And awaaaay we go …
The Cowboys haven’t held their first training camp practice in Oxnard and already Jerry Jones has told he first fib.
“In terms of the record this team, this is not a make-or-break situation for Jason (Garrett) and members of this staff,” the owner said Wednesday afternoon in his annual state-of-the-union address.
Raise your hand if you believe that one.
Didn’t think so.
Garrett enters the final year of his contract with a 29-27 record, three consecutive 8-8 seasons and exactly zero playoff appearances despite coaching in the prime years of Tony Romo, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware and being given an abundance of young talent in Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Sean Lee, Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray and Tyron Smith.
Only eight of the 90 players on the current roster are holdovers from Wade Phillips’ team. Garrett has changed players, tweaked systems and improved the culture of accountability at Valley Ranch.
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But, let’s face it, he hasn’t done enough. He hasn’t won. He hasn't made enough progress, if any.
Despite what Jones says, if the Cowboys don’t make the playoffs in 2014 Garrett will be fired as head coach. And should be.
“I know firsthand that we've got a relationship, that I have a relationship with Jason and there's nobody that has a better feel for me than Jason, in terms of the relationship,” Jones explained. “We both know where our expectations are and when it's looking good and when it's looking dire. And I don't expect it to be the latter.”
You didn’t expect the owner to kick-off training camp with a win-or-else ultimatum for his head coach. Because he didn’t have to.
Regardless of the rhetoric, we all know Jason Garrett is coaching for his job.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
