Jerry Jones on Jason Garrett’s communication style. ‘He doesn’t have near the BS I have.’
It’s no secret that Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has a strong relationship with head coach Jason Garrett.
How else to explain Garrett’s near decade-long tenure running the team, despite any real postseason success?
Even with the Cowboys struggling in 2019 and Garrett’s future as head coach seemingly precarious, Jones continues to defend him. In fact, Jones takes issue with one of the most mocked aspects of Garrett’s coaching style: His bland responses to the media.
“Jason’s outstanding quality is his ability to communicate,” Jones said on his radio show on KRLD/105.3 “The Fan.” “It is actually surprising to me that he has critics that basically have issue with his seemingly scripted messages. But he also believes in repetition as most coaches do. And he wants to make those points first and foremost, and those are the points that it takes to affect the winning of a football game.”
Jones said that’s why we hear Garrett say the same things over and over.
“But make mistake about it: Jason spoke to our owners this past spring and you could have heard a pin drop. It was eloquent. These weren’t prepared notes,” Jones said. “He has very, very good communication skills and really when he’s up there close you’ll find him to be very genuine in how he approaches things, very thoughtful.”
That’s true. Garrett is much more candid — much more human-like — when he’s talking to reporters off-camera. He’s always friendly, never ruffled and seldom takes issue with a question. And if he does, he always treats reporters professionally.
“This comes across in his relationships,” said Jones, who compared Garrett’s style to Barry Switzer and Bill Parcells. “I see those communications skills in Jason, and, of course, you get better at that as you move along.”
Jones was asked if Garrett would be better served being more candid and less robot-like in his press conferences.
“I don’t know how to do that,” he said. “The real difference between me and Jason Garrett is he doesn’t have near the BS that I have. That’s a plus when you get to thinking about it. He covers a lot of ground in short periods of time, and I think that’s a plus especially when you’re addressing and communicating with a team and directing a team.”
