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JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News
jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
PHILADELPHIA – Now, we get to find out whether Jason Garrett has done enough to become the eighth coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
It certainly looks that way after the Cowboys rallied past Philadelphia, 14-13, at Lincoln Financial Field just as they have since the day Jerry Jones named him the interim coach, though nothing about his status has changed in the last 24 hours - no matter what you read or heard Sunday morning.
Here’s the deal: If Jerry can’t get Bill Cowher or Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh to take the job – he’s done the franchise a disservice if he hasn’t phoned each of them - then the owner should give Garrett the job.
Count me among those not interested in seeing yet another NFL retread whether it's Jon Gruden or Jeff Fisher or one of the thousands of dudes who fit into that category.
No one knew Sean Payton was going to succeed when New Orleans hired him. Or Mike Tomlin when Pittsburgh hired him. Or John Harbaugh when Baltimore hired him. Or Mike Smith when Atlanta hired him.
Notice a trend? There ain’t no guarantees.
No flawless candidate exists.
For all the good things Bill Parcells did during his four-year run with the Cowboys, he won the same number of playoff games as Dave Campo.
Even Garrett’s harshest critics have to admit he did some good things during his eight-week tryout as head coach.
The one thing I wanted to see was whether he could get a team that quit on Wade Phillips to consistently play as hard as it could for four quarters every week in a wretched season that began with Super Bowl aspirations and ended in embarrassment.
Understand, playing hard doesn’t always mean playing well. You can play hard and still screw up as we’ve seen several times over the past few weeks.
Did the Cowboys play hard after trailing New Orleans 17-0 in the first quarter? Check. Did they play hard in a meaningless road game against the equally hapless Cardinals on Christmas Day? Check.
Did they play hard against Philadelphia in a game as meaningless as the final preseason game of any season? Absolutely.
“He’s the man,” Bradie James said. “He deserves the job. He changed the atmosphere around here.
“I didn’t know anything about him because he was an offensive coach, but two weeks later, I was sold. I like the way he runs the team. He’ll help us win football games.”
Tony Romo and Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware share the same opinion, it can’t carry too much weight because each of them, as did James, played a role in the club’s awful 1-7 start.
So did Garrett.
That stain can’t be removed from his resume. Nor should it.
But we can tell from his approach as interim head coach that he’s considerably different from Wade Phillips. He demands accountability whether you agree with his discipline or not, and the players respect him.
When Marion Barber received a silly celebration penalty against Arizona last week, Garrett said he didn’t punish Barber because the running back apologized “about 50 times” after reaching the sideline.
Do you think he would’ve apologized to Phillips? Nope.
Barber wouldn’t have even considered it. Sometimes, a coach can be demonstrate power more effectively through mercy than force.
The Cowboys finished 5-3 under Garrett with their three losses by a combined seven points. Most figured they wouldn’t play that well for Garrett.
Jerry viewed Garrett as a potential head coach when he hired him as offensive coordinator three years ago. And again, a year later, when he made Garrett the NFL’s highest paid assistant at $3 million per season.
Whenever the 2011 season begins Garrett is going to be a head coach somewhere. Believe that.
Jerry says he wants to make a decision by the end of the week. Considering what Garrett has accomplished and his relationship with Jones, it’s hard to envision someone else getting the job.
He’s earned it.
jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
PHILADELPHIA – Now, we get to find out whether Jason Garrett has done enough to become the eighth coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
It certainly looks that way after the Cowboys rallied past Philadelphia, 14-13, at Lincoln Financial Field just as they have since the day Jerry Jones named him the interim coach, though nothing about his status has changed in the last 24 hours - no matter what you read or heard Sunday morning.
Here’s the deal: If Jerry can’t get Bill Cowher or Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh to take the job – he’s done the franchise a disservice if he hasn’t phoned each of them - then the owner should give Garrett the job.
Count me among those not interested in seeing yet another NFL retread whether it's Jon Gruden or Jeff Fisher or one of the thousands of dudes who fit into that category.
No one knew Sean Payton was going to succeed when New Orleans hired him. Or Mike Tomlin when Pittsburgh hired him. Or John Harbaugh when Baltimore hired him. Or Mike Smith when Atlanta hired him.
Notice a trend? There ain’t no guarantees.
No flawless candidate exists.
For all the good things Bill Parcells did during his four-year run with the Cowboys, he won the same number of playoff games as Dave Campo.
Even Garrett’s harshest critics have to admit he did some good things during his eight-week tryout as head coach.
The one thing I wanted to see was whether he could get a team that quit on Wade Phillips to consistently play as hard as it could for four quarters every week in a wretched season that began with Super Bowl aspirations and ended in embarrassment.
Understand, playing hard doesn’t always mean playing well. You can play hard and still screw up as we’ve seen several times over the past few weeks.
Did the Cowboys play hard after trailing New Orleans 17-0 in the first quarter? Check. Did they play hard in a meaningless road game against the equally hapless Cardinals on Christmas Day? Check.
Did they play hard against Philadelphia in a game as meaningless as the final preseason game of any season? Absolutely.
“He’s the man,” Bradie James said. “He deserves the job. He changed the atmosphere around here.
“I didn’t know anything about him because he was an offensive coach, but two weeks later, I was sold. I like the way he runs the team. He’ll help us win football games.”
Tony Romo and Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware share the same opinion, it can’t carry too much weight because each of them, as did James, played a role in the club’s awful 1-7 start.
So did Garrett.
That stain can’t be removed from his resume. Nor should it.
But we can tell from his approach as interim head coach that he’s considerably different from Wade Phillips. He demands accountability whether you agree with his discipline or not, and the players respect him.
When Marion Barber received a silly celebration penalty against Arizona last week, Garrett said he didn’t punish Barber because the running back apologized “about 50 times” after reaching the sideline.
Do you think he would’ve apologized to Phillips? Nope.
Barber wouldn’t have even considered it. Sometimes, a coach can be demonstrate power more effectively through mercy than force.
The Cowboys finished 5-3 under Garrett with their three losses by a combined seven points. Most figured they wouldn’t play that well for Garrett.
Jerry viewed Garrett as a potential head coach when he hired him as offensive coordinator three years ago. And again, a year later, when he made Garrett the NFL’s highest paid assistant at $3 million per season.
Whenever the 2011 season begins Garrett is going to be a head coach somewhere. Believe that.
Jerry says he wants to make a decision by the end of the week. Considering what Garrett has accomplished and his relationship with Jones, it’s hard to envision someone else getting the job.
He’s earned it.