If Jerry Jones wants advice from a fellow Hall of Famer about who should be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, LaDainian Tomlinson is happy to provide it. And Tomlinson has someone in mind who would fit in perfectly.
"One guy I do believe that could make it work is Ron Rivera," Tomlinson told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. "He was our defensive coordinator when I was in San Diego. The guy has excellent leadership skills. He's a leader of men. He's a great coach. I think he would fit well in Dallas."
Tomlinson, the former TCU great and current NFL Network analyst, knows there will be plenty of candidates outside of Rivera. Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has expressed interest and there's other rising college coaches to be considered such as Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley and Baylor's Matt Rhule.
But, if it were Tomlinson, he would go with a coach with NFL experience such as Rivera. Plus, Tomlinson isn't sure that Meyer would be the most compatible with Jones.
"This team is already ready to win. They have the talent," Tomlinson said. "It's hard to bring in a young, inexperienced coach that has never coached on the NFL level and expect him to get these grown men, who are ready to win now, all on the same page _ implement his own style and all those kinds of things. That's difficult for me to come to grips with.
"I think an experienced coach, even if he hasn't coached at the NFL level, a guy like Urban Meyer that has coached a long time, that has coached a lot of pro players. I think that's a great fit, but I think Urban is going to want more control. He's not going to want Jerry on the radio speaking out about the team, so I don't know if that will work."
That's why Tomlinson vouched for Rivera, the longtime Carolina Panthers coach who was fired earlier this month. Rivera went 76-63-1 in his nine seasons with the Panthers, including a trip to Super Bowl 50 in 2015.
He took over the Panthers after being the Chargers defensive coordinator from 2008-10, working with Tomlinson his first two seasons.
Of course, the Cowboys aren't in the market for a head coach yet.
Jason Garrett still holds that title, although his contract expires after this season and he's widely expected to be let go barring a fairy-tale finish that sees the Cowboys make a deep run in the playoffs.
But, like most fans, Tomlinson doesn't see much reason for optimism for the Cowboys to suddenly get things going in the right direction.
"A month ago, I said I thought the Cowboys could win one playoff game," Tomlinson said. "I thought they could win the wild card game because they're going to be playing at home. Now, when I'm looking at the possible matchup, I'm not so sure that they can win that game at home. I'm not so sure they can beat a Minnesota Vikings team, or that they can beat the Green Bay Packers, or that they can beat San Francisco or Seattle. I don't think they can, not even at home.
"I do think they will win their division. I think they'll get into the playoffs at 8-8, but I do believe it'll be a one-and-done postseason."
Tomlinson made the comments from El Paso as he took part in a charity event for the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
Tomlinson, along with Tony the Tiger, surprised middle schoolers with truckloads of new sports equipment and announced a $500,000 donation to give every El Paso middle schooler the chance to play sports, courtesy of the Kellogg's Frosted Flakes' Mission Tiger and The DICK's Sporting Goods Foundation Sports Matter.
"There's a lack of funding in the school system, so a lot of sports programs are going away because they just can't afford to have these teams anymore," Tomlinson said. "There's no equipment. They don't have the money. When I heard about this, I had to be a part of it. For one, I've been here (and played in the 1998 Sun Bowl). I've been in El Paso, I was a part of this bowl game, I know what it stands for. I know how important this is to the people here in El Paso.
"I wanted to come be a part of what they're doing today."
