Could Cowboys' Owner Jerry Jones Be Big Player for Razorbacks, but Not His Team?

Recent complaints in Dallas lighting up after owner vows to make Hogs' NIL jump dramatically

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones applauds during the Ring of Honor ceremony putting fellow Razorback teammate and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson into long-overdue place in AT&T Stadium. / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A lot of the buzz around the Arkansas Razorbacks and hiring new basketball coach John Calipari has suddenly gotten the arrival of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones into the whole thing with name, image, likeness funding. It didn't take long to get some in the DFW media yapping.

Part of it is dragging Jones' name into anything from around Northwest Arkansas, who assumes he basically is the de facto boss of everything with the Hogs since Frank Broyles passed away. There's absolutely no evidence Jerry wants to run the Razorbacks' athletic department as much of his benefits to the UA over the years has come in the form of real estate. How many actual checks he's written isn't clear.

There is some report that he offered to "double NIL commitments made to recruits by Kentucky," before Arkansas hired him. The buzz is loud within much of the Razorbacks' fan base, but whether it's based on what will actually happen or not isn't know. Jones has been known for years to go in one apparent direction with the Cowboys and actions go completely different. It's why some in the Dallas media are not particulary happy to hear about it.

Here's a comment from Raymond Lucas, Jr., on Cowboys Country on Athlon: "Cowboys Nation surely wonders why Jerry isn't spending like this for the pro team he's involved with ... but that's another story."

John Tyson, who has gotten into the process now in a public way we haven't seen much from him certainly knows Jones and it wouldn't be surprising other billionaires want to get in on the fun with the Hogs. Most of them know each other fairly well from business and it's not unusual to cut them in on these big business deals.

Arkansas Razorbacks booster John Tyson waves to the crowd at the press conference announcing new basketball coach John Calipari on April 10, 2024, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. / Campbell Rogerson-allHOGS Images

The feeling among a lot of Razorback fans right now is Jerry's going to dump a ton of money into the NIL for the Hogs. Based on know members of the Jones' family for nearly six decades he might but it's usually a mistake to make a lot of assumptions based on what you would do. Jerry thinks in a different way and just about everything has a business angle to it.

He likes to say he doesn't get hand cramps writing big checks and hasn't at times in the past. Considering Jones' has probably used electronic money transfers primarily for years, writing checks is not something he's done on a regular basis. Nobody does.

Yes, they are playing the Final Four at AT&T Stadium, but that's five years down the road. Considering the way the college sports world is changing these days, there's way too much ground to cover before making any assumptions there.

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