Skip Bayless Just Reopened A Painful Cowboys Coaching What-If

Deck: Skip Bayless offers a candid critique of the Cowboys' coaching decisions and reveals why Jim Harbaugh was the game-changing hire Jerry Jones overlooked.

Skip Bayless didn’t hide his answer when asked, in effect, what Jerry Jones should have done in 2024: he wanted Jim Harbaugh.

During a recent appearance on Stephen A. Smith’s YouTube channel, Bayless revisited the Cowboys’ decision to hire Brian Schottenheimer to replace Mike McCarthy, according to Brogan Clasper of HITC/Yahoo Sports. Bayless made it clear he thought Harbaugh was the better fit, and he said he was pushing for that move when Harbaugh was available.

“When Jim Harbaugh was available… I was pounding the desk: just go get Jim Harbaugh. Look, I know they’re off to a horrendous start, mostly because of Justin Herbert.

Jim Harbaugh is a football coach who has won everywhere he’s been, and he’s been winning with the Chargers. They’ve been a playoff team until now, and this is horrendous, but I’m just saying he was available”.

Bayless also explained why he believes Jones never would have gone that direction. In his view, Harbaugh’s personality would have been too much for the Cowboys owner to handle.

“There’s no way Jerry Jones is going to hire Jim Harbaugh, because he’s too commanding,” Bayless said. “He’s too much his own man, and he’s going to say no to Jerry Jones. He’s going to take the stage over, take the team over, and change the culture.”

He backed up that point by pointing to Harbaugh’s track record at every stop.

“Look at Jim Harbaugh’s record at the University of San Diego, then at Stanford. Look what he did with the 49ers.

Look what he did at Michigan, winning the national championship. Again, the Chargers were a playoff team last year, and they’ll be back; they’ll figure this out.”

Ultimately, Harbaugh landed with the Baltimore Ravens.

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