the ramifications of critical makeovers to the roster. The first, we all know, was after the acquisition of Terrell "The Terrible" Owens.
Bill's excuse then was that he wasn't in town. We haven't heard from him since. Saturday, he was on the Valley Ranch campus, presumably in the "war room" helping make draft decisions.
We keep hearing from Jerry, though. He's said that all is well. He's said that the perception growing like kudzu because of Bill's silence that Bill isn't down with the acquisition of T.O. couldn't be further from the truth.
The problem is we haven't heard Bill refute it all.
You get the feeling that if you ran into Jerry and Bill dining somewhere, they'd look like a couple in the last throes of a bad marriage. Not speaking. Making little eye contact. Just stabbing at their food with heads down, hoping it would just disappear so they'd have no more reason to be there in public together.
You get the feeling that Bill is off in a room somewhere, arms crossed tightly across his chest, shaking his head from side to side refusing to do anything the boss wants because he's being made to eat something he doesn't like, a petulant player.
Jerry even sounded Saturday like a partner in a troubled union who was trying to do everything he could to please the other half. He pointed out how the first two players the team drafted Saturday, linebacker Bobby Carpenter from Ohio State and tight end Anthony Fasano from Notre Dame, were selected specifically to continue the overhaul of the Cowboys' offensive and defensive models to the desire of his coach.
Out is the old offense with a fullback and in is Bill's preferred scheme with two tight ends and one back. Out is the traditional 4-3 defense and in is Bill's preferred 3-4.
You could almost hear Jerry's back breaking as he explained how much he was bending over to appease his coach.
And you couldn't help but hear Bill screaming in silence.
Who knows how long this war of wills has been going on, but it looks to have expanded to another level since T.O. arrived. (I use the word "arrive" loosely since he's already missed a workout or two.) This was the line in the sand. And Bill appears to be trying to establish himself so that he can look like the good guy in the end either way.
If T.O. explodes and wrecks this franchise as he did Philadelphia's and San Francisco's, Bill can point to his own actions as evidence that he was never on board with it. If T.O. works out, as he appeared to in his first season with the Eagles, Bill can just be showered with accolades as being the coach who coaxed only the best out of T.O.
And up against T.O. and Jerry, Bill can't lose, really. No matter how small his actions look right now.
E-mail kblackistone@dallasnews.com
