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Caban
Sports Column
This column comes with a warning: I’m stepping onto my soapbox and the Dallas Cowboys are in my crosshairs.
I should say that my ire is most aimed at the folks running the show both management and one coach rather than the players themselves. As an aside, I tend to side with the players during labor disputes, etc., but that is a topic for another day.
Since at least Thanksgiving, when the Cowboys lost 26-15 to the Buffalo Bills and if not since their 24-22 loss to the New York Jets, it seemed that everyone knew changes were coming at the end of the season. Particularly, there would be a change in the position of head coach.
After multiple years of watching a talented or at least better than average team fail to meet expectations, we all knew that owner/general manager Jerry Jones and his son, Stephen Jones, executive vice president, CEO, and director of player personnel would simply make the change.
Well, the Cowboys won their final game of the 2019 campaign 47-16 over the Washington Redskins on Dec. 29 to finish the season 8-8 and just shy of the playoffs. So, since we all knew Garrett was about to be out of the job, the announcement came quickly, right?
Wrong. Rather than the NFL’s long-standing tradition of canning coaches on Black Monday (the day after the regular season ends), the Cowboys let Garrett twist in the wind until Jan. 5.
Now I will point out that there have multiple reports that Garrett was told his fate as early as Dec. 30 or Dec. 31 and he was refusing to simply accept his firing and leave.
If this was the case, I have a little sympathy for a guy being shown the door from a team he’s been employed by for roughly 20 years.
But Jerry and Stephen being thought it would be fine to interview two other head coaching candidates before even annoucing they had let Garrett go.
While that happens in the business world, the process was littered with leaks and a general sense of chaos. At the end of the day, it feel less than dignified for “America’s Team.” Maybe next time they can save everyone a headache and be upfront from the start.