Colin Cowherd's attack on Jerry Jones over coaches: “It's like throwing a party at a mansion and saying, ‘What about the catering? Let's call Subway’”

Jerry Jones has spent decades turning the Dallas Cowboys into one of the NFL 's most valuable franchises, but Colin Cowherd believes the billionaire owner has overlooked an obvious investment.

Following another disappointing Dallas defeat, the Fox Sports analyst questioned why Jones is prepared to spend lavishly on almost everything except the coaching and front-office leadership he considers essential to winning.

The criticism came after the Cowboys suffered a 24-16 home defeat to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers , who were playing without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield for Week 5.

Dallas fell to 2-3 after allowing 419 yards of offense, including 241 rushing yards, despite entering the game with an opportunity to build on its victory over the Houston Texans in Week 4.

And Cowherd argued that the Cowboys ' spending priorities make little sense in a league where financial restrictions apply to players but not coaches as he suggested Jones has built an expensive operation without placing the same value on the people responsible for making it successful.

"In a salary cap league, all right, there's a ceiling, right?" Cowherd said. "There's two places where you can spend all you want, and it doesn't count against the cap. Coaching staffs and front offices, head coaches and GMs. And the Cowboys go cheap on those.

"Jerry didn't go cheap on his yacht, his helicopter, his stadium, his practice facility. They pay top of the market for quarterbacks, defensive tackles, and wide receivers. He goes cheap on the staff.

"It's like hosting a party in a mansion and going, 'Who's doing the catering?' ... 'We called Subway.'"

Pressure grows on Schottenheimer after Tampa Bay embarrassment

The Cowboys have world-class facilities and massive financial resources are hardly the issue in Dallas as Jones loves to splash the cash on his star players like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb .

Cowherd ’s frustration centered instead on what he sees as a reluctance to invest just as aggressively in experienced football leadership and his argument comes despite Jones continuing to authorize significant spending that on players as Dallas also recently acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers .

"Strong coaches push back, and Jerry doesn't like the pushback," Cowherd said, believing money is only part of the issue, suggesting the Cowboys owner prefers coaches who are less likely to challenge his authority.

The debate has intensified around Brian Schottenheimer , who was promoted to head coach in 2025 after Dallas chose to walk away from Mike McCarthy , but did not pursue some of the most prominent candidates available.

Schottenheimer with already working the organization after serving as the offensive coordinator, and a 9-12-1 record through 22 games has done little to silence questions.

Particularly his capability of leading the team due to his relative inexperience, with no head coaching history in an 18-year career prior to his promotion.

Schottenheimer now faces the challenge of restoring confidence before Dallas travels to face the Green Bay Packers on October 18.