Dallas Cowboys: 6 likely coaching replacements for Jason Garrett

Dan Campbell – Assistant Head Coach, New Orleans Saints

This is my dark horse candidate. A former Cowboys’ tight end, Dan Campbell wouldn’t make the splash the other names on this list would. But he could possess the chops to bring another Lombardi Trophy to Big D.

It’s no secret that the Cowboys have always been high on New Orleans Saints’ head coach Sean Payton. As the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach under the legendary Bill Parcells in Dallas from 2003-2006, Payton could have easily assumed the Cowboys’ head coaching job back then.

But Payton elected to take the head coaching gig in New Orleans a year before Parcells retired for the final time, opening the door for Wade Phillips and eventually Jason Garrett to walk through. Still, every time a possible replacement for Garrett has been mentioned, Payton’s name gets thrown in. Especially after he won a Super Bowl title with the Saints in 2009.

But the pipe dream of bringing Payton to Dallas likely died with the announcement that the Saints signed him to a five-year contract extension just last month. But if you can’t land the big fish, getting his understudy ain’t bad.

As for the 43-year old Campbell, he had a stint as the Dolphins Interim head coach back in 2015, leading the team to a 5-7 record. His final year as a player was spent in New Orleans winning a Super Bowl ring with Payton as his head coach.

A former Dallas Cowboy. Check. Super Bowl winner. Check. Spent the last three-plus years learning how to coach under Sean Payton. Check. NFL head coaching experience. Check. That sounds like a solid candidate to me.

Those are our six likely candidates to replace Jason Garrett as the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Who did we miss? Is there a candidate you believe should be on the team’s radar? Share your thoughts and insights in the comment section below.