By
David Moore
6:20 PM on Jan 5, 2020
The Cowboys played a total of 165 games (regular season and playoffs) this decade. Jason Garrett was the head coach for 157 of those games.
No more. The
franchise has decided to move on from the second longest-tenured coach in franchise history.
The reasons...
Inability to get beyond divisional round
The charge from ownership entering this season was clear. If Garrett was unable to nudge his team past the second round of the playoffs, if it stalled short of the NFC Championship Game again, Garrett could no longer point to how this group was building and progressing under his leadership. He finishes his tenure with a 2-3 postseason record, with all three of those losses coming in the divisional round.
Game management
A recurring issue throughout his tenure. Garrett would methodically and meticulously put together a plan going into a game, then be slow to adapt if it didn’t work once the game was underway. He would eventually alter the team’s approach, but usually too late, not wanting to abandon his initial plan too quickly for a decision based in the heat of the moment. The Cowboys were 0-8 when trailing at halftime this season and 1-13 over the last two seasons.
Inconsistency
Garrett preaches consistency. It’s a core principle. Yet the Cowboys never made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in his nine full seasons. It didn’t put together back-to-back winning seasons until 2016 and ’17. Dallas was 13-3 in ’16 with a rookie quarterback in Dak Prescott and a rookie running back in Ezekiel Elliott. Four years later, it finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. This nucleus hasn’t improved. It’s taken a significant step back.
Coaching staff
Garrett’s apprenticeship was brief. He was a quarterbacks coach for two years in Miami before assuming the reins as the Cowboys offensive coordinator in ’07. Three-and-a-half seasons later, he was elevated to head coach. Garrett’s coaching network was sparse because he didn’t come up through the ranks, and it showed. His staff was often a hodgepodge with hits and misses along the way. Name the assistants who blossomed under his guidance to go onto better jobs in the NFL? Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is one of the few.
Fan appeasement
One reason Jerry Jones didn’t extend Garrett’s contract entering this season is because he knew he couldn’t sell it to the Dallas fan base. The fans are the one constituency the head coach didn’t cultivate. While willing to show his true self to those in the organization, Garrett was reluctant to be forthcoming with the media and by extension the fans, not wanting to betray any confidences or reveal too much. His disciplined approach came across as robotic and insincere. This undercut his standing with a large portion of the fan base and made him an easy target for their frustrations.
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