Jerry Jones on Cowboys' succession plan: 'I don't ever want to quit'

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones isn't thinking about retirement, but he does have a succession plan in place when it comes time to hand over the reins of the organization.

In a one-on-one with Peter King of The MMQB, the 73-year-old Jones said he's more optimistic about the future of the Cowboys now than he was when he purchased the team in 1989.

"The people around me, which have principally been my immediate family, none of us knew how to do it. There was no blue book," Jones said. "So, many of the things I've got credit (for) - my daughter, my son Stephen, and my son Jerry - it's not only been their ideas, but they've executed them.

"My succession plan has been in place almost from the first interview we had. I don't ever want to quit, I just don't want to quit. I have more enthusiasm and see a brighter future. In this case, familiarity hasn't bred contempt; it has bred optimism. I'm not quitting."

Although Stephen Jones has taken on more responsibility in his role with the Cowboys (he put his foot down when his father wanted to draft quarterback Johnny Manziel in 2014), the elder Jones has said he will never relinquish his GM title.

"We are not structured that way," Jerry said in 2012. "We didn't structure it that way with my ownership. There's no way that I would be involved here and not be the final decision-maker on something as important as players, and that is a key area. That's never been anybody's misunderstanding.

"It's been a debated thing, but it's just not going to happen. We've had success doing it this way and we're going to have success in the future doing it this way."