Saban defends Jason Garrett’s coaching job with Cowboys this season

Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett frequently references “the process” required to properly build a team, a core belief he incorporated from two seasons spent on the staff of then-Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban.

Saban, now the coach at Alabama, offered praise Tuesday for Garrett, his former quarterbacks coach, despite the Cowboys’ 4-11 record this season. Alabama faces Michigan on Thursday in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium.

Saban, who has led No. 2 Alabama (12-1) to three national championships in the past six seasons, called Garrett “a really, really good coach” and “an outstanding person” during the one-hour session at the Cowboys’ home stadium.

Saban also shared his definition of “the process” and reflected on his decision to hire Garrett over more qualified candidates to oversee the Dolphins’ quarterbacks heading into the 2005 season. In 2004, Garrett played his last of 14 NFL seasons as a backup quarterback for the Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Because Garrett had no coaching experience at the time, Saban said he “fought it” when other assistants lobbied for him to discuss the vacancy with Garrett. Chief among the Garrett proponents: Scott Linehan, Saban’s offensive coordinator at the time and Garrett’s current offensive coordinator with the Cowboys.

“Everybody kept saying, ‘You’ve got to interview Jason Garrett,’ ” Saban said. “He hadn’t even coached. He just got finished playing. I didn’t really want to do it. I fought it. So, finally, we were at the Senior Bowl and Jason happened to be there. And I said, ‘OK, I’ll talk to the guy.’ ”

At that point, Saban estimated he had discussed the vacancy with 10 candidates, most of whom had experience coaching at the NFL level. What happened next changed the career path for the Cowboys’ coach.

“I talked to Jason Garrett for about five minutes and I knew that this is the right guy to do this job,” Saban said. “I couldn’t believe the level of intelligence, the understanding that he had of what it took to help develop a quarterback and the fundamental understanding that he had from the good coaches that he had as a player. Being a smart guy, he took all of those things with him ... It does not surprise me that he has done a good job here as a head coach.”

Saban said that includes this season, when the Cowboys have played most of their games without injured starting quarterback Tony Romo.

“I know there’s lots of people disappointed in the [Cowboys’] season this year. But when you lose a quarterback, especially in the NFL with the salary cap and all that, it’s hard to have a plan for the next guy coming in and not missing a beat,” Saban said. “So I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for Jason Garrett, the person as well as the coach and the teacher. And the professional that he is.”

As for “the process” required to build a football team, Saban said: “The process to me is just that you have a vision and a goal for what you want to do. You clearly define the things you need to do to be able to accomplish that goal. And you have to have the discipline to execute it every day and not be affected by external factors.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Saban defends Jason Garrett’s coaching job with Cowboys this season."