My thoughts on Jason Garrett

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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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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CoCo said:

"The plan" was never about locking into targeting specific players with specific picks in the draft. You set yourself up for draft failure that way. It's about the balance of need and value. But you don't lock into picking "player X no matter what". Hence, Claiborne, Floyd, Aaron Donald, the Steelers LB and others entered the equation the same way that Jadeveon Clowney would have had he fallen to our slot.

It seems indisputable that the Garrett regime was about upgrading the O-line when Columbo, Davis and Gurode were all released in his first offseason and Tyron Smith being made the 1st pick in his first draft.

Further indication was the FA signings of Bernadeau & Livings.

In the same draft we ended up with Frederick we were rumored to be very interested in Cooper & Warmack and even Pugh as I recall. So we clearly didn't end up "reaching" for the best remaining O-lineman on happenstance.

It's ridiculous to claim that the FO/Garrett stumbled into rebuilding the O-line strategy. Stumbled into particular players in particular years? Yes! Because you have limited control over who will be available when you pick. So you stick to balancing need & value because the team has more than one current need anyway.

Yes! Dallas was lucky that Tyron, Fred and Martin all ended up available and have lived up to or exceeded their draft value. Players bust all the time (see Claiborne). But it is crystal clear to anyone willing to see that the "plan" was to strengthen the O-line when 3 starters were purged in Garrett's 1st offseason.

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Eskimo said:

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.



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.



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.

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65fastback2plus2 said:

Still dont like Garrett and still would replace him.

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cml750 said:

Well it is now time for Garrett to put up or shut up. He has never won a win or go home game. Hopefully that changes today. I still blame him most for us missing the playoffs the last three years and think we would have been much better off if we didn't have a coach having OJT but if we win today I will be able to put some of that to rest and at least consider getting on the Garrett bandwagon. A win next week would definitely get me on the bandwagon and if we go all the way and win the SB, I will be singing his praises. All he has to do is win and winning his first win or go home game will be a great start. If we lose today I say he needs to go.

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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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65fastback2plus2 said:

Still dont like Garrett and still would replace him.

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jobberone said:

Garrett is suiting up??! Coaches and QBs get too much credit and blame. It's the players team. They got to want it bad.

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cml750 said:

If you do not think coaching matters then I do not know how to respond!!! I guess Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, or even Dave Campo(on the opposite end of the spectrum of course) meant absolutely nothing? I blame Garrett for us missing the playoffs three years running die to idiotic clock/game management decisions that were directly in his control, so I just can't cut him any slack until he earns it. A win today will be a big start in earning my respect.

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