Category: Jason Garrett

Mike McCarthy traveling to Dallas to meet with Cowboys about HC job

The first name has been attached to the Dallas Cowboys head coach opening, and it’s a man who defeated them regularly when it mattered.

It’s happening. For the last several weeks, former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has sat atop Cowboys Wire’s potential replacement rankings for the Dallas Cowboys pending vacancy. While the club still has not relieved Jason Garrett of his duties, his contract expires on January 14 and the belief across the board is that he will be separated from the team he’s led for almost a full decade in short order.

The Cowboys have yet to make public any names they are considering as replacements, through announcement, confirmation or leak, and McCarthy is the first name since the end of the season to be directly linked to an interview.

McCarthy, 56, spent 13 years at the helm of the Packers from 2006 through 2018. That spanned the final crazy years of the Brett Favre era and being Aaron Rodgers only head coach until being replaced last offseason.

McCarthy led the Packers to nine playoff appearances in those 13 seasons, four NFC championship games, and Super Bowl XLV, in which they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25. McCarthy was 10-8 in the playoffs and sports a career regular season winning percentage of .618 (125-77-2).

He spent the year away from football after being fired but has made it clear throughout the offseason he was interested in returning to the sideline.

Aside from interviewing with the Cleveland Browns about their opening following the removal of Freddie Kitchens, he has also already met with the New York Giants about their vacant position after the dismissal of Pat Shurmur.

During McCarthy’s final few seasons with the Packers, in which they finished 11-16-1 and failed to make the playoffs in either 2017 or 2018, there was plenty of scuttlebutt about discord between he and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, though both went to great lengths publicly to dispute those narratives.

It’s very possible that just like many other situations when a coach is with one team for a decade or more, that the two simply had enough of each other and the team needed a new voice while McCarthy needed a new roster.

As for his resume, he certainly checks off several boxes in what several owners may be looking for and that’s why he’s sat atop the last couple iterations of our rankings.

McCarthy is a consistent winner, and while his detractors like to point to him winning a lone Super Bowl with an all-time great quarterback for 10 years, that same logic isn’t applied to Don Shula’s time with Dan Marino, Tony Dungy’s time with Peyton Manning, or Sean Payton’s time (ongoing season excluded) with Drew Brees.

He’s also been on the winning end of a handful of playoff matches with Jason Garrett and emerged the victor. That fact isn’t likely lost on the Cowboys’ front office despite how McCarthy’s tenure ended in Green Bay.

Meanwhile, McCarthy spent the offseason studying the dynamic wave of change that has infiltrated the NFL, as he shared towards the end of the season with Peter King.

In the span of three meetings with the 56-year-old McCarthy in the tundra last week, one slide on his deck spoke volumes about where he’s at with the future. It’s his football tech plan.

There’s a flow chart for his proposed 14-person Football Technology Department, including a six-person video unit and an eight-person analytics team. The Chief of Football Technology tops the department, which will run both video and analytics. The top analytics lieutenants will be a Coordinator of Database Management, Coordinator of Football Analytics and Coordinator of Mathematical Innovation. Below them: Football Technology Engineer and two Football Technology Analysts. And finally, a Football Technology Intern. McCarthy spent a day last summer at Pro Football Focus offices in Cincinnati, discovering how much more data is available than he realized. PFF data will be a key component of his analytics tree, as will GPS tracking of players and Next Gen Stats.

McCarthy has spent the last 54 weeks breaking down the tendencies of opposing teams, gleaning what is working on a league-wide level down to the most micro details. Jones recently discussed his apprehension for going with a coach straight from the college ranks due to the fact they won’t be familiar with the rosters of the NFL.

Reading tea leaves, could what’s being reported as a failed attempt to find a front-office place for Jason Garrett have really been a plan to have him as an adviser to a college coach, as was speculated?

Of course, the Week 15 sit down with King was a well-planned effort to boost his signal as the season wore down. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; an older coach doing what is necessary to get himself to the top of wishlists in an era when the NFL wants to move to younger guys shows that he is at least aware of the landscape and willing to adjust as opposed to resting on his resume and reputation.

It appears Dallas is finally ready to move on to the next phase, and they have a loaded roster. Despite the issues that may or may not still exist with coaching a Jerry Jones owned team, the Cowboys boast one of the better rosters in the NFL. Led by quarterback Dak Prescott, the offense was one of the most impressive across the board and there is a lot to be said for a coach who has had a chance to review what went wrong.

The question is, will McCarthy be impressive enough in his pending interview to convince Dallas he can bring about the consistent performances he enjoyed in Wisconsin that have been missing in Texas.

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ESPN joins speculation Jason Garrett will not be part of Cowboys future

The shoe hasn’t dropped, but it appears that more people have gathered outside the lobby of the Dallas Cowboys tower of never-ending drama, waiting for an Italian-leather loafer to hit the marble floor. All week, there has been speculation over …

The shoe hasn’t dropped, but it appears that more people have gathered outside the lobby of the Dallas Cowboys tower of never-ending drama, waiting for an Italian-leather loafer to hit the marble floor. All week, there has been speculation over whether or not the Cowboys are going to relieve head coach Jason Garrett of his duties,  let him leave the franchise or reassign him somewhere else in the organization.

Fueled by Jerry Jones himself saying no door was shut on Garrett’s future with the organization, as reported by USA Today’s Jori Epstein, the crazy has crescendoed all week. Now, the biggest sports media entity has weighed in, after four days of confusion. ESPN’s Ed Werder tweeted on Thursday night the Cowboys are expected to come to a decision soon and it’s expected Garrett will no longer be part of the organization.

The tweet is not saying that it has happened yet; according to Werder’s source, it will likely conclude with Garrett being out. However Garrett is still on hand, working through a week of exit interviews with his players.

Still, ESPN proper decided to take their reporters words and enhance them a bit, tweeting out a Breaking News alert that the decision had been made.

Words matter, and considering ESPN sources had the Jacksonville Jaguars firing head coach Doug Marrone last weekend, and then had to backtrack that report on Wednesday, there’s plenty of reason to have a long pause before fully ingesting the leap of ideas here.

The Garrett Watch has now entered Day 5 with no official word from the club.

If anyone thinks this is an absurdly long delay, it’s because it is.

With all the reports swirling, it’s pretty clear the long delay after the season ended has the Cowboys considering something about retaining Garrett, but the degree is unknown. Perhaps Werder’s source has learned some new information, that if Garrett and Dallas were unable to find a role for him, they are now ready to part ways.

There have been reports of players being confused by the language Garrett used in his exit interviews with players, telling some about the club’s plans for them next season. That’s not seen as something a departing coach would do, but Garrett remains an employee of the organization and it may just be his way to keep coaching like he has a job until he doesn’t.

Garrett’s contract doesn’t officially end until January 14, 2020, which is likely aiding in some of the confusion.

For now, the watch is still on.

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Musing: Jones delay on Garrett decision conjours Romo, owner-quote memories

What’s the hold up? Here’s a theory as to why Jason Garrett is still technically the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.

Everyone on the outside expected Jason Garrett to be gone by now.

Heck, the Cowboys organization has more leaks than a dude in a fishnet stocking mask live-streaming himself robbing a swiss-cheese bakery… almost everyone inside the organization expected Garrett to be gone by now, too. One local TV anchor went so far as to tweet the entire staff was fired on Monday, but here the Dallas Cowboys are on Thursday afternoon and not a single move has been announced.

Owner Jerry Jones, 77,  and his son Stephen cancelled their Tuesday afternoon radio spots on New Year’s Eve. No move was made on New Year’s Day and now Day 2 of the 2020 calendar and there’s been less movement than my Golden-Globe-worthy tree stump performance in the third-grade play. I was rivetingly grounded, but this is ridiculous, right?

Just one coaching staff member, who like Garrett and at least 15 others in the Cowboys employ have expiring/expired contracts, has been identified as interviewing elsewhere. That would be passing game coordinator and defensive play caller Kris Richard who is being screened by the New York Giants as this is being typed. Other than that, though, there’s a bunch of limbo and countless articles and social media discussions being had.

Everyone has a theory, and though I purposely avoided the topic for so long, something has to be written. I have no concrete evidence about what is transpiring, but neither do a lot of the insiders who have now written seven or eight articles by now, but I do want to gather my thoughts, just for posterity. Here are two thoughts I have about why Garrett is still employed. They are intertwined, but focus on two separate incidents that lead me to one quicksand-based stance.

The Tony Romo Factor

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Remember back in 2016, when Tony Romo broke his back for the 17th time (exaggeration) and Dak Prescott took over as the No. 1 QB? That was the summertime, and through the amazing start Prescott had, week after week Cowboys Nation was ready, willing and anticipating the return of Romo.

Even Jones himself spoke glowingly about Romo returning to lead the playoff run almost up until the exact moment Romo took to the podium and relinquished his claim to the throne so Prescott could reign unimpeded.

Why bring this all up?

The following offseason, a still-under-contract Romo was the talk of the football universe as free agency approached. Were the Cowboys going to hold him to his contract and absorb the huge cap hit for a backup? Could they afford to? Which team was he going to be traded to? There were rumors everywhere as people tried to find the right fit. Finally, after 27 days of free agency, Romo retired on April 4 once he secured a gig as the next broadcast analyst superstar for CBS.

Almost a month went by, with Jerry Jones and the organization allowing themselves to be chastised by their fans, national media and any and everybody with a pulse about how they were doing Romo wrong by not trading or releasing him.

In reality, the Joneses were providing Romo cover; paying homage to someone who literally traded his future quality of life in the joint effort to win a Super Bowl. Romo was allowed to sift through employment choices, see what kind of interest there was for him in several different fields, while the Cowboys organization took shots to the chin as their loyalty and compassion was spoken of as incompetency.

Sound familiar?

My working theory, which I have no idea whether or not it’s wholly or partially true, is that the Cowboys are giving Garrett a chance to find out whether or not he is desired by one of the three other NFL clubs who currently have a head coach opening.

The Joneses are perfectly fine with being painted as incompetent here to allow Garrett a few days to test the waters and see what there is of interest on the coaching circuit.

And if he doesn’t find any of the current openings interested in him?

Well, he’s able to return to the organization in some capacity.

The Draft Commandment Invoked Early

Catalina Fragoso-USA TODAY Sports

Remember a few weeks ago, Jerry Jones went on the radio and talked about how difficult it would be for him to hire a collegiate coach. The reason why? Because the college coaches were busy on Sundays when the NFL was having their games. College coaches were reviewing their team’s Saturday game film and Jones thought it was going to take a long learning curve for them to acclimate themselves with the personnel at the professional level.

Earlier in the decade, I began chronicling a tell-tale accurate accounting of things relative to identifying the Cowboys’ plans during draft season.  Often imitated, and sometimes outright plagiarized by some of the same folks milking the Garrett decision for every click possible, here was the 2019 version. The key commandment being invoked here? Listen to Jerry’s words, because he normally is telling the truth about his intentions.

We know of course that Jones’ only success as an NFL owner/GM has been with inexperienced former college head coaches. Both Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer were hired directly out of college jobs and they are the only hires who have brought Jones championships.

So what if Jones is hedging his bets?

What if Jones has a college head coach in mind, whether it be Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, Baylor’s Matt Rhule, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh or (gasp) Alabama’s Nick Saban, and if Garrett doesn’t have a head coaching gig lined up, Jones wants him to serve as a senior advisor?

Not a GM, the Cowboys’ owner sees himself as the GM, the team has been steadily handing over more of these responsibilities to Stephen over the years and Will McClay is likely untouchable as the director of player personnel with a stellar track record since taking that role over in 2014. But as a senior advisor? The guy there to be a guiding hand to a college head coach and a new staff?

Jones is crazy enough to think such a hierarchy will succeed.

Jones would have the best of both worlds in that scenario. Garrett would be able to dish out all the dirt his brilliant and well-prepared (though slow to adjust in-game) Princeton mind on the Cowboys’ opponents. The owner would be able to keep Garrett employed in some fashion if the rest of the NFL world wasn’t interested in hiring him for 2020, and also allow Jones to dip into the pool of collegiate coaching talent.

Is this what’s happening?

Maybe.

Probably not.

But if you’ve been spending the last four days waiting on the shoe to drop, this might be the most entertaining theory you come across while we all wait on things to play out.

At least I did that for you, friends.

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Cowboys exceptionally bad at being good

A look at some startling facts surrounding the Dallas Cowboys and their high level of play despite failing to make the playoffs.

The 2019 Dallas Cowboys were an anomaly in many ways. They were a team prone to equal parts brilliance and frustration. As the annual tradition of off-season autopsies begin around the league, it’s important to note one thing about this team: they were exceptionally bad at being good. Bill Parcells liked to say “you are what your record says you are” but Dallas far outplayed their 8-8 record.

By season’s end the Cowboys finished sixth in both point differential (besting seven of the 12 playoff squads) and by Football Outsiders’ DVOA. In fact, by the latter metric, Aaron Schatz notes that “The star-crossed 2019 Dallas Cowboys end up sixth with 17.1% DVOA, which makes them the fifth-best 8-8 team in DVOA history. They rank behind the 2002 Chiefs, 2006 Jaguars, 1999 Raiders, and 1993 Chargers.”

That’s not all, folks. There’s another startling fact dug up by the imitable Bob Sturm of The Athletic.

Beating teams this badly isn’t an easy feat, but the Cowboys did it nearly half the time. As a matter of fact, if they wanted to win a game this was really the only way Dallas knew how. Seven of their eight wins came when scoring 30 or more points, gaining over 400 yards, and winning by a double digit margin.

Take a long look at that list and understand that what the Cowboys did was incredibly rare. The average team (after removing the disappointment this 2019 Dallas campaign) won 13 games. Only two of them didn’t advance to the conference championship weekend. The Cowboys are the only team to not make the playoffs, forget about a winning record.

In the end, this is why head coach Jason Garrett won’t be back, but it’s important to understand that moving forward, this team is ready to compete at the highest level. The next coach won’t have to suffer through a prolonged rebuild, they will have the tools necessary to take Dallas to a place it hasn’t been in two-plus decades: a championship game.

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Garrett Watch Day 3: A look at the bizarre timeline

That Jason Garrett is still coach of the Dallas Cowboys on January 1 is shocking to many, after a couple of wild days at team headquarters.

There has never been a date more perfectly suited to the currently-unfolding chapter in Dallas Cowboys history than January 1, 2020. It’s resolutely looking ahead, and it’s self-reflective hindsight… all neatly manifested in a single square on the calendar. And on this New Year’s Day, all of Cowboys Nation is staring into the unknown expectantly, tantalized by the possibilities of the blank slate that lies ahead, wondering what successes the future may have in store.

But after two surreal days at The Star that closed out a maddening year and a frustrating decade for America’s Team, we’re also completely mystified and baffled, at a loss to explain exactly what has transpired to bring us here. Because as absurd as it would have sounded at so many moments during the season, it is now 2020… and, inexplicably, Jason Garrett is still the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

It defies logic and rational explanation. It has birthed a breaking-news mentality, with media camped out at the team facility and fans refreshing news feeds as they breathlessly await word from on high. It has launched bizarre conspiracy theories and fueled wild speculation.

How much confusion currently surrounds the Cowboys coaching conundrum as it enters its third day? Snopes.com, the popular online fact-checking source that specializes in debunking urban legends and validating internet rumors, had to address the trending claim that “Jason Garrett is out as Dallas Cowboys’ coach.”

For what it’s worth, the website classifies the claim as “unproven.” But it also says, “We will update this story when more information becomes available.”

At the current rate, that could be a while.

The 2019 roller coaster limped to an 8-8 halt on Sunday, giving fans the final thrill of a resounding win over Washington, but coupling it with the helpless disappointment of watching via scoreboard ticker as Philadelphia captured the division with their win in New York. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wouldn’t speak to Garrett’s employment status on Sunday evening, even while he talked about the imminent “disbanding” of the team.

As Black Monday dawned in front offices around the league, Garrett himself called in to his regular weekly segment on Dallas radio. He was upbeat and honest, offering more of a public peek behind the curtain than is usual for him as he gave a postmortem explanation of the season.

“I think the overarching explanation is we weren’t consistent enough,” Garrett said, via the team’s official website. “We weren’t consistent enough throughout the year from game to game. We weren’t consistent enough within games. We didn’t do the things that winning football teams do. We have a basic formula for winning that we talk a lot about. You have to win the ball, you have to win the big plays, you have to win the fourth quarter. And often times when you pull back after a ball game to evaluate those three statistics, those will be the deciding factors in games.”

Also in seasons… and sometimes in careers, no one had to say out loud.

But in that interview, Garrett did reveal that his Monday was set to include an address to the team, to be followed by a sit-down meeting with Jerry and Stephen Jones. Everyone, everyone, everyone thought they knew precisely what that meant for the 53-year-old coach whose contract officially expires on January 14, according to reports.

But Monday afternoon came and went with no official announcement. For a brief moment, chaos reigned. One Dallas reporter tweeted out an update that the Joneses had fired the entire Cowboys coaching staff, citing a text message from a source. That story was dismantled within the hour, but uncertainty was the mood of the day.

The details of what Garrett and the Joneses discussed on Monday did not leak out. Garrett, however, did talk to several members of his coaching staff, reportedly reminding those who- like himself- had expiring contracts that they were within their rights to explore opportunities elsewhere. He also apparently told those coaches that the situation in Dallas would be sorted out “within 24 to 48 hours.”

As media members were sent home from team headquarters on Monday with no news to report, the general feeling was that the Joneses were allowing Garrett to say his goodbyes to everyone after being in the building every workday since January 2007 (and with the team as a player for seven seasons in the ’90s, and around the team- for whom his dad was a scout- since he was 21). Garrett wanting the time to conduct a full and proper exit interview with each and every player, even on his own way out the door, suddenly seemed like the most Jason Garrett thing ever. Respect the process, even when it ends with packing your own desk into a cardboard box.

And granting Garrett that time seemed like a very Jerry move. Garrett is family as far as the 77-year-old owner is concerned. This isn’t a firing, it’s a mutual parting of ways. An amicable divorce. Sad, but unavoidable. A long-term investment in a relationship that ultimately didn’t pan out as hoped. There’s no reason to not say goodbye with class.

The fact that other teams were already moving quickly to fill coaching roles hinted at the notion that the Joneses must already have a plan in mind. If Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio don’t figure into the Cowboys’ immediate future, if Garrett is being allowed to take a slow victory lap, many fans surmised, it must mean that the club’s next target is not out there taking interviews. Maybe because he’s with an NFL team in the postseason. Maybe because he’s a college coach with a gentleman’s agreement already in place. Maybe because he’s currently working in the CBS broadcast booth, or he’s still cleaning out his locker of No. 82 jerseys.

Yes, with every minute that passes without an announcement, the Cowboys’ fans’ list of “prospective” coaches gets longer and crazier.

One theory even held that the Joneses had offered Garrett a front office job, to keep him in the organization and off another team’s sideline. It’s no secret that Jerry desperately wants to ultimately be proven right about his strong belief in Garrett and his football acumen. Monday’s non-announcement would give Garrett the chance to go home and talk it over with his family.

The Joneses bagging their regular Tuesday radio phone-ins didn’t do much to quiet the noise.

Tuesday brought the promise of another meeting between Garrett and the Joneses. But once again, that meeting brought no new information or changes to Garrett’s employment status or the Dallas coaching staff (although passing game coordinator Kris Richard is now slated to interview with the Giants). A second full day of no movement. Lather, rinse, repeat.

But what had been seen just a day prior as a class move and a respectful handling of a tense situation had started to look like just more evidence of the dysfunction in Dallas. Why was this dragging out? Why not give exiting assistants the full chance to throw their hats in the ring with the other teams currently scrambling to fill sideline slots? Why not make a definitive statement about starting a new chapter in the history of the Dallas Cowboys? How long can it possibly take for Garrett to say goodbye to everyone? Was Jerry getting cold feet and considering retaining Garrett as coach after all? Has Garrett somehow saved himself?

Or is this just the very beginning of a long and painfully slow process?

As Garrett Watch enters its third day, it’s safe to say that no one really knows what’s going to happen, even though it seemed obvious as recently as Monday. Wild Card Weekend is just hours away, yet Jerry Jones has the spotlight shining directly on his .500 team that isn’t even in the dance. The collection of memes poking fun at the wait-and-wait-and-wait-and-see situation grows by the hour. Even those who cover the team or know the Joneses personally are simply along for the ride now.

January 1 is traditionally a day to turn over a new leaf. Give up a bad habit. Let go of the past. Try something new. Resolve to be better. Look to the future.

But right now, the Dallas Cowboys are stuck right where they have been.

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Garrett tells players to ‘stand tall’ as own uncertainty swirls, Jones says change coming

The coach’s message to his Cowboys players before their Week 17 game is one he’s implementing himself with his own future murky.

It’s technically called “disbanding the team.” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pointed out that bit of trivia to reporters after Sunday’s regular season finale. And it happens at the end of every single season to every single team, whether they finish dead last or hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Quarterback Dak Prescott referenced the inevitable personnel turnover in his postgame press conference, saying, “The team won’t be the same. This is the change every time. And that’s something I’ll never get used to as long as I’m in the NFL. And it hurts, but it’s what it is.”

The 47-16 win over Washington ended the Cowboys’ season on an up note, but the 8-8 finish may ultimately be coach Jason Garrett’s swan song in Dallas. After missing the playoffs for the sixth time in Garrett’s nine full seasons at the helm, Garrett has no more games on his contract. And as the Cowboys’ disbanding process begins, the front office is widely expected to part ways with the second-longest-tenured coach in franchise history.

But Jones was reticent to make any sort of announcement in the moments following the Week 17 game.

“We’ll have several busy days over the ensuing days and weeks ahead,” Jones told reporters after the win. “And I don’t have any comments or thoughts to share with anybody about any pending decisions as to coaches, players, anything within the organization at this time other than to congratulate our players on this game and appreciate, under the circumstances, the way they competed.”

When pressed for a timetable on making a decision about Garrett’s future with the organization, Jones gave no further hints.

“I don’t have a shareable timetable. The proper question here is a shareable [timetable]: do I have anything that I would share as far as my timetable, my thoughts, any work that I’ve done, we’ve done, any work preparing for the future? All of that, I wouldn’t comment on and share at this time.”

Garrett has amassed a .554 winning percentage as the Cowboys’ coach, including his 2-3 postseason record. Of all the current coaches in the league who have been with their team for as long, Garrett is the only one without a Super Bowl ring to show for it. He’s never even gotten a squad past the divisional round of the playoffs.

But knowing that a postseason berth- maybe the last chance at saving his job- was out of his team’s hands, Garrett focused his players instead on controlling what they could: finishing 2019 with a victory over the rival Redskins.

“We just had a hell of day with our football team and an emotional locker room afterward,” Garrett said from the podium in his postgame address. “So you want to live in those moments, you want to embrace those moments. A special group of men I got a chance to be around, to coach and to coach with. Just so proud of what our team did today. We’ll think about what’s next at some point, but again, just want to soak in the day and devour the emotions of the day. Again, so proud of our football team.”

If Sunday was the team’s last performance under Garrett, they took his final message to heart.

“We talked about standing tall. I had a great high school football coach. Guy’s name is Cliff Foust. Kind of a legendary coach in northeast Ohio. My senior year, I was playing quarterback. He was more of a defensive guy, but he wanted to coach the quarterbacks, so he coached me. And he coached me as hard as anybody’s ever coached me in my life. And his big thing was, ‘Get back, get back, get back. Stand tall, stand tall, stand tall.’ At the time, I needed to get away from the line of scrimmage faster and better, and I probably played too low. And he wanted me to stand up a little bit higher. And it wasn’t until years later that I realized what he was talking about when he was staying ‘Stand tall.’

Stand tall through the successes in life, stand tall through the adversities in life. And I got great letters from him over the last 25 years: when good things were happening, and maybe some challenging things were happening. And he always concluded the letters by saying, ‘Stand tall. Coach.’ And so I shared that with our guys last night. And challenged them to stand tall.

Stand tall through the successes in life, and stand tall through the adversities. Get your shoulders back, get your eyes forward, and go represent yourself the right way. Represent your family the right way, your coaches the right way, your teammates the right way. And [expletive], our guys did that today. So damn proud of being part of this group. I shared that with them. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy to get through it. It was emotional. But again, so proud to be a part of this team.”

Garrett’s speech was about far more than the Week 17 game against a division rival. He was talking about life. He was sharing a small bit of insight into his own mindset these days.

Garrett was asked if he felt he had personally followed through with his former coach’s lessons in the years since.

“I strive to do it every day. Strive to do it every day of my life.”

The effect Garrett has had on his players is evident, even if it hasn’t translated to the kind of on-the-field successes expected of America’s Team. In the moments following a convincing win, many of the team leaders were asked about their own leader.

“Jason’s a first-class man. I’ve been with him since 2007. I’ve seen him as an offensive coordinator, I’ve seen him as a head coach, in every different role that you can think of,” veteran tight end Jason Witten told media members before leaving the stadium. “He’s just unwavering with his message. I think the job of the head coach is to provide perspective and kind of show how you’re going to get there. And that’s the way he approached it.”

“Never too high, never too low. That’s what I love about him. I don’t know how he’s able to do it, but it’s a blessing,” linebacker Jaylon Smith told reporters at his locker. “Right now, it’s just about love. Love is love. That’s just what you’ve got to give to each and every one that has poured into you. And one thing I can say about Jason is he’s been super-consistent, regardless of the highs and the lows, the 13-and-3 seasons, the 7-and-9s, whatever. He’s the same guy. He’s going to give you that clap. And I respect it. I respect it. It’s just all about love for me.”

Prescott was outwardly emotional, giving a loud sigh as he formulated his answer as to what Garrett has meant to him.

“Everything,” the fourth-year signal-caller admitted. “He drafted me. He’s the reason I’m here. He’s a great guy. Love and respect everything that he stands for: the coach he is, the man he is, somebody I look up to. Thankful for his impact.”

Prescott finds himself in a situation not wholly unlike his head coach’s, having just reached the end of his rookie contract. The 26-year-old passer had said that the nuts and bolts of his long-term employment with the club weren’t a concern with games to be played. But now that the season is over, there’s a new opponent to face.

“Uncertainty, obviously. As I’ve said, I won’t speak on another man’s career when mine’s unsure as well. So that doesn’t change, but as I’ve said, all that stuff will take care of itself in the time being.”

Prescott knows his own future with the franchise may be minus the coach who has led him up to this point.

“That’s somebody, as I’ve said, that I respect, I look up to in every which way. He’s a great coach, great person, great man. Of course. That’s my answer, but obviously, I don’t make the decisions, or I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in.”

The man who does make the decisions was reflective, too, when asked about what Garrett means to him.

“I’ve known Jason, really, I feel like, ever since I’ve been in pro football,” a somber Jones told reporters. “His dad [Jim Garrett] was here when I got here. Scouted for us for 20-something years, and he gave him some great advice. He said, his dad told me, ‘Stay next to Jerry.” So, bottom line is, I have all the respect in the world for him and his lineage. He’s outstanding. I think he’s an outstanding asset, not only for us, but for the NFL.”

It was not the first time in recent weeks that Jones has alluded to Garrett’s future as being in the league, but not necessarily in Dallas. If the two do part ways, Garrett is expected to be a hot commodity on the interview circuit as other teams disband and begin their own restocking processes for 2020.

Jones sounded like an owner who knows he may be conducting head coach interviews for the first time in a long time.

Garrett, for his part, sounded like a coach who plans to still be roaming the sidelines when next year rolls around. He was asked if he has more coaching to do in the NFL.

“Oh, absolutely.”

Does he want it to be in Dallas?

“Yeah, I want to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. But we’ll see what happens.”

2 Little, 2 Late, 8 Wins, 8 Losses: Cowboys 2019, likely Garrett tenure comes to fitting end

The Dallas Cowboys season is over after their Week 17 home win over the Washington Redskins.

It took a while for them to get untracked, but the Dallas Cowboys absolutely walloped the Washington Redskins in the 2019 regular season finale. Once Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott got his bad shoulder loose, the offense loosened up and the team poured gasoline on the flaming pile of misery for the team from DC. The final was a massacre-like score differential, 47-16 as Dallas had another blowout win on the season.

It was too little, too late however. Elsewhere in the division, the Philadelphia Eagles handled their own business, pulling away from the New York Giants in the fourth quarter to earn their ninth win of the season and lock up the NFC East race and a home date for the wild-card round next weekend. Dallas finished 8-8, after losing to the Eagles in Week 16 in a game they could have clinched the division and now they are going to be at home in a different capacity, and for the entire offseason.

The loss likely signifies the end of the Jason Garrett regime in one of the most disappointing campaigns of the Jerry Jones era. He’ll go out the same way he came in, starting his career with three straight 8-8 finishes in which the club had a chance to make the playoffs in Week 17 but failed to do so.

Time is a flat circle, apparently.

Dallas failed to become the first NFC East team to repeat as division champions since the 2003-2004 Philadelphia teams did so 15 years ago.

The Cowboys have dominated their opponents in their wins and looked lost in their defeats. Every one of their eight wins came in games when they scored over 31 points. Every one of their eight losses came in games when they scored 24 or fewer points.

The 31-point margin of victory moved them to a scoring differential of 113 on the season. They are the first team since 1989 to finish with a differential of 100 or more and finish with less than nine wins.

Now, the Cowboys will move on to the business season, with a coaching change likely to be announced in the near future and a search to be executed under the bright January lights that only Dallas can exist under for a team that did not accomplish their goals on the season whatsoever.

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Jason Garrett will cook up one last Week 17 special

Finishing where he started, Jason Garrett will go down guns blazing to get the Cowboys back to 8-8.

The Cowboys’ 2019 regular season finale may feel anticlimactic, but chances are the potential sendoff to yet another disappointing season will have some fireworks. If this really is the end of the line in Dallas for Jason Garrett, expect the King of Moral Victories to go out on a high note.

In this most recent era of Cowboys football, optics are seemingly the most important thing. The perception and buzz surrounding this team often takes precedence over all else, leading to disappointing on-field results and many to wonder where it all went wrong. The tea leaves point to major upcoming changes in Dallas, but Garrett will be afforded at least one more opportunity to deliver one of his signature coaching performances.

Teams are often remembered for what they didn’t achieve rather than what they did. There are no awards given for regular season, but that doesn’t stop Garrett from often going for the gold. The quintessential example is Week 17 last year, when the Cowboys went all-out against New York with nothing to play for besides reaching 10 wins solely for posterity’s sake. The division was wrapped up, Dallas had an upcoming playoff game, and there was Dak Prescott, scrambling for his life and playing for all the Week 17 marbles.

The highlight will live forever, but so will Garrett’s likely legacy of never advancing past the divisional round in the playoffs.

In the last of game of the 2017 season, a downtrodden Cowboys team defeated Philadelphia in a 6-0 snoozer. The win to move them to 9-7 and clinch back-to-back winning seasons for the first time (and likely only) time in Garrett’s Cowboys coaching tenure. Philadelphia would go on to win the Super Bowl.

Garrett and Kellen Moore also went down in a blaze of glory in the 2015 season finale, losing 34-24 to cap of a 4-12 season to the Redskins. Moore was starting the third and final game of his playing career, and threw the ball 48 times, good for 435 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. One team was certainly trying that day, at least.

So while nothing may technically be on the line besides Dallas’s slim playoff hopes, that won’t stop Garrett from putting his best foot forward. A Week 17 win will provide a nice bit of symmetry, fittingly locking the Cowboys into another 8-8 finish. The theme of a .500 record followed Garrett through his first five full seasons as coach, a stretch in which his Dallas teams went 40-40 and earned one playoff victory. If Garrett’s fight is finally finished, at least it’ll be remembered for its consistency.

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Dak Prescott’s finger injury diagnosis wags and waffles

There are mixed signals floating about regarding the health of the Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and his injured index finger.

Conflicting reports  have surfaced regarding the health of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and the index finger on his throwing hand.

After the Week 14 match-up with the Chicago Bears it was reported he had a sprain but would have no issues going forward. During the Fox broadcast of the Week 15 drubbing of the Los Angeles Rams, Fox announcer Troy Aikman reported Prescott suffered a hairline fracture.

The Cowboys have sent out signals that claim is untrue, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.

The Cowboys have a murky history when it comes to under-reporting injuries. Aside from the obvious season-ending kind, the constant refrain from Garrett has been “day to day”. The most recent example is that of linebacker Leighton Vander Esch whose neck concerns went from a weekly basis to “we don’t think it’s career threatening.”

For at least one Sunday it didn’t matter what the injury was. Prescott didn’t have to get into a shootout that required much throwing, though he did remove the tape on his fingers as the game progressed.

Prescott threw less in the Rams game than he had all year, completing 15 passes on just 23 attempts. Prescott didn’t have to drop back to pass a single time in the final frame of the game as the offense was content to run out the clock in a game that was long decided.

Whatever the injury really is, it bears monitoring as Dallas heads to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16. A win means the Cowboys avert a complete meltdown and take the NFC East crown for the second consecutive season and a playoff spot.

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Cowboys open Week 16 road favorites over Eagles in NFCE championship

The Cowboys are going on the road with a chance to bring the division title back home with them.

The Dallas Cowboys have been having one of the biggest roller coaster seasons in recent memory. They won three in a row, then lost three in a row. Win some, lose some but on Sunday they won again, and won big to even their record at 7-7 on the season after thrashing the playoff-hopeful Los Angeles Rams, 44-21.

The game wasn’t even that close, but the victory pulled them back into a tie for first place in the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles once again needed a final-drive touchdown to defeat a woeful NFC East rival, this time the Washington Redskins. Their two-game win streak puts them in control of their own destiny as well.

If the Eagles win out, they are NFC East champs and the four seed in the conference playoffs. Dallas however doesn’t even need to win out, as they have a magic number of two thanks to an early-season blowout over the Eagles. They can clinch with a win Sunday or could also get in with some Week 17 magic as well.

Dallas now has a 67.8% chance of winning the division, according to FPI.

According to the opening betting lines from Bet MGM, they stand a good chance to put a bow on things Sunday afternoon.

The opening line has the Cowboys as -2.5 road favorites to defend their division crown.

The Cowboys are currently 4-0 against the NFC East on the season, and none of the four contests have been particularly close.

In Week 1, Dallas romped the Giants 35-17 and they followed that up with a 31-21 win over Washington in Week 2. Both of those games featured late, meaningless scores by the loser, making things closer than they appeared.

Dallas went on to run roughshod over the Eagles, 37-10, in Week 7, then came out the bye week and lambasted the Giants again in Week 9, this time 37-18.

Four NFC East games,  total score 140-66.

Jason Garrett might struggle against quality opponents, but he owns the ones he knows the most.

Garrett has a 11-8 lifetime record against the Eagles, including four in a row, and a 37-19 record against the NFC East since taking over as interim coach in 2010 before assuming full head coaching powers in 2011.

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