Jason Garrett was criticized for stubbornly sticking to his guns while serving as the Dallas Cowboys head coach and he remains stubborn even as others interview for his job
Back in 2010, Jason Garrett was named interim head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and led the team to a 5-3 stretch to finish the season. That led to him being named coach going forward, but he never was able to put it all together for Dallas.
Overall, he had a respectable 85-67 record but was hovering around mediocrity far too often. His career started with three-straight 8-8 seasons where the Cowboys lost the final game of the year with the NFC East on the line.
He did finally break through in 2014 but proved in 2015 that he needed to have the right players to win. They were 4-12 that season but just 1-11 without Tony Romo. Garrett’s inability to adjust without his starting quarterback was a huge black eye on his resume.
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He was saved the following season when Dak Prescott took over and led Dallas to 13 wins but Garrett and his flaws were exposed as they couldn’t win in the playoffs and then continued to go up and down after that until this season when things fell apart.
What really cost Garrett was his stubbornness. He believed in his scheme so much that he refused to let go of his friend, Scott Linehan, until ownership all but forced him to find a new offensive coordinator.
He also stuck with Rod Marinelli as defensive coordinator even though their defense was predictable and the scheme outdated. He was so committed to the scheme that he even convinced the front office to take Taco Charlton over T.J. Watt as his measurables were a better fit for Rod.
This season, Garrett did give up some of the control, but not enough. Kellen Moore was in charge of the offense but far too often Garrett’s stamp superseded Moore’s. They would go away from the pass when it was working — just as they did late in their loss to Minnesota. That game was lost when they took the ball out of Prescott’s hands and Garrett justified it by saying something about establishing the run.
Now with the season over, Garrett continues to show his stubbornness. Everyone who watched this season unfold, and listened to Jerry Jones, understood Garrett needed a deep playoff run to get a new contract.
At 8-8, they couldn’t even make the playoffs which spelled the end for Garrett. However, he won’t admit that,
Garrett refused to step aside and accept the writing on the wall. Instead, he has continued to show up to work and even did exit interviews with his players — an absurd thing knowing he won’t return.
It then became comical as he stretched those interviews out as long as possible and has since had three meetings with Jerry and Stephen Jones campaigning for his job.
The Joneses have been bashed for their handling of the situation, but they’re truly trying to respect Garrett. They are trying to let his contract run out and never say anything bad about a guy they truly respect and care for.
Garrett won’t allow that though. His refusal to accept the obvious is creating this weird situation where he continues to show up to The Star to work while Jerry and Stephen are interviewing candidates to replace him.
Both Marvin Lewis and Mike McCarthy have come through and now they’re looking at Lincoln Riley.
This situation will eventually play itself out and Dallas will have a new coach. But Garrett is the one looking bad in this and he’s hurting himself showing that he still has no self-awareness.