Dallas Cowboys: Jason Garrett’s ‘Derek Jeter’ challenge is brilliant
By Randy Gurzi
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is often criticized but his latest tactic, the ‘Derek Jeter Challenge’, is a brilliant move
Current Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is often on the receiving end of some pretty lame — and unfounded — jokes. He’s called a puppet for owner Jerry Jones and is often said to be a poor coach, despite having a winning record and a trophy for winning NFL Coach of the Year in 2016.
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Now the first is foolish because the claims are Garrett is only there to do what Jones wants. Well, yes. He is. As is anyone who is paid by their boss to do a job. That’s called life. Outside of that, Garrett has done more good for the team than any other “puppet” in the history of Jones’ tenure except for Jimmy Johnson. Garrett has instilled a new philosophy and has also convinced the Jones family to finally build a mammoth offensive line.
Jones got the Executive of the Year Award in 2014, but Garrett’s hand prints were all over the team that he built. While Jones never drafted an offensive lineman in round one, he has now done so three times since 2011 — Garrett’s first draft as coach. That sounds more like a man who has a plan than a puppet being strung along.
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As for the coaching, Garrett himself said this would be a potential five-year build to get Dallas where he wanted. In his fourth full season, they finally became a winning team and they don’t look to fall back anytime soon. The reason is because the team trusts in Garrett.
They fight hard for him and they buy into what he says. It’s easy to see that on the field, just as it was easy to see the team he coached to a 5-3 record in 2010 had given up on his predecessor Wade Phillips, who had gone 1-7 with the same bunch. The way the players respond to Garrett is the sign of a good coach.
Now Garrett looks to find players he can trust as much as they trust him. That’s the goal behind his new smart idea, the “Derek Jeter Challenge”.
The idea is simple, people will compete in various challenges with players they pick — before knowing what the game is. Garrett’s idea was his belief that a guy like Jeter would always be picked in such a situation, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk:
"“[Jeter is] one of those guys you would pick for your team before you knew what the game was.”"
Now it’s not like Garrett wants to find his own Derek Jeter. Instead he wants to see who hates losing. The guy who goes crazy trying to win Skeet Ball is the same guy who will leave it all on the field on Sunday. The coach has found a fun way to break up some of the camp monotony while at the same time discovering just a little more about the players he will be relying on each Sunday.
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Sure, there will be plenty to scoff because it’s the Cowboys, but this is a pretty smart ploy by Garrett and may be copied around the NFL.