November 17, 2007
Where could Garrett go?
To follow up on Tim's post there, referencing Troy Aikman's ringing endorsement of Jason Garrett as a head coaching candidate, I think the question has to be posed: What team with a potential opening would be attractive enough to lure the 'Boys' OC away? Here are three:
CHARGERS: If Norv Turner can't get this team, at least, into Round 2 of the playoffs, he figures to incur the wrath of Charger management. Should San Diego drop the axe, I can't imagine there being many more attractive openings than this one, and I can't imagine the Chargers finding much of a better fit than Garrett. Make no mistake, this is a loaded roster, with most of its key components locked up through 2010. And if Garrett can work the same kind of magic with Phil Rivers that he has with Tony Romo, he can win a Super Bowl quickly. By quickly, I mean next year.
BENGALS: A lot has been made of the dearth of big-time quarterbacks in the NFL. Cincy's got one, and the Bengals have more than just that on offense. There's some potential instability on the offensive line coming, with several potential free agents, and there's a lot of work to do defensively. But the hardest part -- finding someone like Carson Palmer -- is already done. And Garrett, it's worth mentioning, has Ohio roots, having played his high school ball there. That's something that would certainly help him in the mind of owner Mike Brown, an Ohioan through and through.
RAVENS: Yes, the defense is aging. But there are quality, pieces in place and the personnel department there is outstanding -- Ozzie Newsome being among the best in the business. If this is the year that Brian Billick bites the dust, the Ravens would surely consider Garrett, who could find a way to fix the long-broken Baltimore offense. And it would have to be attractive to him, not just because of Newsome's track record, but also because the roster can quickly be reworked since the Ravens have a stable of young players behind their aging stars.
There's little question here that Jerry Jones wants in the worst way for Garrett to stick around and, when the time comes, ascend to the head coaching position with the Cowboys. But the trouble with that is that (and this isn't a novel concept) there are only 32 jobs out there, and no matter how much Jones likes Garrett, turning down a good one is, without question, a roll of the dice.
Now, this isn't exactly the first time a situation like this has reared its head. And there are cautionary tales in there.
Here's one I can remember. When Lou Holtz took the South Carolina job years ago, he brought his son Skip with him. Skip, then the head coach at then-I-AA UConn, went with the idea he would succeed his father at USC.
Well, when the time came for Lou to step down in 2004, a more attractive candidate became available. That'd be Steve Spurrier, who wound up taking the job. And Skip was left to grab an opening at East Carolina.
The Pirates have been OK since. Meanwhile, the team Holtz left -- UConn -- is now in a BCS conference with a brand-new stadium and a sparkling football complex. In short, it's a program with potential to get better and better. East Carolina? Well, they can be good. But in Conference USA, can you argue that's the kind of job UConn is now?
The lesson, I think, if you look too far into the future, you're betting on variables that can change. That's not to say Garrett should leave. It's just to say that if he's got a good job sitting there, and no indication that he's going to become the head man in Dallas anytime soon, he probably needs to take it. There's little question that if things stay the way they are now, he and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, 32, will be the two hottest young assistants on the '08 coaching market. And sometimes, you simply have to strike when the iron's hot, because anyone in the NFL will tell you, it can cool down in a hurry.
So Cowboys Blog turns it over to the readers here -- if you were Garrett, would you leave for one of the jobs above?
Oh, and by the way:
Go Texas Tech, Go Iowa State, Go Ole Miss and Go Cincinnati. And please -- please -- keep the sorry Big 12 out of the national championship game (Yes, I know the Big 10's not much better, but it says here the Buckeyes would run roughshod over that league.)
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