Cowboys Christmas Wish: Fire Jason Garrett, Bah Humbug!

After five years, it’s time for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to make this Christmas wish come true and fire Jason Garrett.

As a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, the month of December has been a tough rite of passage for America’s Team and their fan base. After three seasons of 8-8 mediocrity, the breath of life that last year’s 12-4 regular season brought fans meant there was no need to spike the ole’ eggnog last year. Then 2015 happened. Sitting at 4-10 with unwrapped presents under the tree, I thought I’d make my own little Christmas wish that I can only hope Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones (dressed as Santa, of course) brings down the chimney to all his loyal fans in 2016.

That wish is for the Cowboys to fire Jason Garrett, and make a trade for Sean Payton.

More from The Landry Hat

Look, I have nothing against Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett personally. And, heaven forbid, I wouldn’t want anyone to get fired on Christmas. (Jerry, feel free to wait until the day after to make that particular call) But Garrett has treated the last five years in Dallas like on-the-job training. And his inexperience has undoubtedly cost this team wins, and most likely, a shot at getting veteran players like quarterback Tony Romo and tight end Jason Witten Super Bowl rings. They deserve better and so do their loyal fans.

When will Garrett’s education end? When do the Cowboys actually benefit from all he’s learned in Dallas? It didn’t happen this season as the fifth-year coach stumbled through a seven-game losing streak, patting players on the back and preaching a consistent message of “just do your best fellas!” Haven’t we suffered through his long, exhausting learning curve enough? Five years later, here we sit at 4-10. All the while Garrett’s still learning how to be a NFL head coach.

Last year, it felt like Garrett had somewhat graduated. After this season, it appears the 49-year old coach needs to go to summer school in order to take some remedial courses.

Isn’t five years long enough to know if someone is good at his job or not? How many more years must we squander trying to figure out if Garrett has what it takes to be a top-notch NFL head coach? You think McDonald’s keeps an employee around for five years who still hasn’t learned everything his job requires of him? No. They have standards, not just hopes and dreams. And they actually expect results.

Garrett has a career win/loss record of 45-40 (.529) since taking the helm of America’s Team in 2010. There is only one other current NFL head coach that was hired that same year: Seattle Seahawks’ Pete Carroll. In that same span, Carroll has a record of 53-34 (.609), three NFC West Divisional Championships, two NFC Conference Championships, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Super Bowl victory. Bah Humbug! Would you like some more of this tasty eggnog…yum!

Unfortunately, the Cowboys gave Garrett a ridiculous five-year, $30 million contract extension in January. I’m not sure even Jerry Jones is willing to swallow that amount of money to move on. That being said, this is the same Cowboys team that’s still paying for wide recevier Miles Austin (in cap space – dead money) two years after he was released.

Although I’m not sure why, the New Orleans Saints are rumored to be willing to part ways with their own Super Bowl winning coach, Sean Payton, for draft picks. Payton was an assistant to Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells from 2003-2005. The now 51-year old left the Cowboys to helm the Saints the year before Parcells’ exodus. Many, including myself, believe Payton would have been made Dallas’ head coach had he stayed another season. And that the Cowboys would have likely hoisted the Lombardi Trophy between now and then if he had stayed. Instead, the Saints got their first Super Bowl victory in 2009 and the Cowboys got Wade Phillips and Garrett. Talk about coal in the old stocking!

Next: Forget Quarterback: This is the Cowboys biggest need...

If Payton is truly available, Dallas makes sense as a likely landing spot. He is widely credited as the man who discovered Tony Romo. Who better than Payton to shape the Cowboys next great quarterback while getting the best out of Romo in his final years? Actually, he may be the only coach Jerry Jones would swallow Garrett’s massive contract for. With a boatload of compensatory picks expected to be granted to Dallas in the upcoming draft, the Cowboys could be in the market to trade away some of their current batch of picks for a Super Bowl caliber coach with ties to the organization.

Admittedly, this is all a long shot at best. But hey, it’s Christmas! A time for miracles, right? More eggnog for everyone!

Home/Cowboys News