Just gonna post this here since we have been discussing this topic here:
____________________________________________________
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says there’s no correlation between coach pay and winning
By Jon Machota
Nov. 3, 2026
While the working relationship between Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson was deteriorating following their second consecutive Super Bowl victory in 1994, the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager famously said he could find 500 coaches who would win a Super Bowl with that team.
The two then parted ways. The Cowboys won another Super Bowl two years later. They haven’t been back since.
Despite being the most valuable sports franchise in the world, the Cowboys are not known for spending significantly on coaches. There is no salary cap on coaches. There’s no reason a franchise recently valued at $17 billion by Forbes couldn’t have the highest-paid staff every year.
Jones was asked about this Tuesday because current head coach Brian Schottenheimer is not among the highest-paid coaches in the league. Although coaching salaries aren’t made public, the Cowboys head coach is estimated to be in the $5 million to $8 million per year range. The highest-paid coaches average $20 million per season. According to Sportico, 10 coaches make at least $14 million per season.
If Schottenheimer were making anything close to that, Jones would’ve likely mentioned it. Instead, he defended why he doesn’t pay coaches at the top of the market.
“In the NFL, this is after years of looking at all the teams and all the coaches,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, “there is zero correlation between how much you pay a coach or how many coaches you have (on staff) as to winning. There is no correlation. And that’s a random sample of years and all 32 teams involved. So, put that in your hopper and smoke it.”
Of the last 10 Super Bowl winners, six had coaches — Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Sean McVay — among the highest paid in the league. The other four were Doug Pederson (2017 Philadelphia Eagles), Bruce Arians (2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Nick Sirianni (2024 Philadelphia Eagles) and Mike Macdonald (2025 Seattle Seahawks).
Sirianni is currently among the top 10 highest paid.
The Cowboys are 10-14-1 under Schottenheimer. They are coming off one of their worst losses in recent memory, falling to a two-win Arizona Cardinals team in overtime after leading 17-3 late in the third quarter and 30-24 in the final minute.
“You can be pretty creative in hiring your coaches,” Jones said. “I’ve had some good experiences of hiring people who have never been in the NFL. I’ve had some experience of hiring young coaches, older coaches. And you constantly remind me, as you should, of what my record is. And I understand that. But also know that the next time you throw the pick, if you’re the old California gold miner, you may hit the Comstock Lode.”
