Jerry Jones says relieving Jason Garrett of play-calling duties will make Cowboys better

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By Carlos Mendez

MOBILE, Ala. -- Now that the Cowboys have missed the playoffs two years in a row with Jason Garrett as the play-calling head coach, Jerry Jones is going to try Garrett as a "walk-around" head coach.

The Cowboys owner said Tuesday at the Senior Bowl that allowing Garrett to focus on the big picture would be "a step in a better direction" for him and the team.

"It's not a step back for the Cowboys or a step back for him individually to change the way we basically are putting our game plan together or we're calling the plays on the offensive side of the ball," Jones said. "As you well know, differences of opinion, frankly, can be a step in a better direction."

Jones said he hired Garrett to be a play-calling offensive coordinator and wanted him to keep the play-calling duties when he was elevated to head coach. But he said the Cowboys had to change after two disappointing seasons.

"I'm basically assessing the fact that after two and a half seasons with Jason as head coach, we need to do some things differently," Jones said. "We are not, and I know our fans are not, I'm not, Jason is not, we're not at all satisfied with the fact that we've been 8-8 two seasons in a row when given a different set of circumstances, we might have done better.

"What we are is what we are. But the reason I'm doing it and basically saying 'OK, let's go differently' is because I think this will give us, with what we have in place right now, the best chance to get to the playoffs and be where we want to go immediately."

Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Callahan appears to be the choice for play-caller, although Jones did not say so specifically.

But Garrett said he would be comfortable with Callahan, a Super Bowl head coach with the Raiders, in that role.

Jones said, "We've got, and are getting, coaches that will allow us in all phases of the game to have Jason's skill and benefit, if we go in that direction, to be more focused on every aspect of the team."

Jones said Callahan's background strengths in the West Coast offense would come through.

"If Bill Callahan has more influence -- which let's make that assumption for this answer -- if he does, then you will see more of the things that have worked for him in his coaching career," Jones said. "You expect that. That'll be a plus for us."

Garrett said he is more than willing to be a supervisory head coach and that he has never said "come hell or high water" he would have to be the play-caller.

"That's never been a mentality that I have," he said. "The mentality I have is what's best for our football team. ... We've concluded that it's a good thing for us to do it the way we've been doing."

But it is a marked turnaround for Garrett and the Cowboys.

The day after the season-ending loss at Washington, Garrett was asked again about continuing to be the play-caller and said, "I would certainly anticipate the status quo from that standpoint."

Additionally, he said, "Tony Romo is very comfortable" in the way the Cowboys do things. But later that week, on his television show, Garrett said he would be open to anything that would make the Cowboys better.

On Tuesday, he said he has seen the benefits and drawbacks of being a play-calling head coach.

"Obviously, my role as the head coach, if I'm not the play-caller, will be significant," he said. "It also gives you an opportunity to step back a little bit and really get yourself engaged in the other two aspects of the team.

"And I've always tried to do that. I've always sat in on defensive meetings. I've always had good communication with other coaches. When you remove yourself a little bit more from one side of the ball or the other, that opportunity to do that is even greater."

Jones said such a move would allow Garrett to be a more effective game manager. Garrett came under criticism in 2011 for how he handled the ending of a game at Arizona and in 2012 for the ending of a game at Baltimore.

"In the case of being involved in the game, he'll be able to make the decisions that he's making, that he's been making, with more focus on the overall game and the circumstances within the game," Jones said. "The advantages of a walk-around head coach, one who doesn't specifically spend every day making game plans and doing that, are that they can spend more time looking at the overall picture, not only on game day, but as we look throughout a week on a game week or as we look throughout a season."

Garrett said Jones has always wanted him to call plays and that there has never been any reason to change before now.

"We've gone back and had long discussions about the pros and cons," Garrett said. "Because at different stages, when we've had to make those decisions, things have been pretty good on offense. We said, 'Well, it's in our best interest to keep doing it that way.'"

But now that has changed.

"To look at a different approach to what we're doing on the offensive side of the ball has the given that it's going to become different to what Jason has been doing on the other parts of the team, which is what we're trying to gain -- his input and supervision of those areas as well," Jones said.

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