Cowboys: 10 Worst Decisions By Jerry Jones
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
No. 3 – Hiring Jason Garrett
Just the second item on this list that’s still effecting the Cowboys, we turn to a decision that gets weirder and weirder as the years go crawling by.
The hiring of Jason Garrett is only surpassed by one other coaching hire that just boggles the mind – more on that coming up next.
Garrett arrived as a hand-picked offensive coordinator before former head coach Wade Phillips had even been hired in the early weeks of 2007. Bill Parcells had had enough of coaching in the NFL and it was known when he signed up for the gig in ’03 that he wouldn’t be around long.
The reality was that by bringing Garrett into Valley Ranch before anybody else, Jones was actually hiring his next coach, despite having no real idea what kind of coach Garrett might be. The career backup out of Princeton had only served two years as a quarterback coach with the Miami Dolphins before being thrust into one of the most prestigious positions in professional coaching. Just three years following his retirement as a backup quarterback, Garrett was already a newbie offensive coordinator.
A record of 13-3 during Garrett’s first season on the job forced Jones to up Garrett’s pay to $3 million per season – on par with the salary Phillips was bringing in – to prevent him from taking a grossly premature head coaching position elsewhere in the league.
By 2010, the up and down Cowboys had sunk to new depths via a 1-7 start during Phillips’ final season, or half-season, on the job. Garrett was named the interim head coach for the remaining eight games of that season and, with a free pass, was named permanent head coach following the season.
Takeaway the 12-4 mark registered in 2014, Garrett’s head coaching resume is filled with mistakes generally associated with a guy who’s inexperienced at whatever he’s trying to do. This is partially how you get three straight 8-8 seasons before showing any promise, and then plummet to the losing season that Garrett will earn in 2015. This guy has always had Pro Bowl talent on the roster, and especially at quarterback.
Simply put, Garrett is the most recent on a short list of Jones ‘comfort hires’ as it’s clear that the Dallas owner definitely has no interest in figures greater than himself being a part of the Dallas Cowboys franchise. Jones has gone to any length necessary to keep Garrett with the Cowboys despite no real evidence that suggests that the fifth-year head coach is even qualified for the position. Salary has been elevated, assistants have been brought in and then replaced and the same is true of players.
Jones has also demoted Garrett in some respects while never having truly turned the entire football operation to his Padawan learner. Garrett has gone from play-calling offensive coordinator to headset wearer during football games while numerous better qualified and more experienced assistant coaches have been brought in to handle the brunt of coaching.
Dallas Morning News chronicled a recent rant by ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith in which the well-known Cowboys-hater properly nails a critical point that has stymied Dallas for years now.
Numerous careers have been completely wasted during the multi-year on-the-job training session afforded this son of a former Cowboys scout, most notably Tony Romo‘s.
Head coach of the Dallas Cowboys is one of those ‘where you end up’ type of opportunities. It is far from the kind of place where beginners should be allowed to push buttons and sit in a cockpit while knowing almost nothing about the aircraft.
The Cowboys are flying nowhere with this decision by Jones, and only a couple of others are actually worse than this awful idea.
Next: Disgraced College Coach Joins Super Bowl Champs