It's become the most popular refrain in sports for most of the last decade. No, it's not “How bout them Cowboys!!!” The Cowboys Nation battle cry of “Fire Garrett” has been exclaimed even as far back as his first full season as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Seriously. Go do a Twitter search of the 2011 season and see how many times people were ready to have security escort Jason Garrett out of his office with a box of his belongings.
“Fire Garrett” has become a battle cry for many fans of the Dallas Cowboys when anything goes wrong or even when the Dallas Cowboys don't put up enough style points in victories.
After the Dallas Cowboys disappointing 34-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the chorus was sung again as the Cowboys were slow to bounce back from the Amari Cooper drop-pick. That play took points off the board and set the Cowboys back for the rest of the first half. Once they finally found their rhythm in the third quarter, it was a little too late.
Dak Prescott and the offense finally got going on offense and the defense finally started making some stops, but they couldn't do enough in the second half to complete what could have been an epic comeback.
While many are hoping that this is the final season for Jason Garrett and you might be right, his ouster won't come any sooner than that.
Speaking to 105.3 The Fan in Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas Cowboys Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones was asked if the Cowboys could make a move at head coach during the season.
Jerry Jones was asked on @1053thefan if he'd like to dispel possibility Cowboys might fire Jason Garrett midseason, a scenario that can be betted upon. “Dispel it? Yes. Don't bet any money (on) that happening. You'll lose it.”
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 8, 2019
Now that's what you call a vote of confidence. Stephen Jones doubled-down on the notion that Jason Garrett was on some proverbial hot seat in the midst of a two-game losing streak.
Cowboys VP Stephen Jones said on @1053thefan that Jason Garrett is “absolutely not” on the hot seat. “He's done a great job with this team. As you saw yesterday, he had this team playing hard when on a lot of teams that game could've gotten real ugly when it was (31-3).”
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 7, 2019
It's been long known that Jerry Jones wants Jason Garrett to be his Tom Landry. A head coach that could be around the Cowboys for two to three decades. The Cowboys haven't had a ton of success in Garrett's first eight years as the head coach, but it took Tom Landry seven years to reach a conference championship game, 11 years to reach the Super Bowl, and 12 years to win a Super Bowl. Landry's best finish his first six years with the Dallas Cowboys was 7-7, in year six. His record the first six years of his coaching career with the Cowboys was 20-53-4.
In today's NFL, that kind of track record would have had Tom Landry fired from two different coaching positions by year six.
By way of coaching on the final year of his contract, the questions of Jason Garrett's status as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys will continue to come up. Just like the contracts of Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper. When the future is unknown beyond the current season, everyone is searching for answers as to what's to become of the head coach.
All offseason, we've heard how important it was for the Dallas Cowboys to take the next step. Jerry and Stephen Jones believe that Jason Garrett is the man to lead them on a deep run in the playoffs. However, by not signing him to a contract extension after a season where they made the playoffs and advanced to the divisional round against the Rams, the Dallas Cowboys pretty much put Jason Garrett on a season-long hot seat. They want to see it.
As InsideTheStar.com Senior Writer Jess Haynie put it on Monday:
“I know some of you will roll your eyes at the idea of Jerry Jones ever turning on his handpicked “puppet,” but the fact that Garrett doesn't already have a contract extension is a sign of potential change. Make no mistake, the Joneses are as tired of mediocrity as you are.”
We won't know what the long-term plans are for the Dallas Cowboys at head coach until after the season, but it's evident that nothing is going to change while the Dallas Cowboys still have games to play in 2019. Jason Garrett has 11 games — and hopefully 14-15 more — to prove he's the long-term answer at head coach for the Dallas Cowboys.
Jason Garrett is Jerry's guy. Jerry hoping like crazy that his guy proves him right.
