Dallas Cowboys Jason Garrett wins Coach of the Year Award
The Associated Press has awarded Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett with the NFL Coach of the Year award following the team’s 13-3 regular season.
It’s been a long, bumpy road for Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. After six seasons at the helm of America’s Team, Garrett has now been awarded the Coach of the Year award by the Associated Press.
The former back-up quarterback for Cowboys great Troy Aikman has now risen to the top of the NFL coaching ranks.
Garrett joined Dallas as their offensive coordinator back in 2007. Three years later, he was asked to take the reins of America’s Team mid-season as the interim replacement for recently fired head coach Wade Phillips. Posting a 5-3 record to finish off that year, the Cowboys made Garrett their official head coach the following season.
Unfortunately. the Cowboys would produce only mediocrity for the next three years. They finished each of those seasons with an 8-8 record, barley missing the playoffs each season due to a loss in the final game of the year. Although Garrett was believed to be on the coaching hot seat during this time, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones never publicly wavered in his support for the young, inexperienced head coach.
MUST READ: Dallas Cowboys 2017 Draft – Five Cornerback Prospects
That belief by Jones paid off in 2014 when Garrett led the Cowboys to a 12-4 season-ending record, their first first playoff berth in five years and a postseason victory. In January of 2015, Jones rewarded his head coach with a five-year, $30 million contract extension.
But the following season, Dallas posted a disappointing 4-12 record, mainly due to two separate collarbone injures suffered by starting veteran quarterback Tony Romo. Once again, questions arose about Garrett’s effectiveness as a NFL head coach.
Dallas’ performance in 2016 has likely addressed all of those concerns as the Cowboys posted a 13-3 regular season record, won the NFC East divisional crown and secured a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the postseason. Although Dallas disappointingly lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers, it was still a successful season for America’s Team on most counts.
Next: Ranking Tony Romo’s Top 5 Dallas Cowboys Games
On Saturday, the Associated Press honored Garrett’s work as the Cowboys head coach with the Coach of the Year award. According to NFL.com, the 50-year old coach received 25 of the 50 AP votes to win the honor. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick came in second with 14 votes.