Jason Garrett Just Doesn’t Get Fans Excited
By Kim Dunning
As I struggled to watch the press conference Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett held on February 13, 2013, it dawned on me that Jason Garrett no longer excites me as a fan to get pumped up for the 2013 season.
Jason’s press conference was really to introduce the new coaching staff personnel that have been implemented so far this season. Jason, during the press conference, was very dry pointing out that he has known most of these guys since his final NFL season in 2004 when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before ending his career with the Miami Dolphins.
When Garrett spoke about new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, he said he spent time with Kiffin during 2004 and was “ripped by Kiffin as he had never been ripped by a coach before” while running drills with the scout team. Garrett goes on to say that he really respected Kiffin and that during his time with Tampa Bay he asked Kiffin quite a few questions to understand the 4-3 defense as well as general information of the game of football. Garrett says he continues to learn from Kiffin and that Kiffin has a demand for details and an eye for game-day scenarios. Garrett was factual with very little excitement in body language , speech and facial expressions.
Dec 2, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Then Jason goes on to introduce Rod Marinelli as defensive line coach. He also said he spent time with Marinelli in Tampa and that Marinelli commands respect, attention to detail and focuses on preparation for game day and has a high respect for the game of football.
Jason said he feels this is a step in the right direction for the defense and with both Kiffin and Marinelli he feels that Dallas will be better prepared on defense for injuries as the 4-3 defense is simpler for guys to come in to replace injured players and pick up the scheme of the defense fairly quickly. He said that the defense has a lot of work to do but feels Dallas’ defense will be having more take aways for the 2013 season and be ranked above 24th in the league where they had been last season.
As Garrett spoke about the offense he discussed play calling and advised the fans and media that the play calling is something that has been talked about for 2 seasons. He said that they feel the offensive play calling doesn’t need to be restructured but that he needs to let go of some of the control of the offensive play calling. He said that the organization felt that to restructure the offense would be detrimental to quarterback Tony Romo’s success with the offense. He also went on to say that it’s hard to get good quarterbacks in the league and Romo is excelling yearly with the current structure of the offense. Garrett also points out that in 2013 offensive line coach Bill Callahan will have more responsibility with the entire offense which is why they hired an assistant offensive line coach. He said Callahan wasn’t involved as much last year because he needed to focus on the offensive line problems Dallas had last year.
With the words being said and the media questions fielded Jason Garrett left me with the feeling that it’s all talk and no action. He says he’s excited with all the changes and feels Dallas has put pieces into place but it’s that nagging feeling in the back of long-time fans minds that this is just another masquerade by the Dallas Cowboys. I think the thing that bothers me the most, personally, is the fact that when asked questions by the media, questions about play calling Garrett gets the deer in the headlight look and when he spoke of all the “exciting” new changes in Dallas his eyes do not have that gleam that a normal person would have if they were truly excited.
If the head coach can’t convey the excitement how do we as fans expect to get excited for the new season and hope that these changes are the spark that our beloved Cowboys need to finally make it over the hump of not just playing for a win and get in scenario for the third year in a row but to blow out the rest of the division and command the pride and respect our Cowboys had in our glorious past. I’m not feeling that and after asking other fans via social media the consensus is the same, they aren’t feeling it either. So Garrett needs to convey the excitement he says he is and show it via his body language and his eyes. But then again, maybe this fan has just been disappointed too much to believe that anything good can come out of Dallas anymore. So we wait for the next move from the Dallas Cowboys and hopefully sometime this off-season we can get very excited and so can our head coach.