Cowboys Ties That Bind: Guess What Coaches Garrett, Urban, Riley, Rhule & McDaniels Have In Common?

FRISCO - Many Dallas Cowboys fans, media and even staffers are befuddled by Jason Garrett and "The Long Goodbye.'' But there is one cluster of cubicle-owners who surely hold the keys to the answers.

The agents.

Shakespeare wrote, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'' But in this case, it seems like almost "all the lawyers'' (agents) work for a powerful firm called "Athletes First.'' And if we killed all the reps ...

Who would steer the careers of the outbound Garrett and on-the-move possibilities like Urban Meyer, Josh McDaniels, Matt Rhule and Lincoln Riley?

All five of those coaches have been tied - by fact or gossip - to the Dallas Cowboys. We can rattle through quickie biographical updates on each ...

*Owner Jerry Jones is slow-dancing with Garrett, who might be a hot candidate in New York or Cleveland if somebody could cut in ...

Since #Cowboys Jerry Jones Uttered 'B---S---' On Live Radio ... Urban Meyer's Name is barely mentioned. Let's ponder 'why' and review the 'BS' and the fact https://t.co/0NzdG8SCZa via @fishsports
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 2, 2020

*Urban Meyer is a college icon now out of football and may in the 16-game NFL find himself experiencing health problems 16 times a year, and therefore may enjoy the flirtation more than the actual job ...

*Josh McDaniels is the New England Patriots offensive coordinator with a flighty history when it comes to job acceptance and a likely desire for super-power whenever he flies from the Belichick nest ...

Source: Possible #Cowboys Coach Candidate Matt Rhule of @BUFootball is 'The Real Deal' https://t.co/zOIIbxjsOY pic.twitter.com/HpFtKEZulz
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) December 30, 2019

*Matt Rhule has been the Mr. Fix-It at Baylor and has Giants ties but some at The Star view him as"the real deal'' when it comes to changing a culture ...

.@dallascowboys Coaching Carousel: Does The Silence On OU's Lincoln Riley Speak Loudly? https://t.co/emALfOOr61 pic.twitter.com/2CpyfJVwc7
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 3, 2020

*Lincoln Riley is the whiz kid from Oklahoma who is pals with Cowboys COO Stephen Jones and - this is important - is unlike the rest of the bunch because there are zero requests for interviews on him and really, suddenly, zero buzz.

Why? My answer is that almost as much as the Jones family is in control of this merry-go-round, Athletes First also has a hand on the lever. Is an Athletes First client going to be allowed to backstab another Athletes First client? (Outside of Meyer going on Fox Sports and doing just that to Garrett, of course). Or will all these moves come in conjunction with one another, a gigantic chess game in which all five of these high-profile coaches shuffle to desired spots in an organized-as-possible manner?

Evidence of my theory (and my colleague Charles Robinson's theory) will come soon, when a couple of national NFL writers tweet the same move or the same interview or the same rumor at exactly the same time: It'll mean a powerful guy in a cubicle offered an update on his coach client.

The Jones family has an idea what's going on here (maybe it's just a matter of Jerry having to spit out the "goodbye'' to RedBall.) But Athletes First has an idea, too. Or, because it involves Garrett, Meyer, McDaniels, Rhule and Riley, I guess I should say Athletes First has five ideas of what's going on here.