‘I Was Comfortable Being Down There’: Jerry Jones Recalls Sideline Days Before Facing Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s Indianapolis Colts

FRISCO, Texas — Jimmy Johnson asked Jerry Jones to come to the sideline early in their time together, and the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager said Friday he felt better watching games from there.

Jones made the comments on 105.3 The Fan’s K&C Masterpiece two days before Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. One of the hosts asked whether Jones went to the sideline to learn the game or to look over someone’s shoulder.

Colts owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon spends games on the Indianapolis sideline with a headset, a call sheet, and a pen, the Colts’ team site has noted. She took over as principal owner after her father, Jim Irsay, died in May 2025. In October, she fired general manager Chris Ballard.

“Felt better about being down there,” Jones said. “As a matter of fact, Jimmy, when the first thing we did, he said, ‘I wish you would come to the sideline a lot.’ Jimmy, and he happened to be the coach at that particular time. The main thing is I was comfortable being down there.”

“I have gone out and sat in the stand before at one of our football games, just to be clear,” Jones continued. “And so the whole point is that who in the world could appreciate more the talent of the people that we have around us than me? I depend on that.”

Jones bought the Cowboys in February 1989 and hired Johnson from the University of Miami that same month. Johnson coached Dallas to Super Bowl titles after the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

Jerry Jones Says Staff Input Regularly Changes His Direction

Jones said earlier in the interview that he makes every final decision for the Cowboys. He said the people who work for him know they can change it.

“We have 6,000 workers every game that we play at the stadium. 6,000 workers out there. And we have literally hundreds of people involved in our football team,” Jones explained. “I can’t tell you where they are in my eyes: heroes, many heroes, appreciation for their work, and they’re fabulous.”

“And if you think that when one of them comes up to me and says, ‘We need to do this different, we need to do that different,’ they’re coming up to me knowing that I can do it differently,” Jones added. “And I just want to emphasize here that I do all the time decide to go in different directions by what an employee or somebody that technically works for me, by definition. All of the time, that’s where I get my input, because I know they’ve got self-interest in making this suggestion.”

Dallas Cowboys Return To Lucas Oil Stadium For First Time Since 2018

Sunday is Dallas’ first trip to Indianapolis for a regular-season game since Dec. 16, 2018, when the Colts won 23-0. The teams last met Dec. 4, 2022, a 54-19 Cowboys win at AT&T Stadium.

Dallas is 3-5 after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday. Indianapolis is 2-6 after a 42-7 loss at Jacksonville.

The Colts have billed Sunday as a “White Out” game, with fans asked to wear white. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.