January 1, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during their game against the Carolina Panthers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL voided Payton’s previous contract extension with the Saints due to some problems they had with the exact wording of said contract. And with the Cowboys continuing to struggle under head coach Jason Garrett, fans and national media alike were speculating on the Super Bowl winning coach’s future.

But Garrett’s recent actions concerning defensive tackle Josh Brent’s manslaughter incident, in which Jerry Brown Jr. was killed, was very impressive. Maybe more impressive has been that the Cowboys have won the last three out of their four games.

So, it appears Cowboy fans are now stuck with Garrett. Let’s only hope his on-the-job training has paid off with a playoff appearance this season. If not, expect to hear names like Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher circling Valley Ranch.

Too negative? That was in reference to 2011 articles. I wonder what he would think about the current articles you can find here in 2012.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to mute any pessimistic opinions about these Dallas Cowboys or even shout it down. To be real, it’s all warranted. At 5-6, with the prospect of missing the playoffs for the third straight year, there’s a lot of frustration with this team. And I know some of my fellow writers will churn it out, but I want to inject a little Fairness Doctrine here and provide a countering viewpoint, or an “angel’s advocate” since it’s something positive.

The Dallas Cowboys should retain Jason Garrett as head coach.

From an emotional standpoint, I’m so sick of seeing us go through head coach after head coach without any tangible results. Since Barry Switzer’s third year, mediocrity has been the status quo here in Dallas. From dark horses like Chan Gailey to big names like Bill Parcells, it’s been the same story every season: penalties galore, December collapses, and never sniffing the conference championship game. We’re on our fifth head coach and it’s still the same old story. Why keep burning through coaches when we only had one head coach for our first 29 years?

Fun Fact: Nick Saban was so impressed with Jason Garrett with the Miami Dolphins that he wanted to take him to Alabama in 2007 to be part of his coaching staff.

No, I want to talk about that. Do you realize that Tom Landry didn’t have a non-losing season until 1965 when he led the Cowboys to a 7-7 record? Naturally, he had to deal with not having a 1960 draft class, aged veterans, and other complications of building an expansion franchise. But once he got his system in place, it took twenty years and Clint Murchison’s wild living to derail it.

Look at Bill Belichick in Cleveland. He was trying to put a winning system in place. Initially, he had three consecutive 6-10/7-9 seasons before finally getting over the hump in 1994 with an 11-5 season coupled with a wild card playoff win. Sadly, the whole dismantling of the Cleveland Browns and moving them to Baltimore changed all of that, but the system he’s put in place in New England is what would have worked in a more stable environment.

Coaches need time.

Gary Kubiak is another good example. Do you know how long he toiled in Houston without a playoff berth before finally putting all the pieces together? Five seasons. Five seasons of 6-10, 8-8, 8-8, 9-7, and 6-10 before finishing 10-6 and getting their first playoff win. Can you imagine the freak out if Kubiak were a Cowboys coach having gone 6-10 after that optimistic 9-7 peak?

Constant change is bad for an organization. Coaches have different expectations for what they want in a player, and this is communicated to the scouting director, which, for the Cowboys, is Tom Ciskowski. If you throw out Garrett and his system and put in a new coach’s system, it will take a couple of years for it to finally take. The scouting department hasn’t had consistency on what’s a good player since Jimmy Johnson, and who know how many of those original scouts remain in Dallas.

Looking at retread coaches isn’t the answer. It rarely is, and it never is in Dallas. Here’s a list of the record for Super Bowl winning coaches who have been two years and a half into their second stint:

Tom Flores: 11-31
Joe Gibbs: 19-23
Mike Ditka: 14-28
Bill Parcells: 19-23 (Patriots), 25-17 (Jets), 23-19 (Cowboys)
George Seifert: 16-26
Jimmy Johnson: 23-19
Mike Holmgren: 20-22
Dick Vermeil: 23-19

Aside from Bill Parcells and Mike Holmgren, none of those coaches ever got their team to the postseason in their first season as head coach elsewhere, and even Parcells wasn’t able to do that with the Jets and Patriots. It’s also worth mentioning that Holmgren and Parcells are the only coaches to have taken their second teams to the conference championships (which, by the way, Parcells didn’t even win a playoff game with us).

The reality is it takes time to put a system in place. Even with Mike Holmgren, after getting the playoffs in his first season in 1999 with the Seahawks, he regressed to 6-10, 9-7, and 7-9 with no playoff appearances before leading them to a string of five straight seasons with a postseason appearance. I know the Turkey Neck and his Legion of Doom on KESN-FM would stir up their audience into believing the Holmgren experiment was a failure if we went 6-10 after an initial playoff appearance.

Sean Payton is another good example for how Cowboys fans and the media have zero patience. After a conference championship game appearance in his first season in 2006, he went 7-9 and 8-8 before finally putting his system in place to win a Super Bowl and then winning a minimum of 11 games before Bounty Gate. What do you think would happen after the 8-8 season there?

Here’s a stat: of the past seven Super Bowl winning coaches, only one of them had been with his team for less than four year. That’s Mike Tomlin, and the championship system in Pittsburgh was waiting on him.

It takes time.

Be careful for what you wish. Firing Jason Garrett won’t fix any problems. It will start whole new ones. And if the fan base doesn’t have the patience to wait for Garrett to install his system, change the culture, and build a winner, then they won’t have the patience for a retread whatsoever.

Aug 25, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys fullback Lawrence Vickers prior to the game against the St Louis Rams at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Invisible Player on Offense Award-This one goes to Lawrence Vickers.  When it comes to lead blocking, no fullback in the league is quite as invisible as Lawrence.

Invisible Player on Defense Award-Matt Johnson wins this one.  Are we sure he is even on the team?  Has anyone ever seen him?

Offensive Penalty Award-This one was tied between Doug Free and Tyron Smith.  Tyron has more upside, so I give this one to Doug.  Nobody does it quite like Doug when it comes to holding and false starts and I find them quite offensive.

Defensive Penalty Award-This one was tough, because penalties on this side of the ball were more spread around.  My choice is DeMarcus Ware for his numerous encroachment penalties.  I’m looking to see which he gets more of this year, sacks or penalties.

Dropped Pass Award-Wow this was a tough one, so many qualified candidates.  Kevin Ogletree gets the edge on this one due to his unique ability to let the ball bounce off his hands into the defender’s hands.

Dropped Interception Award-This award goes to Morris Claiborne for his performance in the game against the Falcons.  Just because the Falcons’ receiver was holding his arm down, and it wasn’t called, doesn’t mean Morris shouldn’t have made the interception anyway does it?

Fumble Award-This one goes to Felix Jones hands-down.  Felix not only found ways to fumble on offense, he was able to even carry it over to special teams.

Missed Tackle Award-This one goes to Orlando Scandrick.  He wasn’t even in the running until he managed to miss two key tackles in the second half alone in the game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Dec. 4, 2011; Glendale, AZ, USA; Dallas Cowboys center (67) Phil Costa against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Most Injured Offensive Player Award-This one has to go to Phil Costa, even though DeMarco Murray was in the running too.  Costa started the season with three plays and came back several games later to play one game, before being injured again.

Most Injured Defensive Player Award-Dan Connor gets the nod on this one.  This award can’t go to someone that is out for the rest of the season, like Lee, it is reserved for players constantly going in and out of the lineup.  Jay Ratliff was a close second for this one.

Offensive LVP (least valuable player)-This was close.  Choice was between Kevin Ogletree and Lawrence Vickers.  My decision to give Ogletree the nod on this one was because even though Vickers doesn’t do much to help, he doesn’t hurt the team much either.

Defensive LVP-This has to go to Dan Connor.  Dan wasn’t much help early in the season, but hopes were high for him to be able to step up his game, once Sean Lee was lost for the season.  Instead he got hurt, causing us to start a guy (Ernie Sims) that was sitting on his couch on Sundays watching games like the rest of us.

Special Teams LVP-This was a difficult choice with both Dez Bryant and Felix fumbling on kick returns.  The winner is Dez, because the times he didn’t fumble, it sure looked like he was trying to.

Instigator Award-This one goes to Rowdy for his attempted power grab and constant complaining about Jason Garrett’s coaching and play calling.

Clock, What Clock? Award-This one goes to Garrett.  He has the unique ability, to completely ignore the clock at the end of tight games.

Worst Play Calling Award-This one was between Jason Garrett, for the plays he calls in from the sideline, and Tony Romo, for his adjustments at the line of scrimmage.  It goes to Tony, since he seems to confuse the rest of the offense when he changes the play.

Too Many Men on The Field Award-This award goes to Rex Ryan.  His complex defensive packages cause players to be constantly moving on or off the field in between plays and sometimes they get caught when the ball is snapped.  I don’t advise this method when going against a hurry-up offense.

The Coach in Waiting Award-Rob Ryan was a candidate for this one, because he has been mentioned in several comments from fans as someone that should take over for Garrett immediately.  Despite his opinion to the contrary, Rowdy does not make this list.  This award goes to Sean Payton.

Who would be better as the next Cowboys’ Head Coach than the one that got away, going from Offensive Coordinator in Dallas to Head Coach in New Orleans and winning a Super Bowl.  Jerry has a lot of respect for him and Sean’s family lives in the Dallas area as well.  Yeah, let’s get him onboard.  I can’t wait to see how the team performs once the bounty payments start.  With this team though, the bounty system needs to be for the offense!