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Rainer Sabin / Reporter
At this point in Jason Garrett's tenure as head coach, it's difficult to determine the extent of his influence within the organization and how much control Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is willing to cede to the man in charge of the on-field operations.
So far, Garrett has proven to be a no-nonsense type who is steadfast in his beliefs and disciplined in his approach. He has already drafted a contingency plan in case the ongoing lockout shrinks the preseason schedule this summer.
"That's our mindset right now - to get everything ready and all the structures and organizations in place and be nimble based on how the thing unfolds," Garrett said Friday at the Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational.
Training camp, as Garrett knows, will be incredibly important toward the development of his team. But how and where it is conducted will also allow outsiders to better assess just how much clout he really has and whether Garrett can effect the culture change he is seeking.
Last year, the Cowboys spent 36 days in July and August preparing for the 2010 season while shuttling between San Antonio, Irving and Oxnard, Calif. They then returned home to Valley Ranch, where the Cowboys spent 15 additional days readying themselves for the games that actually mattered.
When Dallas later stumbled to a 1-7 record, a slide that was punctuated by a catastrophic 38-point defeat to Green Bay in November, some wondered if the Cowboys' preseason odyssey - one that seemed more conducive to marketing the franchise's brand than promoting a stable work environment -- had overextended and damaged the team. The format of the training camp certainly didn't seem to emphasize good practice habits -- at least not in the eyes of Fox analyst and former Dallas fullback Daryl Johnston.
"It was ridiculous," Johnston said. "There was no opportunity to be prepared on Week 1 with that type of schedule."
But Johnston, Garrett's former teammate, seems to think that the Cowboys will not repeat the same mistakes of 2010 under their new head coach.
"I was critical of the atmosphere last year in training camp," Johnston said. "I know that [Garrett]'s already committed to having a different type of environment. It's a fine line between preparing your team for the regular season, building the brand of your franchise and allowing fans access to the players. I know they're going to do it the right way this year."
But some wonder if Jones would be willing to sacrifice the exposure his team could receive in a training camp tour for the stability afforded by a more solitary setting. Johnston said he believes Jones would be open to any idea as long as he is convinced it's worthy of being executed.
"Jason's biggest thing is convincing Jerry why," Johnston said. "All you have to do is convince him that this is the best thing for the team and Jerry is going to buy into it. I think Jason has already done that. I think Jason has already convinced him that this is very important to the success of the team.
"I tell people all the time that all Jerry wants to do is win. He may want to market his team and he may want to take everybody around and be high-profile. But, number one, he wants to win and he wants to win a championship."
So does his head coach, which is why training camp should be different this year if both Garrett and Jones truly share the same outlook.
At this point in Jason Garrett's tenure as head coach, it's difficult to determine the extent of his influence within the organization and how much control Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is willing to cede to the man in charge of the on-field operations.
So far, Garrett has proven to be a no-nonsense type who is steadfast in his beliefs and disciplined in his approach. He has already drafted a contingency plan in case the ongoing lockout shrinks the preseason schedule this summer.
"That's our mindset right now - to get everything ready and all the structures and organizations in place and be nimble based on how the thing unfolds," Garrett said Friday at the Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational.
Training camp, as Garrett knows, will be incredibly important toward the development of his team. But how and where it is conducted will also allow outsiders to better assess just how much clout he really has and whether Garrett can effect the culture change he is seeking.
Last year, the Cowboys spent 36 days in July and August preparing for the 2010 season while shuttling between San Antonio, Irving and Oxnard, Calif. They then returned home to Valley Ranch, where the Cowboys spent 15 additional days readying themselves for the games that actually mattered.
When Dallas later stumbled to a 1-7 record, a slide that was punctuated by a catastrophic 38-point defeat to Green Bay in November, some wondered if the Cowboys' preseason odyssey - one that seemed more conducive to marketing the franchise's brand than promoting a stable work environment -- had overextended and damaged the team. The format of the training camp certainly didn't seem to emphasize good practice habits -- at least not in the eyes of Fox analyst and former Dallas fullback Daryl Johnston.
"It was ridiculous," Johnston said. "There was no opportunity to be prepared on Week 1 with that type of schedule."
But Johnston, Garrett's former teammate, seems to think that the Cowboys will not repeat the same mistakes of 2010 under their new head coach.
"I was critical of the atmosphere last year in training camp," Johnston said. "I know that [Garrett]'s already committed to having a different type of environment. It's a fine line between preparing your team for the regular season, building the brand of your franchise and allowing fans access to the players. I know they're going to do it the right way this year."
But some wonder if Jones would be willing to sacrifice the exposure his team could receive in a training camp tour for the stability afforded by a more solitary setting. Johnston said he believes Jones would be open to any idea as long as he is convinced it's worthy of being executed.
"Jason's biggest thing is convincing Jerry why," Johnston said. "All you have to do is convince him that this is the best thing for the team and Jerry is going to buy into it. I think Jason has already done that. I think Jason has already convinced him that this is very important to the success of the team.
"I tell people all the time that all Jerry wants to do is win. He may want to market his team and he may want to take everybody around and be high-profile. But, number one, he wants to win and he wants to win a championship."
So does his head coach, which is why training camp should be different this year if both Garrett and Jones truly share the same outlook.
