IRVING – When Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones arrived at Valley Ranch on Monday, he fully expected to meet with Bill Parcells and fly with the coach to Mobile, Ala., in the afternoon for Senior Bowl practices.
Instead, Jones was in the beginning stages of a coaching search.
With Parcells' resignation, Jones will be looking for the Cowboys' sixth head coach since purchasing the team in 1989.
The options are many.
He could look to the college ranks, like he did the first year, when he brought his former Arkansas teammate, Jimmy Johnson, to Dallas.
Or he could look for an offensive-minded assistant coach in the NFL, like he did in 1998, when he brought Chan Gailey to the Cowboys. One goal of hiring such a coach would be to help with the development of quarterback Tony Romo.
Or he could look for a defensive-minded assistant, like he did in 2000, when he promoted Dave Campo. This could help cure a defense that has talent but lacked results in 2006.
One thing Jones does not have is a timetable.
The Cowboys are the sixth team looking for a coach this year. Four of those teams have hired new coaches: Atlanta (Bobby Petrino), Pittsburgh (Mike Tomlin), Arizona (Ken Whisenhunt) and Miami (Cam Cameron). Oakland is looking for a coach.
The biggest splash Jones could make would be to lure Bill Cowher out of retirement, just weeks after he left Pittsburgh, with an enormous contract. But the Cowboys would have to come up with compensation to sign the ex-Steelers coach.
Tennessee's Jeff Fisher was mentioned as a possibility earlier in the season, but the Titans picked up his $5.4 million option for 2007. To land him, the Cowboys would have to give compensation as well.
Pittsburgh assistant head coach Russ Grimm and Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera interviewed with a number of teams the last two seasons. Rivera would not be able to speak with the Cowboys until after the Bears play in Super Bowl XLI.
Other former head coaches, like Jim Mora, who recently joined Seattle after being fired by Atlanta, and Houston's Mike Sherman, who coached at Green Bay, could be in the mix.
While Jones did not address the media Monday, he said in the past he would not be against hiring a college coach. But he has indicated he isn't sure he would want to go through a learning curve if he went that route again.
Miami interviewed Southern Cal's Pete Carroll, who was interested because the position came with complete control. In Dallas, Jones would continue to call the shots. Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, a Parcells assistant in New York and New England, has a mega-million-dollar buyout in his contract, making a move prohibitive.
As for the NFL assistant route, Norv Turner, the Cowboys' offensive coordinator from 1991-93 who worked as San Francisco's coordinator this season, could be a possibility. Another could be San Diego defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who runs the 3-4 scheme the Cowboys have used the last two seasons.
Reached at the Senior Bowl, Phillips declined comment.
A source close to Turner said he would have interest in becoming the Cowboys' coach, especially since he could work with a young quarterback like Romo. Turner has a 58-82-1 record in stops in Washington and Oakland, but his record can be somewhat tied to circumstance.
The Redskins have had just one winning record since Turner was let go as coach late in the 2000 season, and the Raiders are looking for their third coach in as many years, having fired Art Shell.
As the Cowboys' offensive coordinator, Turner helped them win two Super Bowls and develop Troy Aikman into a Hall of Fame quarterback. The thought of Turner receiving a third chance is not far-fetched.
Phillips posted a 48-39 record in stops at Denver, Buffalo, Atlanta and New Orleans. He has spent the last three years as the Chargers' defensive coordinator. The Chargers finished the season ranked 10th defensively.
San Diego led the NFL with 61 sacks, including a league-high 17 from All-Pro linebacker Shawne Merriman. In 2005, the Chargers led the league in rushing defense.
"I think he'd be an outstanding choice," said Bum Phillips, Wade's father, former coach of the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. "He's an experienced head coach in professional football. I really believe that an experienced professional football coach has a better chance of leading professional football players. College coaches can handle kids that are 19 or 20. That's a big difference from handling guys that are 29 or 35. It's not X's and O's. It's handling people."
With Romo, Jones could choose to keep continuity with an offensive staff that helped the Cowboys average 26.6 points per game, fourth in the NFL.
The only in-house assistant with NFL head coaching experience is quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer, who served as coach in Cleveland's return to the NFL in 1999 and 2000. Before joining the Cowboys in 2005, linebackers coach Paul Pasqualoni was Syracuse's head coach for 14 years, and running game coordinator Tony Sparano was head coach at the University of New Haven (Conn.) from 1994-98.
Staff writers Calvin Watkins and Tim McMahon contributed to this report.
E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com
The NFL requires teams with a head coaching opening to interview at least one minority candidate. The rule is named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the chairman of the NFL Committee on Workplace Diversity. The rule was enacted in 2002 and stipulates penalties for teams that do not comply.
Since purchasing the Cowboys in 1989, Jerry Jones has hired five head coaches with differing resumes and results. After Bill Parcells' resignation, what will Jones be looking for?
Jones' first hire was his best, when he brought in Jimmy Johnson from the University of Miami. The Cowboys won two Super Bowls under Johnson.
Barry Switzer had not coached a football game since 1988 when Jones lured him to the Cowboys on March 30, 1994, and Switzer won a Super Bowl in his second season.
Chan Gailey was the hot NFL offensive assistant coach when he joined the Cowboys from Pittsburgh. He took the Cowboys to the playoffs in his two seasons, but was fired.
Dave Campo was a loyal assistant under Johnson, Switzer and Gailey before becoming the Cowboys' head coach in 2000, but the team finished 5-11 in each of his three seasons.
Bill Parcells, who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants and went to a third with New England, had not coached since 1999 when Jones talked him out of retirement in 2003.
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