This is not to show that Jason Garrett should be fired but to show that he never should have been hired. These are the coaching resumes before they got their first head coaching jobs and all 3 are around the same age.
Sean Payton:
Early coaching career[edit]
Payton began his coaching career in 1988 as an
offensive assistant at
San Diego State University. He made a series of assistant coaching positions at
Indiana State University,
Miami University (OC),
Illinois, and again at San Diego State (running backs coach), before landing a job as the quarterbacks coach with the
Philadelphia Eagles in 1997.
[13]
He coached
Marshall Faulk from 1992 to 1993
[14] while serving at San Diego State.
As OC at
Miami University, he helped RB
Deland McCullough run for over 1,100 yards.
[15] In 1995, the team scored the most points in a season (326) since 1986 and finished 8-2-1.
[16] RB Deland McCullough ran for over 1,600 yards with 14 TD and QB Sam Ricketts also threw 14 TD.
At the
University of Illinois in 1996,
[17] he coached QB Scott Weaver, who completed 56% of his passes for over 1,700 yards and 7 TD.
Philadelphia Eagles[edit]
From 1997 to 1998, Payton was
quarterbacks coach for the
Philadelphia Eagles and worked with offensive coordinator
Jon Gruden and offensive line coach
Bill Callahan. In 1998, Gruden and Callahan left for the
Oakland Raiders, and Eagles head coach
Ray Rhodes and Payton were fired.
[18] The Eagles' quarterbacks passed for 4,009 yards in 1997.
[19]
New York Giants[edit]
In 1999 Sean Payton was hired as the quarterbacks coach for the
New York Giants and was promoted to the role of
offensive coordinator in 2000. Under his guidance, the Giants would go on to represent the
NFC in
Super Bowl XXXV.
[20] During this time, he was known to lock himself in the stadium and sleep on the couches while studying plays during off-days.
At around 6:45 a.m. on
September 11, 2001, the New York Giants' flight from
Denver, where the Giants played the
Denver Broncos for the first
Monday Night Football game of
2001, landed at the gate of
Newark Liberty International Airport next to
United Airlines Flight 93, the flight that was hijacked and eventually crashed in
rural Pennsylvania. Payton recalls this moment in his autobiography
Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life.
[21] During the
2002 season, after several poor showings by the Giants' offense, Payton's role in play-calling was taken over by then head coach
Jim Fassel. Under Fassel the offense improved and propelled the team to a wild-card playoff berth. While Payton was still ostensibly in charge of the offense, his role in the team was clearly diminished and had he not been hired away by the
Dallas Cowboys, he likely would have been fired.
Dallas Cowboys[edit]
Payton joined
Bill Parcells and the Cowboys as an assistant head coach and a quarterbacks coach in 2003, where he helped coach
Quincy Carter,
Vinny Testaverde, and
Drew Bledsoe to 3,000-yard seasons.
In 2005, he was promoted by Parcells to assistant head coach/passing game coordinator.
Todd Haley:
Early years[edit]
Haley was born on February 28, 1967, in
Atlanta,
Georgia [1] He is the son of
Dick Haley, formerly Director of Player Personnel for the
Pittsburgh Steelers (1971–1990) and
New York Jets (1991–2002) and also a former NFL cornerback (1959–1964).
[2]
As a youth, Haley was a ball boy for the Steelers and attended Steelers training camps with his father.
[2] Alongside his father, Haley would watch the Steelers' game and practice film.
[2][3] While his family was located in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for his father's profession, Haley attended
Upper St. Clair High School.
[2] He went on to attend the
University of Florida and
University of Miami, playing on the two schools' respective golf squads.
[2] Haley graduated from the
University of North Florida in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in communication.
[2]
Assistant coaching career, 1995–2008[edit]
Haley was hired by the
New York Jets in 1995 and served as an assistant in the scouting department for two seasons. At the time, Haley's father Dick was working with the Jets as Director of Player Personnel.
[3] In 1997, he was promoted to offensive assistant/quality control coach and worked closely with then-offensive coordinator
Charlie Weis. From 1999 to 2000 Haley was the Jets' wide receivers coach, helping
Keyshawn Johnson make his second
Pro Bowl appearance. During his tenure with the Jets, Haley began his association with
Scott Pioli, who served as Director of Pro Personnel for the Jets from 1997 to 1999. Pioli later became the general manager of the
Kansas City Chiefs and hired Haley as the team's head coach in 2009.
In 2001, Haley joined the
Chicago Bears as wide receivers coach and served in the position until 2003. In 2002, he helped
Marty Booker become the first Bears Pro Bowl wide receiver since 1971.
From 2004 to 2006, Haley was the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the
Dallas Cowboys. Haley helped develop quarterback
Tony Romo and the Cowboys' passing offense, which centered around wide receivers
Terry Glenn and
Terrell Owens.
In 2007, Haley joined
Ken Whisenhunt's coaching staff for the
Arizona Cardinals as the team's offensive coordinator. Haley did not start calling plays for the Cardinals until late in the season.
[4] The Cardinals finished in the top half of the NFL in multiple offensive categories.
Under Haley’s guidance, the Cardinals offense in 2008 was one of the league’s most innovative and explosive units.
[2] Arizona tied for third in the league in scoring, registering a franchise-record 427 points (26.7 ppg).
[2] The Cardinals were fourth in total offense, averaging 365.8 yards per game.
[2] Arizona was second in the league in passing offense (292.1 ypg) and ranked sixth in the NFL with 20.5 first downs per game.
[2]The Cardinals finished the season with a 9–7 record and a playoff berth after winning the
NFC West Division title. The Cardinals went on to appear in their first
Super Bowl in franchise history after the team scored more than 30 points in each of its three playoff games.
In
Super Bowl XLIII, the Cardinals offense played the NFL's top-ranked Pittsburgh Steelers defense.
[5] Trailing 17–7 at halftime, the Cardinals offense fought back after a 13-point deficit and led the game 23–20 with just over two minutes remaining.
[5] The Cardinals lost 27–23 in the game's final seconds.
[5]
Jason Garrett
Miami Dolphins[edit]
After retiring as a player, he became the quarterbacks coach for the
Miami Dolphins in 2005–2006 under head coach
Nick Saban.
Dallas Cowboys[edit]
In January 2007, Garrett was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as offensive coordinator. He guided the Cowboys to the 2nd best offense in the NFL, which made him an attractive head coaching prospect.