I can't imagine what it's really like being a Dallas Cowboys fan. Starting in 1960s, Hall-of-Fame coach Tom Landry assembled "America's Team" by winning double-digit games and advancing to the playoffs nearly every year for two decades. When Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and the gang arrived, three Super Bowl titles in four years brought them back to glory.
Since then, well, many Cowboys fans lost quite a bit hair in the process.
It always feels like Dallas should be better than they are, right? From the Tony Romo days until now with $90 million running back Ezekiel Elliott, it's constantly "Super Bowl or bust" for owner Jerry Jones' franchise.
It's been more "bust" lately, though, especially with 2019's team fighting stay above .500 early in the season.
Three-straight losses to the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and New York Jets dropped Dallas to 3-3, but an impressive Sunday Night Football victory over its NFC East division rival Philadelphia Eagles, once again, caused national media to turn Dallas from a fringe-playoff team to a Super Bowl hopeful.
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It's like riding a never-ending roller coaster for Dallas head coach Jason Garrett. One minute, keeping him around sounds like a fantastic idea. The next, the world is ending and his firing should be imminent.
After losing to the New England Patriots, 13-9, Dallas dropped to 6-5. In the aftermath of that game, Jerry Jones cast even more doubt on Garrett and the current coaching staff by saying, "With the makeup of this team, I shouldn't be this frustrated."
The Cowboys need stability. The Cowboys need a proven leader. The Cowboys need... Urban Meyer?
Urban Meyer & The Dallas Cowboys
In an interview on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Meyer was asked about Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley potentially leaving college football and bringing his high-powered offense to Dallas, Texas. Meyer said that even though "I don't know him like that," he believes the Cowboys' head coaching job is one that most guys cannot turn down.
"Pure speculation, because I know [Riley], but I don't know him like that, but that's the one [job]. That's the New York Yankees, that's the Dallas Cowboys, that's the one. Great city, you got Dak Prescott, you got Zeke Elliott, you got a loaded team, and I can't speak for [Riley] obviously — I hate to even speculate — because I don't know him, that's really not fair, but to me, that's the one job in professional football that you kind of say, 'I gotta go do that.'"
— Urban Meyer
Cowherd followed up on Meyer's gushing, asking that if Dallas called the three-time national championship football coach with the Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes, would Meyer consider leaving his cushy desk job at Fox Sports and coach the Dallas Cowboys?
"Absolutely. Absolutely," Meyer said. "That one? Yes."
With the pressure mounting in 'Big D' to make a change, BetOnline.ag released odds for anyone willing to gamble on who will be coaching the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season. Some names are a little ridiculous — like Jerry Jones receiving +50000 odds or Alabama's Nick Saban listed at +4000 — but the No. 1 contender? Urban Meyer.
Betting Odds for Dallas Cowboys Job
Urban Meyer (+300)
Josh McDaniels (+400)
Lincoln Riley (+500)
Robert Saleh (+500)
Sean Payton (+600)
Jim Harbaugh (+1200)
Ken Norton Jr. (+1600)
Kris Richard (+1600)
Mike Leach (+2000)
Chris Petersen (+2500)
Jerry Jones reaffirms quite often that Jason Garrett's job is not in jeopardy, especially considering the investment in high-quality talent Dallas made over the last few years. But when a coach of Meyer's caliber says he'd "absolutely" consider coming out of retirement and accepting the Cowboys' job?
Finding a new head coach if this season sours sits at the forefront of Jerry Jones' mind, and the potential job opening might now have a front-runner in former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.
This post was originally published on October 21, 2019. It was updated with betting odds for the Cowboys' job entering the 2020 NFL season.
