Worn down by three consecutive 11-loss seasons, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apparently is ready to change more than his coach.
Jones officially dumped Dave Campo yesterday, two weeks after he unofficially opened a coaching search. Soon he's expected to introduce Bill Parcells, a no-nonsense coach who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants and who demands ultimate control.
The Dallas Morning News reported on its Web site that Parcells, 61, has agreed to a four-year, $18 million deal, and he is scheduled to arrive in Dallas on Thursday. But, ESPN reported that there was no deal.
Barring another about-face by Parcells - which is always possible - he will become the sixth coach in Cowboys' history imminently.
For Jones, who has hired four first-year head coaches during his stewardship, the arrival of Parcells foretells a sharp change in protocol.
Jones is an out-front, hands-on owner who enjoys the spotlight enough that he paces the sideline and visits the locker room after each game. It's unlikely Parcells would agree to those intrusions.
Two other coaching jobs were vacated yesterday when the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Parcells' protege Tom Coughlin, and the hapless Cincinnati Bengals removed Dick LeBeau.
Like the Cowboys, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver indicated he would be restructure his football operations. He said he won't award his next coach total control over personnel and the draft, as Coughlin had.
Coughlin's teams were 72-64 and twice reached the AFC championship game. But the Jaguars were just 19-29 the past three years and their fan support was steadily eroding.
"There's a point in this business where you have to say we need innovative new ideas, new fresh approaches and you have to move in different directions, and that's really what it's all about," Weaver said.
The Bengals, on the other hand, remained resistant to change even in the face of relentless failure. Cincinnati has not had a playoff team or a winning season since 1990, one year before president Mike Brown took over for his late father and NFL pioneer, Paul Brown.
Mike Brown will not bow to public pressure and hire a general manager, or significantly reorganize his front office, perhaps assuring Cincinnati of 10 more years of losing.
The Bengals' 2-14 record this year was their worst in history and left LeBeau with a mark of 12-33 in slightly less than three full seasons. The team's last three home games produced the three smallest crowds in Paul Brown Stadium history.
LeBeau's successor will be the Bengals' fifth coach since 1991, which means they change coaches almost as much as quarterbacks. Gus Frerotte was the fifth straight new quarterback to open the season for the Bengals this year.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, are 39-57 since their last playoff victory in 1996, and have not made the playoffs since Chan Gailey's last season in 1999. Campo, a defensive assistant on the Cowboys' last three Super Bowl teams, replaced Gailey in 2000. He went 5-11 in each of the past three years.
"This change is more about a change in philosophy, not about what Dave didn't do," Jones said.
According to the Morning News, Parcells will have total control of hiring and firing assistant coaches and will have a strong voice in personnel and the draft.
Jones also talked twice to former Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green, who was fired after the 2001 season. Under the league's new diversity guidelines, owners must include minority candidates in any job search they conduct.
Still to be decided are the fates of Detroit Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg and Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren. Lions owner William Clay Ford has been on vacation in Florida and will address Mornhinweg's two-year record of 5-27 upon his return.
Holmgren reportedly will be asked to surrender his general manager's role in Seattle to focus on coaching. Holmgren is 31-33 in four years after signing an eight-year, $32 million deal.