Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
The Dallas Cowboys have called a press conference where they’re expected to name Jason Garrett the eighth head coach in team history.
The press conference will be held at 1:30 today at Cowboys stadium.
Garrett earned the job by going 5-3 over the second half of the 2010 season as interim head coach. Garrett picking up the pieces of a shattered team in the wake of Wade Phillips mid-season firing.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hinted Garrett would get the job Sunday night after the Cowboys season finale’ in Philadelphia. When asked if the Cowboys new head coach would have authority in choosing a new coaching staff, Jones said he’d have to confer with Jason; a dead giveaway.
Jones has interviewed a pair or minority candidates to satisfy the league’s Rooney rule requirements. Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman met with Jones Tuesday and Dolphins assistant Todd Bowles Wednesday, but Garrett has been considered the front runner all along.
The Cowboys had seemingly given up on Wade Phillips all but forcing Jones to make the unprecedented move of firing a Cowboy coach mid-season. From installing digital clocks, to implementing dress codes and a more disciplined attitude, Garrett has done his best to change the culture at Valley Ranch from relaxed to re-energized. And the team has responded. The 3 games they lost in his tenure were by a total of 7 points.
“I’ll play for him,” says linebacker Bradie James, “because I know that he says he’s been in the game and won’t demand anything he won’t put into it, so as a head coach those are the people you want to play for.”
Garrett brings with him six years of NFL experience, the last four directing the Cowboys offense. His first two years as an NFL coach were spent on the Miami Dolphins staff coaching quarterbacks.
One of the Cowboys team leaders he’s worked closest with, tight end Jason Witten, is squarely behind Garrett being in charge.
“He has a plan and he does a great job of making that plan clear and giving us our best chance to be at our best – coaches and players on Sunday,” said Witten. “I believe that he can make us winners and he can do it in a timely fashion where we have success soon.”
And now Garrett’s on the clock to restore the type of success this franchise hasn’t seen since the mid 90’s… the type of Super Bowl success the four head coaches preceding Garrett failed to reach.
