Jeff Chiu / AP

Norv Turner was not successful as a head coach with the Redskins and Raiders, but he is exactly what the Cowboys and young quarterback Tony Romo need, writes MSNBC.com contributor Jim Reeves.

Certainly Jerry hinted at changes in the team philosophy as late as Christmas Day, after the Cowboys’ disheartening loss to Philadelphia. He grimly noted how much effort the Cowboys had spent on its defense in draft picks, free agency, even allowing Parcells to change from the 4-3 to his favored 3-4 defense, only to see it fail in crunch time.

What particularly bugged Jones was that the Cowboys were wasting the emergence of Romo as a bona fide NFL quarterback. It would only make sense, then, that he would be interested in bringing Turner, or someone of his ilk, in as a personal tutor for Romo.

That’s also why Jones may have flown former backup quarterback Jason Garrett in Wednesday for an interview, presumably as offensive coordinator. Garrett also worked closely with Turner in ’93 and would be the perfect go-between to help with Romo.

The big names that might be attractive to Jones are all basically unavailable.

Bill Cowher is committed to taking a year off. Not even Jones wants to pay the freight to free Charlie Weiss from Notre Dame. Bob Stoops, even if he agreed to leave Oklahoma, might take a year or two to get himself adjusted to the pro game. (Stoops said earlier this week he wasn't interested, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't change his mind.)

That’s another reason Turner makes sense for the Cowboys. This is a team that is close. There are problems, yes, but there’s no reason the Cowboys shouldn’t be a contender for an NFC East title and playing for the Super Bowl next season.

The window of opportunity could be closing, however. The Cowboys’ best receivers are aging, and that’s assuming Terrell Owens will be back with Terry Glenn.

As a team, they are on the brink of breaking through, but they need improvement in the offensive line, a better pass rush and somebody who can teach their safeties how to cover.

This is not the time to hire a coach who needs time to figure things out. He needs a coach who knows how to win right now.

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Jones will want to be more involved now that Parcells is gone and Turner’s ego isn’t so big that he can’t deal with that.

It’s the easy answer for Jones to a difficult situation, so easy that it’s also easy to overlook, to think that it can’t be this simple.

It can be, though.

Just do what feels right.

Norv Turner simply makes the most sense.

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