Who will take over the Dallas Cowboys when Jerry Jones is no longer in charge?

Jerry Jones has been the owner of the Dallas Cowboys for 35 years now. He bought the team when he was 46. He’s 81 years old now. Even as far back as 10 years ago, there was a conversation about what would happen to the team when he eventually steps down. Surely that moment must be getting closer…right? As a Cowboys fan, it’s hard not to say “I hope so!”

In 1989, Jones came in and ruthlessly fired our beloved coach, Tom Landry. We learned to love the completely inexperienced Jimmy Johnson, who miraculously brought us to two Super Bowl victories, and then Jerry fired him, too. But even still, we were able to get a third Super Bowl win in four years by 1995, so we bit our tongues…for a little while.

Fast forward to today. After the dynasty of the 1990s, it’s been almost three decades since the Cowboys won a Super Bowl or NFC Championship game. Besides creating a brand worth $9 billion, the best Jerry can say the Cowboys have done in the last 27 years is made it to the playoffs a few times, only to be eliminated immediately or with very few exceptions (four to be exact), almost immediately.

The thing is - during those first two Super Bowl wins under Johnson’s coaching, it was he who helped build the roster of stars that even Barry Switzer was able to take over and lead to victory one time. But Jerry couldn’t handle allowing Johnson the kind of control (and credit) he wanted, and so he fired him. And he’s never given another coach full control since then either. He made himself the general manager and refuses to hire anyone else to do that job.

So although the Cowboys have done exactly nothing in almost 30 years, the man who’s responsible for running the team cannot be fired. The only way that Jerry Jones is no longer the owner and therefore general manager of the Dallas Cowboys is if he either steps down or dies. But then what?

Who will take over as Cowboys owner after Jerry Jones?

Besides Jerry, there are a few other people in charge of making big decisions in the Cowboys organization. One of those people is Will McClay, who’s been the vice president of player personnel since 2017, which has helped improve things a bit for Dallas. Then, and more importantly, there are Jerry’s three children, Stephen, Charlotte, and Jerry Jr., who all work within the organization.

All three are executive vice presidents. Charlotte is the chief brand officer, Jerry Jr. is the chief sales and marketing officer, and Stephen is the chief operating officer. Still, Jerry is the one to make all the major decisions, meaning we’re very unlikely to see any change in the Cowboys’ future so long as that is true. That includes the decision of who coaches the team - and making sure that coach knows his place. Jones prefers to hire coaches he knows personally or who have a proven record, limiting the team by preventing potentially younger, more innovative coaches who could bring a much-needed change to the team.

And unfortunately, even after Jerry is no longer the owner, the team will definitely be staying in the family. Stephen, who has been somewhat of an assistant GM to Jerry, will be the most likely of the three to take over complete control. He’s already had influence over many of the major decisions over the years (including the intense frugality they’ve been practicing this offseason in refusing to make any contract extensions). In other words, don’t get excited if Jerry is no longer in charge - we’ve got mini-Jerry’s at the ready for when that finally happens.