NFL: Is it Time for the Dallas Cowboys to Fire Jason Garrett?
What a miserable season it has been for the Dallas Cowboys. Tony Romo missed the majority of the season, they couldn't get any production from their backup quarterbacks, and the Cowboys defense always fell apart at the end of games.
After another missed playoff opportunity, many fans are pointing fingers towards head coach Jason Garrett. Garrett has been criticized for not being able to do more this season in such a terrible NFC East division, and his time management has never been among the elite. Although Romo did miss 12 games, multiple teams found ways to win without their starter this season such as the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos. The Texans won with four different starting quarterbacks this year.
Many fans call Garrett a "puppet" because he simply does whatever owner, president and general manager Jerry Jones want him to.
Garrett is now 45-43 since taking over as the Cowboys full-time head coach. Only once has he even finished the entire season with a winning record, and once has his team even made the playoffs. If you were take out the 2014-15 season, Garrett would be 33-39 as a head coach. If Garrett were to be released by the Cowboys, it's hard to imagine any team hiring him as a head coach.
If the Cowboys were serious about heading in a positive direction, this would certainly be the offseason to explore options. Numerous notable head coaches are available such as Lovie Smith and Mike Shanahan. As crazy as it may seem, free agent coach Chip Kelly had more success with the Philadelphia Eagles than Garrett has had with the Cowboys. Kelly did put together two 10-win seasons in just three years, something Garrett has failed to do even once in six years.
This is a tough situation for Jones. Does he want to give up power but win more games? Or does he want to keep the power and control but continue to lose? By keeping Garrett, Jones is choosing to go with the second option. He's kept that philosophy for over a decade now, and it's brought nothing but trouble. Jones has had miserable drafts, salary cap issues, and his franchise has just two playoff wins in the 21st century.
Does he want to bring in another Jimmy Johnson or just stick with a Garrett who does everything he says? All NFL reports have indicated that the Cowboys will in fact keep Garrett for at least another season, which is really unfortunate for Cowboys fans.
Jones isn't just keeping Garrett around so he has the ultimate power, but it's to prove to everyone he was right. Jones wants to prove everyone that he hired the right guy as head coach after Wade Phillips instead of searching elsewhere.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1