Garrett Says He Never Thought Much About His Contract Last Year

This time last year, Jason Garrett was preparing to enter the 2014 season as a so-called lame duck head coach--a coach without a contract beyond the current year. That season went well, of course, as Garrett led the Cowboys to a 12-4 record, their first NFC East Championship since 2009 and a playoff win, and was rewarded with a new, five-year deal after the season.

But to this day, Garrett insists he never paid much mind to his contract situation last year, in good  times or bad--which, if true, is a case of Garrett practicing what he so often preaches.

“A big part of the culture we talk about is controlling what we can control,” Garrett said, per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “I can honestly say to you that I never really thought very much about that. What I do every day is I wake up and try to do everything I can to build the kind of football team that we all can be proud of.

“We try to instill that mentality in our coaches and our players. That’s how we think. Try to control what we can control, don’t worry about what people are saying on the outside, just do what we can do to the best of our ability every day. That’s really the way I live.”