Does Garrett Have Any Real Value as a Head Coach?

[Idgit]

negatives:
rigid reliance on process above results
lack of play calling acumen
lack of player development on offense
faulty game mgmt
lack of results
outcoached fairly often thus far in his career

i think garrett is neither exceptional thus far nor terrible and beyond hope.
i think his best coaching is to come but he also has plenty of room for growth.

I think several of those are very debatable. Process, especially. It's not results v. process; the two are correlated if the process is right. He's a young coach, and might not have the process just right, but you can tell that he reviews and modifies how he does things from season to season.

I don't know how to fairly judge the plays that he's called, so it's hard to measure that as s criticism.

Player development and execution aren't exactly the same thing, but I'd say that he's had a significant issue with getting his offensive players to execute consistently. Especially the WRs, but they've also had issues with developing young players along the OL, TE, and even having sufficient coverage at RB at times. It's my primary criticism of Garrett.

Game management/getting out coached by good coaches is definitely something JG needs to get better at. I think that's probably to be expected given where he is in his career, but it's a liability, nonetheless.

 

[Idgit]

Dallas won 2 Division titles under Wade in 4 years. And our only playoff win since 1996.
It is easy to fall back on how badly they were in going 1-7 that final season but Wade finished 34-22 in his tenure here.

JG is 21-19 and had never finished above 3rd place in the NFCE.

JG needs to go 13-3 this year to equal Wade's record as coach.

I don't think any of that matters very much. If your team's getting worse under your tenure, and not better, you're going to lose your job in the NFL. Wade's teams got worse.

Even so, he'd have lasted the 2010 season, regardless, if they hadn't also tailspun.

 

[BHendri5]

hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Beast_from_East]

Because he was the HC which means that he oversaw and supervised Garrett who was his subordinate.

The practices were run the way Wade wanted them to run and not the way Garrett wanted them to run. So if Garrett can't institute his ideas and systems to develop players then he can't be held fully accountable for the results.

Even Wade's players seemed to start playing better again under Garrett: Spencer and Jenkins, in particular, were floundering in 2010 and those were Wade's first rounders.

Wade is a very good DC and has done a great job in Houston helping to turn that crew around. He is just ill-equipped to be a HC and has failed in 3 different locations now. He is a nice guy and has a good mind for defense but he just doesn't have the organizational and leadership skills to be the HC of a successful NFL team.

Wade won 2 division titles and a playoff game in 3.5 seasons as head coach.

Garrett has gone 13-11 in 2.5 seasons as head coach.


So all this talk about how players played better once Garrett took over and how Garrett is so much better equipped than Wade to be a head coach is just laughable.

Right now, as far as results on the field, Garrett has done jack compared to Wade. Wade is also one of the best defensive coordinators in the history of the league while Garrett is an average OC at best, piles up tons of yardage and middle of the pack scoring.

Garrett may turn out to be a great coach and win multiple SBs in the future, but so far he is a .500 head coach that has never taken his team to the playoffs. So saying he is better than other coaches that have won division titles and playoff games is a joke at this point.

 

[Idgit]

Wade won 2 division titles and a playoff game in 3.5 seasons as head coach.

Garrett has gone 13-11 in 2.5 seasons as head coach.


So all this talk about how players played better once Garrett took over and how Garrett is so much better equipped than Wade to be a head coach is just laughable.

Right now, as far as results on the field, Garrett has done jack compared to Wade. Wade is also one of the best defensive coordinators in the history of the league while Garrett is an average OC at best, piles up tons of yardage and middle of the pack scoring.

Garrett may turn out to be a great coach and win multiple SBs in the future, but so far he is a .500 head coach that has never taken his team to the playoffs. So saying he is better than other coaches that have won division titles and playoff games is a joke at this point.

Trends matter in the NFL. And when your team outright quits on you, you get fired as the HC. That's just how it is, and it's what happened to Wade. It'll happen to Jason, too, and rightfully so, if and when his squad quits on him.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Garrett adds tremendous value. He's aggressively rebuilt a roster that was badly depleted by 2010, and done it without any stockpiled picks and with very little in the way of salary cap resources to maneuver with. He's assembled a really top-notch coaching staff. If you can't see how the teams will to hang in and compete to win close games has changed the last two years, you're not paying attention.

I can't imagine what the 2011 roster would have done with the injuries, issues and schedule we had with the 2012 season. We've grown leaders in Murray and Dez and Lee and Church (yes, Church) on both sides of the ball. We're playing young players in key positions where we didn't before. We've overhauled our draft process and improved it in the process. We've done this while maintaining a good offensive team--which he's primarily responsible for. We have no dissent in the locker room. He keeps the Dallas Cowboys Traveling Circus nonsense to an absolute minimum (there's only so much that can be done on that front, but he's done it). He handles the press well. He represents the team well. He was masterful in handling the Jerry Brown tragedy last season.

He's got work to do, but he has probably the hardest job in the NFL, and he's been tasked with repairing the wings on the plane in mid-flight. He needs to improve on game day--mostly *not* when it comes to play calling, but definitely when it comes to game management.

All around, I think he's a very good coach. I don't think it's right to overlook the back to back 8-8s as if they were failures. Both of those seasons could easily have been worse. And hockey-sticking things up after Wade let it spiral to 1-7 back in 2010 is something, for whatever reason, he doesn't get much credit for, but it was no mean feat in its own right. That season could easily have been a much bigger disaster (and, please, just this one, no bemoaning the lost of draft position just because we pulled our team out of the tank against long odds).

Honestly, I don't for the life of me understand why it is that some people don't like Jason Garrett. I honestly don't see what they're complaining about. Even when the problem is explained as 'play calling' or whatever, I still don't understand what people are seeing.

You don't understand why people complain about Garrett?

The biggest issue most fans have is his botching of late game decisions. He has made several critical errors that directly contributed to the team losing the game. Even you admit that he has to improve on game management, so this is not just fans making up stuff that have it in for Garrett.

Garrett has botched game management, being it iceing the kicker, not knowing when to challenge plays, use of timeouts, field position in terms of not getting closer for a FG try, ect......

This issues have directly lead to losses on the field that could have been avoided. Garrett has been learning on the job, just like you said. He never did this before, so ofcourse he is going to make mistakes. That's the key point.

The bottom line issue most fans have is Garrett is "learning on the job" with one of the premiere teams in all of professional sports. He was not ready to take over and his inexperienced has cost the teams several games the last two seasons. Considering we missed the playoffs by 1 game in both of the last 2 seasons, it is fair to say that Garrett's errors have directly lead to this team missing the playoffs.

When a team misses the playoffs because the head coach blows games due to his inexperience, its going to piss off the fans. That's just the cold hard truth.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I don't think any of that matters very much. If your team's getting worse under your tenure, and not better, you're going to lose your job in the NFL. Wade's teams got worse.

Even so, he'd have lasted the 2010 season, regardless, if they hadn't also tailspun.

You also lose your job in the NFL if your team is not getting better.

Back to back 8-8 seasons is not getting better.

If Garrett throws another 8-8 on the board, well 3 strikes and your out.

 

[Idgit]

You also lose your job in the NFL if your team is not getting better.

Back to back 8-8 seasons is not getting better.

If Garrett throws another 8-8 on the board, well 3 strikes and your out.

I guess we'll see. I think we were pretty fortunate to get last year's team to 8-8, all things considered. And I think 2011 was an improvement over 2010, and, as I've said, 2010 under Garrett was an improvement over 2010 under Phillips.

Either way, I expect the team to be competitive this season and for it not to be much of an issue. If it's not, then, of course he can have issues keeping his job. As he should.

 

[jnday]

Wade wasn't a better all around coach. Knew little about offense or special teams and delegated that to the offensive and special teams coordinator.

When Wade was fired, Garrett actually delved into the defensive side of the ball and the special teams because they were so bad in 2010 there was no way to win. And the defense and special teams did get better.

To me, I don't quite understand the fervor over insisting a HC must call plays. It's nice if they can do it like Sean Payton because then if the coordinator leaves you don't have to do a new search for a coordinator with playcalling capabilities.

But, it's not that common to have the HC calling plays. Hasn't been common for over the past 30 years. Even Wade didn't call defensive plays early on in Dallas. That was given to Brian Stewart. Stewart couldn't get the job done and Wade took over.

To me, it's really about player development and winning games. Wade won games, but had serious issues with player development (i.e. Jenkins, Felix, Bennett, etc). And sure enough, the team went downhill. I think Garrett has done a good job with player development, but he can't get over 8-8. Hopefully that will change.






YR

Every one of the players you listed could have had much better careers. Wade's biggest fault is that he trusted men to act like men and give 100% on and off the field. These players didn't. Wade was too trusting of his players and it cost him.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I guess we'll see. I think we were pretty fortunate to get last year's team to 8-8, all things considered. And I think 2011 was an improvement over 2010, and, as I've said, 2010 under Garrett was an improvement over 2010 under Phillips.

Either way, I expect the team to be competitive this season and for it not to be much of an issue. If it's not, then, of course he can have issues keeping his job. As he should.

You may be right about Garrett having the team pointed in the right direction. However, if we miss the playoffs again this year that will be 3.5 seasons as head coach and no playoffs under Garrett.

Its going to be very hard for Jerry to sell Garrett to the fans if we miss the playoffs again this year. The majority of fans are going to be calling for a new head coach if Garrett cant make the playoffs in 3.5 seasons.

That's just reality.

 

[Idgit]

You may be right about Garrett having the team pointed in the right direction. However, if we miss the playoffs again this year that will be 3.5 seasons as head coach and no playoffs under Garrett.

Its going to be very hard for Jerry to sell Garrett to the fans if we miss the playoffs again this year. The majority of fans are going to be calling for a new head coach if Garrett cant make the playoffs in 3.5 seasons.

That's just reality.

All of that's definitely true. And Jerry would, I'm sure, be very reluctant to undertake that sort of heat. He might do it--as his quote below indicates--but it'd be a tough call. He'd only do it if he were sure that, despite the record, JG had the team headed in the right direction. It's tough to say how he might feel that way if we end up missing the playoffs again, and with Lovie Smith sitting there and interested in this job, but it wouldn't shock me. Jerry doesn't think like a lot of other people think, and he's a risk taker if he thinks the payoff is likely to be good enough.

I also think Stephen, in particular, really likes Jason, fwtw.

 

[KB1122]

Garrett adds tremendous value. He's aggressively rebuilt a roster that was badly depleted by 2010, and done it without any stockpiled picks and with very little in the way of salary cap resources to maneuver with. He's assembled a really top-notch coaching staff. If you can't see how the teams will to hang in and compete to win close games has changed the last two years, you're not paying attention.

I can't imagine what the 2011 roster would have done with the injuries, issues and schedule we had with the 2012 season. We've grown leaders in Murray and Dez and Lee and Church (yes, Church) on both sides of the ball. We're playing young players in key positions where we didn't before. We've overhauled our draft process and improved it in the process. We've done this while maintaining a good offensive team--which he's primarily responsible for. We have no dissent in the locker room. He keeps the Dallas Cowboys Traveling Circus nonsense to an absolute minimum (there's only so much that can be done on that front, but he's done it). He handles the press well. He represents the team well. He was masterful in handling the Jerry Brown tragedy last season.

He's got work to do, but he has probably the hardest job in the NFL, and he's been tasked with repairing the wings on the plane in mid-flight. He needs to improve on game day--mostly *not* when it comes to play calling, but definitely when it comes to game management.

All around, I think he's a very good coach. I don't think it's right to overlook the back to back 8-8s as if they were failures. Both of those seasons could easily have been worse. And hockey-sticking things up after Wade let it spiral to 1-7 back in 2010 is something, for whatever reason, he doesn't get much credit for, but it was no mean feat in its own right. That season could easily have been a much bigger disaster (and, please, just this one, no bemoaning the lost of draft position just because we pulled our team out of the tank against long odds).

Honestly, I don't for the life of me understand why it is that some people don't like Jason Garrett. I honestly don't see what they're complaining about. Even when the problem is explained as 'play calling' or whatever, I still don't understand what people are seeing.

I agree.

I do think it's time for this team to win. The sad thing is that I think we would have. 8-8 last year was better than 8-8 the year before. The scehdule was tougher. The team was probably on the right course. Then Jerry had to stick his nose in. This team is so ridiculously dysfunctional. It's hard to look at all the things going on this offseason and conclude anything except that 2013 is heading for disaster.

 

[Bleu Star]

I don't know where you're going with this statement, but for the love of good and evil, and this goes for everyone on and off the board. Never compare Championship winners to nobodies.

Let me go there again to clarify for your brain speed. Does Mike Tomlin work in the capacity of the walk around strategist that simply motivates both sides of the ball? Yes. Has Garrett been working with a full deck? No. Should we give this season a chance e to see if Garrett's motivational acumen will work. Yes.

HTH

 

[Beast_from_East]

Let me go there again to clarify for your brain speed. Does Mike Tomlin work in the capacity of the walk around strategist that simply motivates both sides of the ball? Yes. Has Garrett been working with a full deck? No. Should we give this season a chance e to see if Garrett's motivational acumen will work. Yes.

HTH

I don't think anybody is saying Garrett should not be given this season to right the ship. What most folks are saying is that if he cant get the team into the playoffs after being the head coach for almost 4 seasons (3.5 seasons at yrs end to be exact), its time to move on.

 

[IrishAnto]

Dallas won 2 Division titles under Wade in 4 years. And our only playoff win since 1996.
It is easy to fall back on how badly they were in going 1-7 that final season but Wade finished 34-22 in his tenure here.

JG is 21-19 and had never finished above 3rd place in the NFCE.

JG needs to go 13-3 this year to equal Wade's record as coach.

Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys.

Would you still like him to be head coach?

Wade went 13-3 with a team which was largely the legacy of Bill Parcells (just as Switzer inherited his team from Jimmy Johnson).

Wade’s record got progressively worse each year (a trend at all of his head coaching jobs).

Garrett at least seems to have the team pointing in the right direction.

Time will tell.

Each season needs to be evaluated in its own right as well as in the larger context of a coach’s tenure.

I’m sure if this board were around in 1970 there would voracious calls for Landry to be replaced because he couldn’t win the “big one”.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys.

Would you still like him to be head coach?

Wade went 13-3 with a team which was largely the legacy of Bill Parcells (just as Switzer inherited his team from Jimmy Johnson).

Wade’s record got progressively worse each year (a trend at all of his head coaching jobs).

Garrett at least seems to have the team pointing in the right direction.

Time will tell.

Each season needs to be evaluated in its own right as well as in the larger context of a coach’s tenure.

I’m sure if this board were around in 1970 there would voracious calls for Landry to be replaced because he couldn’t win the “big one”.

The whole 'inherited Parcells players' line cracks me up. Is boy blunder even looking at a third season as head coach if he diddnt inherit a pro bowl QB, a Hall of Fame TE and a Hall of Fame pass rusher?

 

[trueblue1687]

Garrett's good at motivating players and at organizing. He's shown a good eye for talent in the draft. He sucks at play calling and managing the clock.

Wait...according to this board, Jerry Jones is the sole talent evaluator/draft guru. What gives???

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Why is offensive player development on Wade?

He was the HC. He not only setup how the practices where run, but if the player was slacking off, he was supposed to be the guy that sets them straight.

Some HC's like Bill Cowher wouldn't put up with that and generally got the best out of their offensive players. But, he couldn't find a QB (until Roethlisberger). Cowher got skewered for years over not finding a QB and he was a defensive minded coach. Same with Lovie Smith and his offensive woes in Chicago.

I don't think Wade was a bad HC because the guy does find ways to win. But, he seems to have a time limit where eventually the players will quit on him because he doesn't do a good job developing them and nobody takes him seriously.






YR

 

[Doomsday101]

Wade is a great DC.
He was a crappy HC.
He wasn't however in charge of the offense AT ALL.
Garrett was hired before Wade and reported directly to Jerry.

Wade didn't get to hire his guys or Dan Reeves would have been OC here.

Garrett owns responsibility for Offense from the day he was hired.

Wade owns overall record and the defensive performance from the day he was hired.

Jerry owns setting up that dynamic which failed miserably.

Jerry said when Wade was here if he did not like the play on offense he is the HC he can make changes. That is what a HC does, he is in charge on what is taking place on the field offense, defense special teams it all falls to the HC regardless if you are calling plays or not. Jimmy never called plays on offense, defense or special team but as HC you are fully responsible for all action that takes place.

As for the comment on Reeves it had to do with the structure of the contract, Jerry was not opposed to Reeves however if he was going to hire Reeves he wanted more commitment. Not saying that is right or wrong but that is a bit different than claiming Wade could not get a guy he wanted.

 

[trueblue1687]

Garrett adds tremendous value. He's aggressively rebuilt a roster that was badly depleted by 2010, and done it without any stockpiled picks and with very little in the way of salary cap resources to maneuver with. He's assembled a really top-notch coaching staff. If you can't see how the teams will to hang in and compete to win close games has changed the last two years, you're not paying attention.

I can't imagine what the 2011 roster would have done with the injuries, issues and schedule we had with the 2012 season. We've grown leaders in Murray and Dez and Lee and Church (yes, Church) on both sides of the ball. We're playing young players in key positions where we didn't before. We've overhauled our draft process and improved it in the process. We've done this while maintaining a good offensive team--which he's primarily responsible for. We have no dissent in the locker room. He keeps the Dallas Cowboys Traveling Circus nonsense to an absolute minimum (there's only so much that can be done on that front, but he's done it). He handles the press well. He represents the team well. He was masterful in handling the Jerry Brown tragedy last season.

He's got work to do, but he has probably the hardest job in the NFL, and he's been tasked with repairing the wings on the plane in mid-flight. He needs to improve on game day--mostly *not* when it comes to play calling, but definitely when it comes to game management.

All around, I think he's a very good coach. I don't think it's right to overlook the back to back 8-8s as if they were failures. Both of those seasons could easily have been worse. And hockey-sticking things up after Wade let it spiral to 1-7 back in 2010 is something, for whatever reason, he doesn't get much credit for, but it was no mean feat in its own right. That season could easily have been a much bigger disaster (and, please, just this one, no bemoaning the lost of draft position just because we pulled our team out of the tank against long odds).

Honestly, I don't for the life of me understand why it is that some people don't like Jason Garrett. I honestly don't see what they're complaining about. Even when the problem is explained as 'play calling' or whatever, I still don't understand what people are seeing.

A few thoughts on your post: obviously you're a Garrett fan, and that's ok. He does have good qualities to be sure. However, a coach is judged by his win record primarily - it's tepid at best. Second, it's debateable that he has put together anything - roster notwithstanding. Oh, I'm sure he may put in his .02 cents, but be assured that he isn't the reason for our drafts. As I joked in another post, many here impute the draft decisions to Jones. Which is it? Convenient that the good players are chosen in spite of Jones, and only the bad ones are due to Jones. Dubious premise. At any rate, Garrett has probably less input than you want us to think. As to coaching staff...he's likely lost control there too. Many here minimze the play calling issue. It's not a small issue. That's Garrett's wheelhouse. He rejected the "opportunity" to have a reall play caller last season, keeping the reigns for the most part. His own brother was sent packing as a position coach, as was the DC (which was reportedly a Garrett pal??) If Ryan wasn't a Garrett bud, then it further undermines your premise that he has 'assembled' anything resembling a coaching staff.
As to having the hardest job in the NFL: he does have a magnifying glass on him by virtue of being HC of the Dallas Cowboys, but every HC has the same battles relative to coaching. His challenges are not unique.
With that said, I do think there is potential in Garrett, but to be fair - I think he was put into the position of HC wayyyyy too soon. I don't care where the guy went to college, or if he's a member of MENSA, he is lost at times and needs time to learn how to be a good organizational guy. He currently does not have that. So, enough of the 'it's a process' talk, and how he is a motivator or how many leadership books he has in his library. He needs to win and win big this season or he is toast and his career as a HC will be stunted as well.