jday
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Many on this blog and in the media (local and abroad) have taken a simplistic view on how Jason Garrett will retain his job following this upcoming season, stating one of two qualifiers: 1. He either has to make the playoffs or 2. he has to do better than 8 and 8. While I understand that should he be dismissed one if not both of the above probably didn't happen, I'm not sure that should be the only reason. There are quite a few issues that can occur within a season that can derail a teams win/loss ratio and/or playoff chances regardless of the job Garrett does. Injuries in particular, especially to key positions such as the QB could play a huge role in a losing season. I've asked it before, does anybody expect Weeden and/or Orton to take this team to the playoffs? Lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball is the reason many on this blog and within the media have picked the Cowboys to go 8 and 8 or worse no matter what Garrett does.
Jerry Jones has made it clear he wants Garrett to oversee the team as a whole as opposed to leaning towards offense, which means that much of the defense, special teams and offense success or failures falls on the coordinators shoulders, in terms of play calling and the actual players in terms of execution. Granted, Jason will likely have his hand in everything, but at the same time, if one unit out of three doesn't perform as it should, it will be difficult to just point the finger at Jason.
This line of thinking set me to questioning the most important attributes of a Head Coach and furthermore how their success and failures are measured; how do we truly determine a Head Coach's value?
Obviously, Wade's team made it easy to see that it was time for him to be replaced...they quit. But I really can't say I have seen that level of quit since Wade left. For the most part, this team has battled, losing by 7 points or less the majority of the time since Garrett took over for Wade in 2010. Consider the following:
2010 - Garrett lost 3 games, all of which were by 3 points or less:
Saints by 3
Eagles by 3
Cardinals by 1
2011 - Garrett lost 8 games, 5 of which were by 6 points or less:
Jets by 3
Lions by 4
Patriots by 4
Cardinals by 6
Giants by 3
2012 - Garrett lost 8 games, 5 of which were by 7 points or less:
Ravens by 3
Giants by 5
Falcons by 6
Commanders by 7
Saints by 3
2013 - Garrett lost 8 games, 5 of which were by 3 points or less:
Chiefs by 1
Broncos by 3
Lions by 1
Packers by 1
Eagles by 2
My hypothesis is that based on the above information we can at least assume his team has not quit on him and have fought to the end. Granted, a few of those losses were situations were teams came back to win, such as the Chiefs and the Lions from last year, but I do not believe that was a result of the team quitting; though, I still hold Jason responsible for those losses because I honestly believe playcalling and in-game management had more to do with it than anything. With Marinelli, Linehan, and Bissacia calling the shots for the most part as far as playcalling, I honestly believe we should see improvement on the in-game management because that will be the only aspect of the game Garrett should be directly responsible for...and even with that, I'm sure Callahan will be backing him up.
So with this host of proven talented coaches behind Garrett in 2014, what can we the fans truly look at to say one way or another if Garrett did a good job or bad job?
For me, it will be when the defecation hits the oscillation situations. When things go wrong, how does he, his subordinate coaches and, more importantly, his players handle it? Will they continue to fight or will they roll over and submit. If and when injuries occur, will the next man up be ready? I don't expect said player to completely replace his predecessor; but I do expect him at the very least to know his role, his assignments and execute to the best of his ability. When the football takes an unlucky bounce, how does the team respond? With fight to get the ball back or do they allow the momentum of the game to be sucked away? Obviously, these things are the intangibles that are often times hard to measure and can be subjective from one viewer to another, but still, I believe the people within the organization will know...and that's what I think Jerry will likely be looking at come season end, with or without the playoffs or a record better than 8 and 8.
Jerry Jones has made it clear he wants Garrett to oversee the team as a whole as opposed to leaning towards offense, which means that much of the defense, special teams and offense success or failures falls on the coordinators shoulders, in terms of play calling and the actual players in terms of execution. Granted, Jason will likely have his hand in everything, but at the same time, if one unit out of three doesn't perform as it should, it will be difficult to just point the finger at Jason.
This line of thinking set me to questioning the most important attributes of a Head Coach and furthermore how their success and failures are measured; how do we truly determine a Head Coach's value?
Obviously, Wade's team made it easy to see that it was time for him to be replaced...they quit. But I really can't say I have seen that level of quit since Wade left. For the most part, this team has battled, losing by 7 points or less the majority of the time since Garrett took over for Wade in 2010. Consider the following:
2010 - Garrett lost 3 games, all of which were by 3 points or less:
Saints by 3
Eagles by 3
Cardinals by 1
2011 - Garrett lost 8 games, 5 of which were by 6 points or less:
Jets by 3
Lions by 4
Patriots by 4
Cardinals by 6
Giants by 3
2012 - Garrett lost 8 games, 5 of which were by 7 points or less:
Ravens by 3
Giants by 5
Falcons by 6
Commanders by 7
Saints by 3
2013 - Garrett lost 8 games, 5 of which were by 3 points or less:
Chiefs by 1
Broncos by 3
Lions by 1
Packers by 1
Eagles by 2
My hypothesis is that based on the above information we can at least assume his team has not quit on him and have fought to the end. Granted, a few of those losses were situations were teams came back to win, such as the Chiefs and the Lions from last year, but I do not believe that was a result of the team quitting; though, I still hold Jason responsible for those losses because I honestly believe playcalling and in-game management had more to do with it than anything. With Marinelli, Linehan, and Bissacia calling the shots for the most part as far as playcalling, I honestly believe we should see improvement on the in-game management because that will be the only aspect of the game Garrett should be directly responsible for...and even with that, I'm sure Callahan will be backing him up.
So with this host of proven talented coaches behind Garrett in 2014, what can we the fans truly look at to say one way or another if Garrett did a good job or bad job?
For me, it will be when the defecation hits the oscillation situations. When things go wrong, how does he, his subordinate coaches and, more importantly, his players handle it? Will they continue to fight or will they roll over and submit. If and when injuries occur, will the next man up be ready? I don't expect said player to completely replace his predecessor; but I do expect him at the very least to know his role, his assignments and execute to the best of his ability. When the football takes an unlucky bounce, how does the team respond? With fight to get the ball back or do they allow the momentum of the game to be sucked away? Obviously, these things are the intangibles that are often times hard to measure and can be subjective from one viewer to another, but still, I believe the people within the organization will know...and that's what I think Jerry will likely be looking at come season end, with or without the playoffs or a record better than 8 and 8.
