My thoughts on Jason Garrett

I'll tell you that I have not been a fan of Jason Garrett.

I thought he wasn't experienced enough to be offensive coordinator, and he wasn't experienced enough to be the Head Coach. I feel that we wasted a lot of years while we waited for Garrett to mature as a head coach.

I also think that he must have played a role in limiting the talent we had in other coaching positions either because he didn't have ties or because he didn't want competition.

This is the first year we've had a legitimate offensive coordinator in Dallas since Sean Payton, and look at the results. I say legitimate because Callahan wasn't allowed to call his own offense. From 2007-2013 we didn't have an experienced offensive coordinator, and I think it showed. We had a lot of talent on offense, but they never put it together. They were always sloppy and executed poorly. I bet we have had the least amount of penalties this year on offense as we've had since 2006.

I think a lot of other coaches were scapegoats for Jason Garrett's inexperience.

I think finally he has the coaches on offense and defense that are experienced enough to help him focus on player development, organizational structure, game management, and motivation/inspiration. I don't think Jason Garrett is a dumb guy, on the contrary, I think he is really smart. I just think he was given the keys to the car before he learned how to drive.

I think what we see now is a great look at things to come for him and the team. I think he was able to understand how to build a team and has the support needed to execute that. I think this team was held back in the move to the 3-4 which never truly panned out, and took another step back in needing to move back to the 4-3. I think the offense is built for longevity, and we need only build up this defense. I think the idea that we could have a perpetually top 5 offense and defense is not impossible going forward. I have that kind of faith in Marinelli and Linehan and I think Garrett can now take control of the helm now that he doesn't necessarily need to do everything.

Oh look another one of these. No one wanted to give him credit when things looked bleak. Now everyone is making posts asking for credit for giving him credit now that things look good.

a_minimalist said:

Oh look another one of these. No one wanted to give him credit when things looked bleak. Now everyone is making posts asking for credit for giving him credit now that things look good.

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I don't think you read my post.

a_minimalist said:

Oh look another one of these. No one wanted to give him credit when things looked bleak. Now everyone is making posts asking for credit for giving him credit now that things look good.

Click to expand...

To be fair, there are still people who think the team is winning in spite of Garrett.

Who were all these great offensive talents that were put to use by other teams? The only guy who kind of flourished after he left year was Bennett and he was an immature numbskull who wasn't close to pushing Witten during his tenure here.

Who were all the flameouts after they left here? Barber, RW11, Felix, Tashard Choice, Crayton, TO, Bigg Davis, Colombo, Gurode and Flo. The whole OL group basically gave us two very good years before crumping on us in late 2007 but they acted as an expensive albatross around us because of all the big money dedicated to them. The abundance of draft misses from 2006-9 did not provide the young, cheap talent that was needed to sustain the level of play and establish depth behind the veteran stars who choked off our cap space. When Garrett rose to the helm the team was in disarray and needed to be rebuilt.

If you look at the current roster, most of the offensive talent we have now has been homegrown under the tutelage of Garrett and his coaching staff. The offense was plenty potent last season if you look at the overall numbers but they had a bit of a flaw - they couldn't run when they needed to and Romo lost confidence in them constantly checking out of runs with his audibles. This year the addition of Martin and further experience in Leary and Fred who were first time starters has now given Romo the confidence to call the plays as the OC has requested most of the time. Key skill players like Murray, Dez, Beasley and TWill are just better versions of themselves now as they are closer to their career peaks.

The key difference this year compared to past years has really just been execution. The ability to execute is probably more responsibility of the position coaches than the coordinator and they are largely the same but the players who are young as a group are a year older and better able to carry out their duties. Since the execution is better and more of the playbook is open it gives us better ability to counterpunch how the defense is reacting to what we are doing. If they overreact to the zone stretch we can come back with a counter.

Anyhow, I don't say this to take anything away from the job Linehan has done - he may very well be a better coordinator than Garrett and that is okay. I think they are both in their best roles right now. Garrett as the leader, motivator and captain of the ship while Linehan directs his forces into battle.

Eskimo said:

Who were all these great offensive talents that were put to use by other teams? The only guy who kind of flourished after he left year was Bennett and he was an immature numbskull who wasn't close to pushing Witten during his tenure here.

Who were all the flameouts after they left here? Barber, RW11, Felix, Tashard Choice, Crayton, TO, Bigg Davis, Colombo, Gurode and Flo. The whole OL group basically gave us two very good years before crumping on us in late 2007 but they acted as an expensive albatross around us because of all the big money dedicated to them. The abundance of draft misses from 2006-9 did not provide the young, cheap talent that was needed to sustain the level of play and establish depth behind the veteran stars who choked off our cap space. When Garrett rose to the helm the team was in disarray and needed to be rebuilt.

If you look at the current roster, most of the offensive talent we have now has been homegrown under the tutelage of Garrett and his coaching staff. The offense was plenty potent last season if you look at the overall numbers but they had a bit of a flaw - they couldn't run when they needed to and Romo lost confidence in them constantly checking out of runs with his audibles. This year the addition of Martin and further experience in Leary and Fred who were first time starters has now given Romo the confidence to call the plays as the OC has requested most of the time. Key skill players like Murray, Dez, Beasley

The key difference this year compared to past years has really just been execution. The ability to execute is probably more responsibility of the position coaches than the coordinator and they are largely the same but the players who are young as a group are a year older and better able to carry out their duties. Since the execution is better and more of the playbook is open it gives us better ability to counterpunch how the defense is reacting to what we are doing. If they overreact to the zone stretch we can come back with a counter.

Anyhow, I don't say this to take anything away from the job Linehan has done - he may very well be a better coordinator than Garrett and that is okay. I think they are both in their best roles right now. Garrett as the leader, motivator and captain of the ship while Linehan directs his forces into battle.

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I think you're confusing people flaming out and outliving their abilities. It isn't to suggest that these guys weren't at all talented while they were here. Garrett was also responsible for attempts to put together an offensive line, and he failed in doing so until Callahan got here. We drafted some linemen who absolutely didn't pan out.

2006 and 2007 this offense was clicking, mostly due to Romo, T.O., Witten, and Barber. The talent was there. 2008 was a disaster as the offense got very vanilla, and 2009 was another promising year. After our offensive investments were dilluded the offense became pretty stagnant, especially in 2012 and 2013. That's all on Garrett.

Execution falls not just on the position coach but the coordinator as well, especially given that the coordinator is the boss of the position coaches... How many guys did Garrett bring in to help run his offense? He always brought in guys who were either on their way out of the league or weren't well established. We've seen what Linehan has been able to do and what happens when you get quality position coaches.

Eskimo said:

Who were all these great offensive talents that were put to use by other teams? The only guy who kind of flourished after he left year was Bennett and he was an immature numbskull who wasn't close to pushing Witten during his tenure here.

Who were all the flameouts after they left here? Barber, RW11, Felix, Tashard Choice, Crayton, TO, Bigg Davis, Colombo, Gurode and Flo. The whole OL group basically gave us two very good years before crumping on us in late 2007 but they acted as an expensive albatross around us because of all the big money dedicated to them. The abundance of draft misses from 2006-9 did not provide the young, cheap talent that was needed to sustain the level of play and establish depth behind the veteran stars who choked off our cap space. When Garrett rose to the helm the team was in disarray and needed to be rebuilt.

If you look at the current roster, most of the offensive talent we have now has been homegrown under the tutelage of Garrett and his coaching staff. The offense was plenty potent last season if you look at the overall numbers but they had a bit of a flaw - they couldn't run when they needed to and Romo lost confidence in them constantly checking out of runs with his audibles. This year the addition of Martin and further experience in Leary and Fred who were first time starters has now given Romo the confidence to call the plays as the OC has requested most of the time. Key skill players like Murray, Dez, Beasley

The key difference this year compared to past years has really just been execution. The ability to execute is probably more responsibility of the position coaches than the coordinator and they are largely the same but the players who are young as a group are a year older and better able to carry out their duties. Since the execution is better and more of the playbook is open it gives us better ability to counterpunch how the defense is reacting to what we are doing. If they overreact to the zone stretch we can come back with a counter.

Anyhow, I don't say this to take anything away from the job Linehan has done - he may very well be a better coordinator than Garrett and that is okay. I think they are both in their best roles right now. Garrett as the leader, motivator and captain of the ship while Linehan directs his forces into battle.

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I thank you and the choir sings "Ain't no stopping us now".

CoCo said:

To be fair, there are still people who think the team is winning in spite of Garrett.

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They are called fools..

a_minimalist said:

Oh look another one of these. No one wanted to give him credit when things looked bleak. Now everyone is making posts asking for credit for giving him credit now that things look good.

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That's nothing new. Rarely do people give praise until they see the results they want to see.

Now that JG has given the reigns to Linehan things have gotten better. Marinelli does more with less. JG sits back and does what he does best. Lead. Motivate. Delegate. Influence JJ to make smart football decisions. I attribute much of that to will mcclay, too. CEO type coach that doesn't micro manage his assistants.

a_minimalist said:

Oh look another one of these. No one wanted to give him credit when things looked bleak. Now everyone is making posts asking for credit for giving him credit now that things look good.

Click to expand...

We said all along it would be amazing how quickly JG learned when the team started winning more of those close games. I'm just really happy it happened in spades this season, so we're not starting over this offseason.

a_minimalist said:

Oh look another one of these. No one wanted to give him credit when things looked bleak. Now everyone is making posts asking for credit for giving him credit now that things look good.

Click to expand...

Read his post.

Galian Beast said:

I think you're confusing people flaming out and outliving their abilities. It isn't to suggest that these guys weren't at all talented while they were here. Garrett was also responsible for attempts to put together an offensive line, and he failed in doing so until Callahan got here. We drafted some linemen who absolutely didn't pan out.

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Exactly how much influence Garrett would have had in the war room in terms of the drafting and drafting of OL in particular is something I cannot comment upon. I would only point out that the willingness to invest high picks on the OL is something that Jerry had been unwilling to do previously. Heck it was even pretty rare for Jerry to spend a 2nd rounder on an OL before Garrett became the HC.

2006 and 2007 this offense was clicking, mostly due to Romo, T.O., Witten, and Barber. The talent was there. 2008 was a disaster as the offense got very vanilla, and 2009 was another promising year. After our offensive investments were dilluded the offense became pretty stagnant, especially in 2012 and 2013. That's all on Garrett.

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Garrett was the passing coordinator in 2007 which is the same title that Linehan has this year and that was the year where we were on a different level from everyone but the Patriots. In 2008 the issue wasn't that the offense got stagnant. The problem was the OL play got way worse (partly due to Kosier's injury and lack of depth), TO was no longer elite, Barber already showed he was running out of steam from his running style and the draft was weakened by the horrific RW11 deal.

As for the later years from 2010-2012 we arguably had the worst OL in the league. The 2013 season is when we got back to being a bit above average with Leary and Fred going through their rookie season and Free playing better again.

Execution falls not just on the position coach but the coordinator as well, especially given that the coordinator is the boss of the position coaches... How many guys did Garrett bring in to help run his offense? He always brought in guys who were either on their way out of the league or weren't well established. We've seen what Linehan has been able to do and what happens when you get quality position coaches.

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You could make that argument but who is the boss of the coordinator? Who is the guy who assembled the group of position coaches who were in place before Linehan came here? All the offensive coaches were newly hired since Garrett became HC. You can try as hard as you want to discredit the HC but it just doesn't make sense. The offense has evolved a bit from last year but it has not been a radical departure in style. It is just that we can do a lot more things effectively because the players are better and more mature. This will expose weaknesses in defenses who tried to play us the same way they did in the past and the OC can take advantage of that.

Let me put it to you this way - this team's young core has actually really been improving each year Garrett has been the HC. It just wasn't fully reflected in the record due to the fact that the previous core was getting old and declining and we got snake bitten by injuries when we didn't have much quality depth. Now that old core is almost gone and we are one of the youngest teams in the league, we had enough depth to finish the year strong and we just put up a 12 win season including a rare December sweep. Why people go through mental gymnastics to explain how that is in spite of the HC is perplexing to me.

Garrett has done a good job helping to turn this franchise around. He took over an old, expensive team that had just gone 1-7. The only players now who were major cogs on that team are Romo and Witten. I think the only assistant coach who is still around from that team is Wade Wilson. The team was re-built with no extra draft picks, no Herschel Walker type bonanza and little money for premier FAs (Carr is the only one). The credit for such an undertaking will not fall soley to one man as it takes a whole organization but the vision to make this team what it is today was almost certainly Jason Garrett.

The current Dallas Cowboys are the result of the perfect storm of patience, circumstance, talent, interpersonal co-existance, hard work, persistence, intuition, inspiration, an unswerving belief in convictions and yes - luck.

Regardless of how it evolved or what led us to where we are - the road to how we got here is far less important compared to where the road will take us next.

Idgit said:

We said all along it would be amazing how quickly JG learned when the team started winning more of those close games. I'm just really happy it happened in spades this season, so we're not starting over this offseason.

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a year ago I figured a 14 point lead in fourth quarter was a sign of impending doom, now he has figured out how to win those games, good on him

I think all the points are true. But I also believe garrett while he was the OC under Wade either did not try to undercut wades authority so he let wade run the team as wade like the team to run, ie batched play in practice, redo? nope lets move along. Also Jerry wlked all over wade many of the picks and FA had Jerry's hands all over it. I do not know maybe Garret is just one of those guys no matter what his HC at the time said he was the good soldier.

I just enjoy the masterful job of marginalizing Garrett's successful 3 year plan of rebuilding this offense so that the detractors can be "right" while simultaneously being optimistic for the future.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2014/10/14/sullivan-garrett’s-3-year-plan-among-random-thoughts

CanadianCowboysFan said:

a year ago I figured a 14 point lead in fourth quarter was a sign of impending doom, now he has figured out how to win those games, good on him

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Probably a lot easier to figure out how to hold a lead when you can run the ball when you want to. In previous years, it became a smoke and mirrors routine at the end of games.

EGG said:

I just enjoy the masterful job of marginalizing Garrett's successful 3 year plan of rebuilding this offense so that the detractors can be "right" while simultaneously being optimistic for the future.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2014/10/14/sullivan-garrett’s-3-year-plan-among-random-thoughts

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Dont you just love all the people who say this was Garrett's plan all along, as they look back? Why werent they preaching patience and faith in the plan over that 3 yr period if they knew this was THE PLAN?

And you gotta love the "This Was The Plan All Along" crowd spouting this stuff as if they knew it all along. You know like they are privy to some inside info, or have more insight than the ignorant masses.

And you gotta love all this PLAN talk about the OL and how the wise master builder had it planned all along yet from all reports if we could have taken some defensive players we wanted in last years draft we would have no Zack Martin. We have Zack because the defensive players we wanted were already taken when our time to pick came. So what if we had picked a defensive player in Rd 1? What would we be hearing as THE PLAN narrative now?

WPBCowboysFan said:

Dont you just love all the people who say this was Garrett's plan all along, as they look back? Why werent they preaching patience and faith in the plan over that 3 yr period if they knew this was THE PLAN?

And you gotta love the "This Was The Plan All Along" crowd spouting this stuff as if they knew it all along. You know like they are privy to some inside info, or have more insight than the ignorant masses.

And you gotta love all this PLAN talk about the OL and how the wise master builder had it planned all along yet from all reports if we could have taken some defensive players we wanted in last years draft we would have no Zack Martin. We have Zack because the defensive players we wanted were already taken when our time to pick came. So what if we had picked a defensive player in Rd 1? What would we be hearing as THE PLAN narrative now?

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The plan wasn't to go 8-8 for three straight years but stuff happens. Jason has overseen the rebuilding of a team and this year things have blossomed whereas in other years they didn't.

And as far as lucking into Zack Martin, they still had to make the pick. OL was also valued due to the fact he was selected and we were also interested in Trai Turner in the second. We may have had some players rated higher but you can say that for any team that doesn't have the top pick. It was always the plan to rebuild the line. It just so happens we did it via 3 first round picks.