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.”
Jerry Jones continued to praise HC Jason Garrett when I said it sounds like he’s not shutting the door on him, he told me “there’s no doors shut here tonight. None.” But he also told us “I can see myself making a lot of changes in a lot of areas. The times call for that” we wait.
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) December 30, 2019
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.”
Hours after the #DallasCowboys win over the Redskins, Jason Garrett took to the field at AT&T Stadium for possibly the last time as head coach to throw around the football with his family and friends.
📸: @SmileyPool #CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/oCZKVFbS6f
— SportsDay Cowboys (@dmn_cowboys) December 30, 2019
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.”