New Cowboy Leadership to Evaluate Ties to CLU

When the Dallas Cowboys come to Thousand Oaks this summer, they are going to need name tags.

Gone are:

Tom Landry, the coach.

Tex Schramm, team president and general manager.

Gil Brandt, vice president in charge of personnel.

And, are the Cowboys also gone?

Don’t rule it out. The team will arrive in July for training camp at Cal Lutheran University, just as it has for the previous 26 summers. But after that, all bets are off.

When Arkansas oilman Jerry Jones purchased the club from H. R. (Bum) Bright several months ago, he brought a broom along with his checkbook. Now that the head rolling apparently is over, evaluations of the entire operation will begin, CLU as a training site among them.

“We are committed by contract to go to Thousand Oaks this year,” Cowboy spokesman Greg Aiello said. “But we are not committing to anything long-term. We are not in a position to do that. The new owner and (new Coach) Jimmy Johnson have to study training camp and see what it is all about. They want to look at all facets of it before they decide what to do.”

Several factors would appear to favor CLU. One is the climate. Should the Cowboys decide to remain in Texas to train, they would be subjected to blistering heat and humidity. But Johnson already has said that such weather might be beneficial to the team’s conditioning program.

The other factor is the proximity of the Raiders, Rams and San Diego Chargers. Said Aiello: “With the new rule allowing only 80 players in camp, it is very helpful to have other teams in your area to practice against.”

The current agreement between the university and the Cowboys includes a two-year separation agreement.

“That means that if either party notifies the other by September 1 that they want out, the Cowboys would still be coming back at least two more summers,” said Dennis Gillette, CLU vice president for institutional advancement. “If circumstances change, and either party wants to do anything else, we would hold discussions and try to reach an equitable agreement.”

The college receives 20% above expenditures from the Cowboys every summer, a sum that comes to several thousand dollars. Should the Cowboys leave, that money would not necessarily be cut off.

“We have had inquiries from several other teams,” Gillette said. “Everything is here: dorms, practice fields, locker facilities, climate, location. This training-camp site is one of the best in the country.”

An interested club might be the Cowboys’ summer neighbors, the Raiders, who reportedly are unhappy with their current training site in Oxnard because of the cool summer weather.