Eight weeks into the season, it’s safe to say a 3-5 record isn’t where the Dallas Cowboys thought they’d be. Naturally, team owner Jerry Jones had anticipated more from his franchise, even though they haven’t won the Super Bowl since 1995. Yet, Jones always expects his teams to compete.

Despite elevated expectations, Dallas has missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and is off to a 3-5 start in its bid to avoid a third straight absence.

Is Jerry Jones the Dallas Cowboys’ Biggest Problem?

The Cowboys have changed out several parts since their last Super Bowl win. Coaching staffs have been fully overhauled several times. The team has had multiple franchise quarterbacks, and they’ve even gotten a brand-spanking-new, state-of-the-art stadium.

Yet, the one constant that’s remained in place is the ownership, with the Jones family retaining control.

Meanwhile, SiriusXM’s Chris Russo said he believes Jones is part of the problem in Dallas, not the solution.

“He is the common denominator in the last 30 years of why they don’t win,” Russo said. “Simple as that. The best coach in football should be coaching the Dallas Cowboys. The best coach that he can come up with, and you can’t sit there and tell me that two years ago, with all the interviewing you did, that the best candidate you came up with was Brian Schottenheimer. You can’t tell me that. You can’t tell me that of everybody that was available two years ago, and that includes Belichick, that the best guy that you thought of was Schottenheimer.”

Schottenheimer had already been on the Cowboys’ staff, operating as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024. The first season he was there, the Cowboys had the NFL’s highest-scoring offense. Then, Dak Prescott was limited to just eight games due to injury, which eventually resulted in a 7-10 record in 2024. The Cowboys then parted ways with Mike McCarthy and promoted Schottenheimer from within.

“You can not possibly tell me that, just like Chan Gailey wasn’t, just like Dave Campo wasn’t, just like Wade Phillips wasn’t, I hate to say it, just like Jason Garrett wasn’t,” Russo argued. “You can’t sit there and tell me that. But that’s Jerry Jones. I think it’s a big negative. Here’s the problem with Jerry. You can’t defend it. How can any Cowboy fan defend Jerry’s record in the last 32 years? Since Switzer won with Jimmy (Johnson)’s team and his players? They haven’t played the championship game and these are the Dallas Cowboys.”

Not having a top-notch coaching staff has consistently been one of the warts associated with this Cowboys franchise. There have been multiple chances to bring in an established winner, such as Bill Belichick, Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, or Mike Tomlin. The list goes on. Yet, for whatever reason, Jones and the Cowboys seem to prefer the unheralded candidate who hasn’t proven himself yet.

Though one might suggest McCarthy, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach, was the proven commodity who already had a positive track record, but not even he could help lead the team back to the promised land. Thus, is this a problem with ownership? Russo seems to think so.