Jerry Jones should bring in Bill Belichick, or forever wonder what he missed by not

The Dallas Cowboys like to call the Dallas Cowboys “America's Team” but the more accurate description is America’s favorite reality show. And that was before team owner Jerry Jones agreed to a 10-part docuseries about a franchise that hasn’t won a Super Bowl in nearly three decades.

There is no questioning Jones’ desire to win another title, but content has always been king with the Cowboys as well. It’s a dual tract that has kept the team relevant through postseason futility, including Sunday’s 48-32 NFC wild-card embarrassment at the hands of Green Bay.

So what better than bringing in a new star character for a late-series reboot, especially when he might be the best solution to that playoff futility?

Bill Belichick, come on down.

That head coach Mike McCarthy is done in Dallas should be a foregone conclusion. Jones has a habit of sticking with mediocre coaches (namely Jason Garrett) for too long, but three consecutive 12-win seasons have yielded just one playoff victory, including an oh-fer this year.

Jones is 81. How much patience should he have?

“I’m floored,” Jones said after Sunday’s loss.

The Cowboys need a better coach, a better playoff coach. Jones has always liked stars, the bigger the better.

Belichick happens to be both.

The issue may be timing. Dallas can’t really wait.

Belichick interviewed Monday with the Atlanta Falcons, which had to have been a bizarro process. Exactly how do you interview a guy with 302 regular-season victories, nine Super Bowl appearances and six championships?

Falcons HR: So, Bill, can you give a specific example from your last job of turning seemingly insurmountable obstacles into a positive?

Belichick: Well, there was this one time we trailed 28-3 in the Super Bowl …

It goes without saying that there is no one in football with his résumé. In fact, if Belichick ever wrote out a résumé it should be immediately sent to Canton. At 71 years old, you can question his commitment to the long term or ask about what happened once Tom Brady left for Tampa in 2020, but it’s not like there is another candidate like him.

His failure at the end of the 24-year run in New England was an indictment of Belichick the general manager more than of Belichick the coach. Even during this disastrous 4-13 season, the New England defense was often elite and deserved better.

The Dallas roster is not lacking talent. It may be facing a salary-cap crunch, but there are Pro Bowlers all over the place. Dak Prescott offers Belichick the quarterback he couldn’t find post-Brady in New England.

The Cowboys have been very good during the regular season. It’s in the big matchups that they fall apart. Well, how about a guy with a 31-13 (.705) playoff record?

Almost any other choice would be an unproven, or at least lesser-proven, option. And while Belichick’s age suggests he isn’t a long-term answer, that isn’t what Jones should be looking for.

More than ever, it is win-now time in Dallas.

And then there is the entertainment factor for everyone else and the fear-of-missing-out factor for Jones. The team owner has always coveted big names and big personalities — football, Hollywood, whatever.

Jones signed Deion Sanders and Terrell Owens. He once wanted to spend a first-round draft pick on Johnny Manziel, and it couldn’t have been how Manziel graded out as a player. From 2003-06, he employed Bill Parcells as coach, about the closest it gets to Belichick. Jones built the biggest stadium in the league, which is affectionately known as “Jerry World.”

The Jerry and Bill Show — or Bill and Jerry Show — would be must-watch television, and that’s always part of the goal for the Cowboys. Could they coexist? Would they thrive? What happens when more media are at Jones’ postgame informal gaggle than at Belichick's actual news conference? Would Bill hate that … or like it?

If nothing else, Belichick’s pursuit of Don Shula’s regular-season win record (328) provides an additional angle over the next few years.

The Cowboy team needs a proven winner. The Cowboy soap opera needs a new plotline to shift from the depressing wheel-spinning of the past few years (decades).

Bill Belichick is available. Jerry Jones needs to bring him in, or forever wonder what he missed by not.