But in these very desperate times for the Cowboys' franchise, Jerry Jones was coming across as Football stupid. OK, that's redundant, yet, this was an extreme case even for Jerry.

As of Saturday, Mike Shanahan had been out of work for five days after being fired from his head-coach-for-life job in Denver.

Jerry? Honk if you're still alive.

For five days there wasn't even one juicy media rumor to suggest Jones was interested in at least talking to Mike bleeping Shanahan.

Google up "real NFL head coach."

Guarantee you Mike Shanahan will be one of the first five names to appear. Guarantee you Wade Phillips won't be mentioned.

My plan for this morning was to save Jerry Jones from himself. I would be the "named source" reporting Jones was extremely interested in hiring Shanahan. As opposed to the "unnamed source" of December, there would be no truth involved in my report. But it's about time somebody helped Jerry in the area of perception.

Common sense demands that Jones make a run at Shanahan.

Stay with me here:

Mike Shanahan or Wade Phillips?

Steak or chopped liver?

And Jerry even has a bailout excuse from all of his senseless bluster of the past two weeks, during which he repeatedly declared that Phillips would be coming back.

"How did I know?" he could alibi.

As in, how could he have known Shanahan would suddenly be available?

Anyway, as of Saturday, Chris Mortensen of ESPN took me off the hook and ended my "named source" scam. Mortensen reported -- yes, indeed -- Jones' anger is growing rapidly since the Cowboys did the Philly flop, and that Jerry is how seriously mulling over a Shanahan hire.

At least we finally have progress after a week of ownership insanity.

Now, look, I can give you all the negatives on Shanahan. Start with his playoff record since John Elway retired. One postseason win this decade. Not encouraging.

When it comes to bringing a rat element into his locker room, Mike has some Jerry in him, which may tell us something about why he and Jones are longtime NFL mutual admirers. Like Jerry, Shanahan has had multiple failed rats. Lately, his overall free agent signing record with the Broncos has been awful.

To hear those who worked for Shanahan, or coached under him, his general manager work in Denver undermined his coaching talents. Of course, at Valley Ranch, maybe you've heard, there's a GM already in place. Granted, with Shanahan and Jones there would be a worry about talent evaluation in the organization, although at least Jerry does seem willing to listen to his scouts. At times, anyway.

What Shanahan needs is a strong defensive coordinator, which is also a nice way of saying he needs to stay away from evaluating defensive talent. This guy was once considered an offensive guru, although not so much lately. But offense is his expertise.

Would Shanahan jump Tony Romo's butt, something that is definitely needed? I hear mixed reviews on this, but mostly favorable. Despite a lot of media buildup, he failed to revive the career of Jake Plummer, and even with the young and talented Jay Cutler, (see if this sounds familiar) carelessness with the Football became an issue in Denver, particularly this season.

But in Cutler's defense, injuries wiped out his stable of running backs and his defense was pathetic, so the kid figured every play had to go for a touchdown.

Even, however, with two Super Bowl rings from the Elway era (after Shanahan replaced Phillips as the Broncos' head coach), his coaching credentials now show tarnish.

Then again, if you're still waiting on the positives, Shanahan has plenty, particularly in one area.

According to those who have coached for him, right up until his last day on the job, Mike commanded total respect in the locker room, in team meetings, and on the sidelines.

The players know better than to jack with him. He is, above all else, a real head coach.

In a now totally splintered Cowboys' locker room, where backstabbing was common late in the season, a strong man is needed to slap around the troops. Shanahan can do that. Wade cannot do that.

The Mortensen ESPN report mentioned that Jones is waiting to see what happens with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett before openly pursuing Shanahan. But Garrett's chances for a vacant head coaching job are very slim. His situation, financial or otherwise, should not be a factor as Jerry looks to the immediate future.

Jones has no plans to make Garrett his next head coach, or else that would have happened last week. But the vacancy at head coach remains, despite Phillips currently holding the title.

A "named source" is saying, however, that Jerry has finally come around. He's interested in Mike Shanahan.

Hire him, Mr. Jones, or brace yourself for another season of embarrassment and national ridicule.

Randy Galloway, 817-390-7760

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