Tag: Jason Garrett

Jason Garrett takes victory lap with Giants LT Andrew Thomas dominating

Jason Garrett pushed the New York Giants to select OT Andrew Thomas in the 2020 NFL draft and now he’s enjoying a victory lap.

New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas is at the very top of the ladder in the NFL. There are no tackles, let alone left tackles, performing at a higher level than the 23-year-old is right now.

Thomas is Pro Football Focus’ highest-ranked offensive tackle in the league and through eight games this season, he’s surrendered a grand total of zero sacks.

Not only has Thomas received praise from his coaches, teammates and basically every analyst in existence, he’s also received some praise from his former offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett.

In fact, Garrett has taken a bit of a victory lap thanks in part of Thomas’ domination. After all, it was Garrett who implored the Giants and then-general manager Dave Gettleman to select the Georgia stud at No. 4 overall in the 2020 NFL draft.

“Plug Thomas in at left tackle and you don’t have to worry about that position for the next 10-plus years,” a Giants evaluator told the New York Post of what he recalled Garrett saying.

At the time, there was a fierce debate over which of the top four offensive tackles had the highest ceiling. But thanks to Garrett’s thumping, Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge settled on Thomas over Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton and Jedrick Wills.

“He was as pro-ready a left tackle as I’ve seen in recent years,” Garrett told The Post. “To me, there was never a doubt about who that pick should be. It’s certainly bearing out now. He’s a fantastic young man, and he’ll be a good left tackle for a long time.”

Thomas isn’t just good, he’s elite and ascending. There’s no telling where his ceiling currently is but, dare we say, it has Hall of Fame potential. And for the many wrongs Garrett brought to East Rutherford, he deserves credit for getting the Thomas pick so right.

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Report: Joe Judge, Jason Garrett wanted Cooper Rush with Giants

Joe Judge and Jason Garrett reportedly wanted QB Cooper Rush to remain with the New York Giants, but the team’s decision-makers didn’t.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush is finally getting a real opportunity on the big stage. How long he’ll be there this time is the question.

Rush is playing in place of the injured Dak Prescott, who fractured his thumb in the Cowboys’ Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Rush is Cowboys’ backup quarterback who has been on and off their roster since 2017. He started last week at home against Cincinnati, his second NFL start, leading Dallas to a 20-17 win. He is now 2-0 as a starter (he won his only other start last year in Week 8 against Minnesota).

Rush’s Cowboys tenure was interrupted by the New York Giants in 2020, when Dallas waived him after signing Andy Dalton and the Giants scooped him up off the waiver wire.

Rush had played under former Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett for years in Dallas and the Giants were trying to upgrade their quarterback room. He never made it onto the 53-man roster, getting waived after camp and signed back to the practice squad.

Dallas didn’t let Rush sit long. They poached him off the Giants’ practice squad a few weeks later. He’s been with them ever since.

Garrett and former Giants head coach Joe Judge were locked into Daniel Jones, who was entering his second season, and had signed veteran backup Colt McCoy. COVID-19 restrictions didn’t allow Rush much of a chance to make the roster.

“Other guys can be more impressive in a workout environment — he’s got decent size, decent athletic ability, a decent arm, all of that,” Garrett told the New York Post, “but what we saw in Dallas right from the start with him was that whenever he went into an 11-on-11 situation, good things happened. He completed passes, moved the team, scored points.”

Judge and Garrett were in Rush’s corner but the rest of the organization was not in accord.

Other Giants coaches at the time, including Joe Judge, liked Rush’s makeup, too, sources said.

“The decision-makers with the Giants felt like they weren’t overly impressed with how he played or what his potential was,” said Garrett. “To me, Coop is not someone who wows you physically. Sometimes you get caught up in that. Sometimes those decisions happen.”

That is all moot now. The Giants are hoping to 3-0 for the first time since 2009 and Rush is standing in their way.

“I see a guy that’s a starting quarterback in this league,” current Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said last week. “Just watching him and the decisions that he makes, I think he’ll have a long career as a quarterback in this league.”

He already has had a long career in the NFL. The 28 year-old Rush has been waiting for his chance for years now. He’ll get it while Prescott recovers. If he can keep winning, the Cowboys won’t be in such a hurry to rush Prescott back.

Owner Jerry Jones stated tis week he wouldn’t mind if Rush played well enough to create a quarterback ‘controversy.’

“Of course I would. Of course. That means we’d have won,” Jones said. “If he comes in there and plays as well as Prescott played, Rush? Played that well over these next games ahead? I’d walk to New York to get that.

“Well, of course we want Dak to be here next week. That’s the thing. You do. But Dak and I want Rush to lead the team to a victory here and get another win and get another win. That’s the only way to look at it.”

The Giants aren’t caring much who is under center for their opponents these days. They are simply putting their heads down and forging ahead.

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5 potential replacements for Alabama OC if Bill O’Brien leaves

5 potential replacements for Bill O’Brien as Alabama OC

Alabama offensive coordinator, [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag], has already been rumored to be a top head coaching candidate for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and will only garner more interest as the season goes on. O’Brien is in his second season with the Crimson Tide and in year one he had a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and took them to a national title appearance.

Alabama currently leads the country with 7.5 yards per carry and is ranked No. 2, making O’Brien such an intriguing candidate. If O’Brien leaves for Nebraska or any other schools, here are the top five candidates to replace him.

Jeff Agrest: NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts have become ‘training ground’

Has the new broadcast team won you over yet?

As Notre Dame is on the road at North Carolina this week, NBC will not be covering the game. That means the new Irish broadcast team of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett will get a week off. Actually, the team will get two weeks off as the Irish have their bye week after they leave Chapel Hill. The next time we hear them will be for the Shamrock Series game against BYU in Las Vegas.

The long layoff provides an opportunity for observers to critique Collinsworth and Garrett’s performances for the loss to Marshall and the win against California. Those merely are the first two of what could be many Irish games they’ll call together. Most people seem to agree that there’s a lot of room for growth and improvement.

Among them is Chicago Sun-Times sports media columnist Jeff Agrest. In his weekly column, which mainly is available to subscribers, Agrest analyzes what he’s observed so far. He joins a chorus that has reminded people of broadcasters like the late Dick Enberg, Tom Hammond and Mike Tirico who used to call the action from South Bend. While he likes Collinsworth’s Notre Dame ties, he can’t help but wonder this:

“(Collinsworth) doesn’t carry on the tradition, which makes me wonder just what NBC thinks of Notre Dame these days. The Irish still were basking in the golden glow of their 1988 national title when they agreed to a five-year, $38 million deal with NBC. They don’t carry the same heft they used to, but Notre Dame maintains a national following. Its games are a big deal and deserve a broadcast team worthy of them.”

Here are Agrest’s current impressions of the new broadcast team:

“In both games, Collinsworth sounded knowledgeable talking about the teams. But all of his interviewing and studying couldn’t prepare him for live action. The USFL was supposed to be his training ground, not Notre Dame football in front of 2.5 million viewers for the Marshall game and 2.9 million for Cal.

Incidentally, Garrett impressed me. He brought emotion and valuable insight to the broadcast. The former Cowboys coach clearly understood his role. He got in and out with his commentary and didn’t talk over Collinsworth. It likely helped they worked together on USFL games.

Both will have to grow into their jobs on a national stage, but Collinsworth has more to do. He needs to command the broadcast and provide context for viewers. The Marshall game was a missed opportunity for him. Garrett understood, calling it one of the biggest upsets in recent college football history.”

Will the broadcasts eventually improve? We’ll find out as Collinsworth and Garrett continue to call games. If they continue to not impress, maybe they’ll be bumped down on NBC’s depth chart when the network picks up Big Ten games next year. Still, there’s a lot of season left, and they have time to change people’s minds.

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Watch: Jac Collinsworth video of him walking on Notre Dame campus

Someone is excited about their new job.

When NBC announced Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett as its new Notre Dame broadcast team, the reaction was rather mixed. Our editor is among those who doesn’t particularly care for the duo, at least right now. Maybe minds will be changed by the end of the season.

Regardless of how Collinsworth will do, you can’t deny that he feels a lot of pride to be calling home games for his alma mater. Don’t believe it? Watch this video he posted on campus:

Look, you don’t have to love the idea of Collinsworth and Garrett in the booth for these games. At least give them a chance before stranding them on top of the Golden Dome though. Maybe this is the assignment they need to really shine as broadcasters. There’s no denying Collinsworth especially has some big shoes to fill in following Mike Tirico, but contrary to what some might think, it’s not that hard of a task if you have the right skill set.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

NBC announces Jason Garrett as Drew Brees’ replacement on Notre Dame broadcasts

NBC announced former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett as part of their Notre Dame broadcast team, replacing Drew Brees on Saturdays in the fall:

It’s official: Jason Garrett will take over for Drew Brees on NBC broadcasts of Notre Dame football games this season, joining Jac Collinsworth in the booth (replacing Mike Tirico on play-by-play) and working with sideline reporter Zora Stephenson and host Kathryn Tappen to cover Fighting Irish kickoffs in the fall. NBC announced the changes to their broadcast team on Monday in a press release laying out their plans.

Brees wasn’t brought back by NBC after the 2021 season, and he’s since been linked to Amazon’s burgeoning NFL coverage division (the popular streaming service plans to exclusively broadcast Thursday night games beginning this year), though a specific role remains unconfirmed. He experienced an up-and-down performance with NBC offering color commentary during Notre Dame games and in the booth for Sunday night pregame shows, which fell short of the network’s expectations.

So now Garrett, the longtime Dallas Cowboys coach and former New York Giants offensive coordinator, is taking Brees’ spot at NBC. And as for Brees: his exact path forward is to be determined, and he’s publicly speculated about which career path he’ll take up next, up to and including investments in a pro pickleball team. We’ll keep an eye out for news on No. 9.

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Notre Dame on NBC announcers for 2022 revealed

Here they are.

With less than a month before Notre Dame’s first home game of 2022, folks have been wondering who will be on the call for NBC. Mike Tirico is off the broadcasts after six years to focus on Sunday Night Football, and Drew Brees’ relationship with the network was short-lived.

Finally, we have our answer.

Notre Dame alumnus Jac Collinsworth has been paired with Jason Garrett as the new broadcast team for Irish home games. Also, Collinsworth will retain his role with Football Night in America, and Garrett is filling Brees’ role on that same program. Kathryn Tappen will remain on the coverage as the pregame and postgame host despite speculation she would move into the same role with Sunday Night Football. Zora Stephenson will be the sideline reporter.

A new broadcast team is appropriate given the new coaching era for Notre Dame, and Irish fans no doubt will be paying attention to see if this crew lives up to the standards set by Tirico and other previous announcers for the broadcasts.

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Notre Dame’s TV booth leaves much to be desired

What do you think of Notre Dame’s 2022 TV team?

I am typing the following hoping that when we reexamine this in a month or two that I’m proven wrong. However, the news Sunday morning of Notre Dame’s new television crew leaves a lot to be desired to yours truly.

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I was fortunate enough that my formative years came when Notre Dame began its TV deal with NBC. Charlie Jones had a majestic set of pipes that I’m certain were at least part of the reason I became a Notre Dame fan. His voice alone helped establish the bigness of a Notre Dame broadcast.

Legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg did more of the same when he was on the call for Notre Dame games, but Tom Hammond was about as exciting as an untoasted plain bagel without cream cheese. The booth in 2022 seems like it’ll be a second order of the same.

When Mike Tirico began calling Notre Dame games in 2016 a bigness came back to the broadcast that hadn’t been there in quite some time. I will not pretend that I always loved Tirico, but you can’t argue against what he brings to a broadcast.

With Tirico’s understandable move to the Sunday Night Football booth, NBC is going with Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett for the TV call in 2022.  I look forward to someone with a Notre Dame connection finally being in the booth (Collinsworth), but this feels like what should be a broadcast team for the least significant Big Ten game on a weekly basis.

I wonder if Jason Benetti, the Chicago White Sox and former ESPN announcer ever got a call from NBC before he recently signed to be second on the Fox Sports college football depth chart.

I hope I’m pleasantly surprised by this telecast in the home opener against Marshall comes on Sept. 10, but my expectations aren’t exactly championship level.

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Ex-Cowboys coach Jason Garrett part of NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts

Jason Garrett will be the color commentator on NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is adding another iconic brand to his resume.

The New York Post reported Sunday that Garrett will do color on NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts.

He will be teamed with Jac Collinsworth, who will do play-by-play.

The tandem replaces Mike Tirico and Drew Brees.

Per the Post:

Jac Collinsworth will be on play-by-play, while Jason Garrett will be the game analyst, according to sources. Garrett has also replaced Brees on “Football Night in America,” NBC’s pregame show. NBC and Brees decided to part ways after just one season. Brees could do a few more detailed Manningcast-type shows for Amazon’s Thursday night games, according to sources.

Collinsworth, a Notre Dame grad, is also expected to continue on “Football Night in America.”

Garrett was head coach of the Cowboys from 2011-19. He was unable to deliver a Super Bowl championship.

Now he steps into a job working on games for arguably college football’s most iconic team that has not won a national championship since 1988.

Barrett Sports Media piece questions NBC’s enthusiasm for Notre Dame

Is the Irish’s home TV partner hurting the coverage?

Having carried Notre Dame home games for over 30 years, one would think NBC is all in on providing the best Irish coverage. However, Demetri Ravanos of Barrett Sports Media doesn’t see it. In a new piece, Ravanos wonders just how much the suits at NBC even like the Irish.

Ravanos’ biggest gripe with NBC regarding the Irish is that the USFL broadcast duo of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett is being considered to succeed Mike Tirico and Drew Brees on Saturdays in South Bend. Ravanos also points out how there haven’t been former Irish players on the broadcasts lately even though plenty of them have ventured into broadcasting. He particularly cites a quote from [autotag]Mike Golic[/autotag] about Brees being a Purdue guy and folks like Tony Dungy and Doug Flutie coming from Boston College.

There’s no question Notre Dame has benefited from its relationship with NBC in terms of both exposure and the money coming into the university. At the same time, it indeed is worth wondering how the other side feels about it. We probably won’t get any answers, and this surely will be forgotten about once the season starts. Still, what quality of broadcast will we get?

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