The Dallas Cowboys Star brings with it some lofty expectations. Just ask the recently retired Tony Romo. The man literally broke his back in the name of America's Team, and some people remain unsatisfied. The latest act of disrespect concerning a Dallas Cowboys quarterback is a former one, who serves as the team's Head Coach. Jason Garrett is being disrespected by the national media, and it's not even being done intelligently.
Pete Prisco of CBS is a fantastic NFL analyst. He's been in the game for a long time and has accomplished a lot throughout his career. On Wednesday Mr. Prisco decided to rank every Head Coach across the National Football League, and where he slotted Jason Garrett is questionable at best.
Before I reveal what can only be logically explained as an accident, let me remind you that Jason Garrett won Coach of the Year. This is literally an award that is given to what the voters, educated folks presumably, believe is the best coach in football for that particular season.
The Apparent Top Half Of Coaches In The NFL
Here's how Pete Prisco thinks the top half of NFL coaches shakes out:
- Bill Belichick, New England Patriots.
- Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers.
- Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs.
- Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks.
- Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints.
- John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens.
- Adam Gase, Miami Dolphins.
- Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals.
- Bill O'Brien, Houston Texans.
- Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts.
- Dan Quinn, Atlanta Falcons.
- Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings.
- John Fox, Chicago Bears.
- Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals.
- Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers.
You'll notice, you of high perception, that this is the Top 16 coaches in the NFL (through the eyes of CBS' Pete Prisco). 16 out of 32 is half, for those of you keeping score at home. You'll also notice that Jason Garrett – 2016 NFL Coach of the Year – is absent from this list. Yes, seriously.
What… on… earth… how… is… this… possible???
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Jason Garrett is better than Bill Belichick, because I'm not insanely stupid (leaving Jason Garrett out of the top half is this same type of stupidity, though). I'm also not going to sit here and tell you that he's better than Mike McCarthy, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton (it's closer than people think, though), or John Harbaugh.
Jason Garrett is not the best coach in the NFL. He's not even a top seven coach in the NFL by our own admission here. But if you're going to sit here and tell me that Adam Gase, current day John Fox, almost-fired Chuck Pagano, and Mike Zimmer are better than Jason Garrett than I'm going to think that you wrote this with your feet.
Jason Garrett's Last Three Years Are Unparalleled
In 2014 Jason Garrett led the Dallas Cowboys to a 12-4 record with a quarterback (Tony Romo) who challenged for the league's Most Valuable Player Award and a running back (DeMarco Murray) that led the league in rushing.
In 2016 Jason Garrett led the Dallas Cowboys to a 13-3 record with a quarterback (you know, a rookie named Dak Prescott) who challenged for the league's Most Valuable Player Award and a running back (Ezekiel Elliott… also a rookie, no big deal) that led the league in rushing.
Jason Garrett did that in a span of three seasons! That's unreal! ADAM GASE?! SERIOUSLY?
This doesn't need to turn into a slight against other Head Coaches, because I like Adam Gase and Chuck Pagano. But I also have a brain, and it cannot comprehend the notion that anyone could possibly read Jason Garrett's resume and put him below either one of them or a handful of others.
Where Should Jason Garrett Rank Among NFL Head Coaches?
Jason Garrett has, through six seasons, only finished with a below .500 record once. Once! One is also the same amount of seasons that Adam Gase has been a Head Coach!
An argument can be made for Atlanta's Dan Quinn, Arizona's Bruce Arians, Carolina's Ron Rivera, and perhaps Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis to rightfully (and more importantly, logically) be ahead of Jason Garrett. This means that Jason Garrett is hovering right around the Top 10 mark across NFL Head Coaches, and he's certainly without a doubt part of the top half.
Apparently going 13-3 after losing your starting quarterback, left tackle, left guard, wide receiver, middle linebacker, cornerback, and a whole lot of other obstacles isn't enough to warrant top half consideration among your peers. Maybe if you do it with rookies you can… oh wait. This isn't even disrespect towards Jason Garrett, this is a flat out inability to measure things objectively against one another. Adam Gase!
