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          Dallas Cowboys

          Cowboys make switch in war room

          • Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff WriterJan 10, 2014, 11:00 AM ET
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              Calvin Watkins covers the Houston Rockets and the NBA for ESPN.com. He joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers as well as colleges, boxing and high school sports.
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          For the first time since 2008, somebody else will put together the Dallas Cowboys' NFL draft board.

          Will McClay, the assistant director of player personnel, will handle those duties this spring.

          Tom Ciskowski, the director of scouting, produced the board the past few years, but things have moved in a different direction.

          McClay and Ciskowski split between handling pro and college duties. Ciskowski had been in charge of pro and college scouting, but the Cowboys wanted him to concentrate more on the college game.

          Ciskowski is still a valued member of the front office, and last year he interviewed for the then-vacant general manager position in Indianapolis that eventually went to Ryan Grigson.

          McClay was formerly the head coach of the Dallas Desperados in the Arena Football League team; Cowboys owner Jerry Jones owned the Desperados from 2004-08. McClay was also the assistant director of pro scouting for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011 before returning to the Cowboys in the player personnel department.

          McClay is one of a few African-Americans in NFL front offices who will either finalize or assist in putting together NFL draft boards for their teams. Ozzie Newsome (Baltimore), Doug Whaley (Buffalo), Rick Smith (Houston), Marc Ross (New York Giants) and Ray Farmer (Cleveland) are some African-Americans in front-office positions who handle draft boards in some fashion.