The Dallas Cowboys are finally parting with Jason Garrett and now the search for a new head coach begins but who are their best coaching candidates?
Freedom never felt as sweet as it should on Friday morning for Dallas Cowboys fans. It’s the first morning in a decade that they have woken up and known that Jason Garrett will no longer be the head coach of America’s Team.
On Thursday night, ESPN’s Ed Werder reported that Garrett would not be in the Cowboys’ future plans after three meetings between the head man, owner Jerry Jones and team CEO Stephen Jones. Effectively, Garrett will be fired as the head coach in Dallas, opening up one of the most attractive head coaching vacancies in any sport.
This isn’t just about the name brand of the Dallas Cowboys, either. A major reason why Garrett will no longer patrol the sidelines in Dallas is the fact that he seemingly kept Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, Amari Cooper and so on from reaching their elite potential. And as most, if not all of those guys should return for 2020 and beyond, the potential and talent level of this roster remains high.
Subsequently, whoever is hired as the next head coach will be inheriting a favorable roster with the opportunity to succeed immediately. But the Jones regime must get the hire right, especially considering they have the pull and resources to essentially pick from the coaching candidates they like.
Taking that into account, these are the seven best candidates to become the next Dallas Cowboys head coach. Though they are all viable candidates, they’ve been ranked from least desirable to most coveted.
7. Jim Harbaugh
Current Position: Michigan head coach
Because of his shortcomings with the Michigan Wolverines, Jim Harbaugh is going to be a controversial name in any connection with the Cowboys. After all, he’s failed continuously in big games, most notably failing to beat Ohio State in any of the five meetings between the two Big Ten rivals.
However, when you look back to his 2011-14 tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh proved his merit as an NFL head coach by capitalizing on a talented and capable roster while also maximizing some of the previous question marks’ potential, most notably Colin Kaepernick. He led the Niners to three NFC Championship Games in four years and to Super Bowl XLVII, though he lost to the Ravens, coached by his brother.
Harbaugh’s previous NFL tenure leads you to believe that he might actually be a better NFL head coach than a college coach. Because of the optics, Harbaugh brings up the rear in this discussion but, make no mistake, he’d be a great fit in Dallas.