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NFL

Jerry says 'no' to in-season coaching change

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones had a one-word answer when asked if there was any scenario in which he would make an in-season head-coaching change in 2018 following his team’s 28-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.

“No,” Jones said.

Jones has made only one in-season head-coaching change since purchasing the Cowboys in 1989 and that was elevating Jason Garrett to his current role in favor of Wade Phillips after the Cowboys got off to a 1-7 start to the 2010 season.

The loss to the Titans dropped the Cowboys to 3-5 at the midway point of the season, leaving them two games behind the NFC East-leading Washington Redskins. The Cowboys play the 4-4 Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

“I think we realize we have eight games to go, we’ve got a long way to go in this season,” Jones said. “We want to play better than we played tonight, so I certainly think each individual and coach and front-office person is going to have to do better, including me.”

At the bye, Jones traded for wide receiver Amari Cooper, sending the Cowboys’ first-round pick in 2019 to the Oakland Raiders, and Garrett opted to make a change with the offensive line coach, moving on from Paul Alexander in favor of Marc Colombo.

When asked if there could be a change with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, Jones said, “I’m not anticipating any more coaching changes.”

The Cowboys hoped those moves would energize them coming into the Tennessee game, but the Cowboys failed to score a point in the second half.

“I very candidly didn’t see this coming,” Jones said. “I thought we would be sitting here with a positive result. This is a surprise to me and is a setback. Now when you’re halfway through the season, losing a ballgame in the NFL, if that causes you to be deterred or to not think that there’s a future ahead of you, then you’ve picked the wrong world to operate in. That’s not the life we’ve chosen.”

Since taking over for Phillips, Garrett has posted a 70-58 record with just two playoff appearances and one postseason victory. He was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year in 2016 after the Cowboys went 4-12 in 2015, their worst mark since Jones’ first year when they went 1-15.

“I don’t like the way we played tonight,” Jones said. “Had we played a lot better tonight and had the loss, then I would be more positive about that. We’ve got to play better. We’re not in anything if we don’t play better. We have to play better. We did not play good for whatever reason after that first spurt of energy in the early part of the game. We just didn’t play very well.”

Soccer

Report: United, Arsenal among clubs resistant to 'Super League'

It seems the idea of a new European “Super League” is far from universally appraised, even by the clubs said to be involved.

A report in German outlet Der Spiegel suggested an assortment of football’s behemoths have been working together to move away from UEFA’s control and form a new competition. Talks over the new league are said to have reached an advanced stage and the intent is for the tournament to begin as early as 2021.

However, according to the Telegraph’s Jeremy Wilson, Manchester United and Arsenal are two of the most high-profile clubs opposed to the suggested scheme, despite both being listed among the 11 proposed founding members.

Wilson claims European clubs that play in domestic leagues which are considered to be lagging behind the Premier League in terms of financial heft have been the most vocal advocates for the move.

However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin opposes the radical change, saying Monday: “It would damage football worldwide. It would be boring. To see Juventus vs. (Bayern Munich) every week would be more boring than, let’s say, Juve vs. Torino. It’s no question for me that I will fight and do all I can against such a league for as long as I am here.

“If we are talking about a closed system, we can forget about solidarity and the development of football. In the long run, the clubs would be the losers.”

Bayern were also listed as one of the 11 potential starting clubs, but chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted the club “neither have any knowledge about this nor have we participated in any talks. That’s out of the question for us.”