Why Jason Garrett Does Not Deserve A Contract Extension In Dallas

Nov 2, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett on the sidelines against the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Following a badly needed victory last Thursday night in Chicago against the Bears, the question has come up too often as to whether or not Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett deserves – wait for it – a contract extension.

Well, let me think about it – no.

Huh?

To ask the question is one thing. Garrett is in the final year of his rookie head coaching contract and it’s certainly something to ponder, I guess. I prefer discussing who exactly might replace him at some point, but that’s just me. I was never on board with his becoming a head coach for the Cowboys with such little experience.

Remember, Garrett had never held a head coaching position on any level prior to becoming the Cowboys’ full time head coach in 2010. Not even in Pop Warner. Following a 14 year career as a back-up quarterback in the NFL, Garrett became the quarterback’s coach for the Miami Dolphins for two years (2005-2006), and the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator/assistant head coach for the next three.

In fact, when former head coach Wade Phillips was canned midway through a disastrous 2010 regular season that witnessed a 1-7 start, I recommended that Garrett go as soon as possible.

Based on a 5-3 record over the second half of that awful ’10 campaign, Garrett was rewarded with a permanent head coaching position that I think everybody expected, regardless of the performance. Interesting is the fact that a record of 5-3 is just one victory better the mediocre ball Garrett has served up over his first three seasons as an aspiring head coach.

Right now, Dallas is 9-4, a record that only guarantees a mark of 9-7 – again, one game above a perfect mark of mediocrity.

Having said that, it’s far too soon to consider Garrett a long-term head coach with the Cowboys or anybody else. I think the presence of passing game coordinator Scott Linehan in 2014 has dramatically illustrated how ill-equipped Garrett was as either an offensive play caller or offensive coordinator.

Let’s not forget that ridiculous showing in the 2007 NFC playoffs against the wild-card New York Giants, a team that Dallas had already beaten twice that season. A number one seed in the playoffs that year was completely wasted, which in turn set the stage for perhaps the most unlikely of all Super Bowl champions in the modern era of professional football. The offensive genius, who averaged 28 points per game during the regular season coughed up just 17 against the G-Men at Texas Stadium.

Then there was the utterly inexcusable meltdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in Garrett’s first “win-and-you’re-in” regular season finale to end the 2008 campaign. Despite a 41-37 victory over Philly on Week 2 that year, Garrett offered just six meager points in the rematch against a division rival that only finished 9-6-1 in ’08, yet advanced all the way to the NFC championship game before finally losing to the Arizona Cardinals.

Do I really need to mention that humiliating showing at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minnesota against the ghost of Brett Favre the following year? Sure, Dallas beat a dying Eagles team in the Wild Card round of the NFC playoffs, but followed that up with a completely unimaginative game plan in a 34-3 embarrassment against a Vikings team that just missed a trip to the Super Bowl.

The thought of Jason Calvin Garrett being involved in any game plan for a Super Bowl should keep Cowboys Nation wide awake at night amidst a cold sweat.

Then again, we’re not talking about anything close to a Super Bowl, right? We’re simply being asked to consider the possibility that Garrett is deserving of more time to serve as head coach while taking on – get this – less and less responsibility as years go by.

Let’s start off from 2011, Garrett’s first season as a Padawan head coach. His coaching staff consisted of himself as offensive coordinator and Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator. Neither occupy those positions any longer and the latter will likely be watching the playoffs from his living room somewhere in New Orleans following his second season as DC with the Saints. Unless the Cowboys win out this season, Garrett will probably be joining him on the sofa somewhere.