Jason Garrett reacts: ‘I want to be coach of the Dallas Cowboys. We will see what happens.’
The Jason Garrett Era may have come to a close Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
The Dallas Cowboys closed out the season with a dominating 47-16 win over the Washington Redskins. They didn’t make the playoffs after finishing 8-8, one game behind the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s the fourth time in nine full seasons with Dallas that Garrett finished 8-8. He’s 85-67 overall with the Cowboys and just three playoff berths in nine seasons.
Garrett reacted to what could be his last game as coach of the Cowboys during his post-game press conference. Here’s excerpts provided by the team’s transcription service:
On dominating game start to finish and how disappointing is it to not make the playoffs
“It was disappointing, it was out of our hands. The biggest thing we talked about all week long, was to control what we can control. It was going to be our preparation on how we played. The guys were unbelievable this week. We had one of those practices on Christmas afternoon. We came in at 12:30 pm and had one of the best practices in my life as a player and a coach in the National Football League. It was a spirit of energy and juice to our guys that was so reflective of who they are. Of personal character, of football character, and it was one of those days where we typically practice at 11:15 am, and we practiced later in the day, 3:45 pm until 5:30 pm. Some sitting in the field a little different way and it was getting dark in the end and we had compete periods and drive start periods at the end. It was a little like we were kids, next touchdown wins type of thing. It was getting dark, and just the spirit and the energy of the guys was off the charts and that set the tone for us all week long. They did a hell of a job on Thursday and Friday, preparing to play this game. Again, we had to control what we can control. That was our preparation on how we played and I am so damn proud of how these guys and how we played today.”
On if he got emotional once finding out they weren’t going to make the playoffs that this may be his last game with this franchise
“I think the biggest thing for me was to focus at the task at hand. Again, today was all about control what we control as players and coaches, and to go put a great effort out there. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, we all recognize that. But, the spirit and the energy and the determination, it was off the charts. The character the men showed; we challenged everyone last night to stand tall through success and to stand tall through adversity, and our guys did that. I’m so proud to be part of this football team.”
On why he thinks this team went 8-8
“Obviously we didn’t play consistently well enough. I thought we played well at different times, within games I thought we weren’t consistent enough. Week to week we weren’t consistent enough. Last year we did a really good job winning a ton of close games. We did not win those close games this year and we didn’t do what we needed to do in critical moments in those games, and this is literally what this league comes down to.”
On his thoughts about his job and where he is
“Again, we just had a hell of a day with our football team, an emotional locker room afterwards. You want to live in those moments and you want to embrace those moments. It’s a special group of men that I got to be around to coach and to coach with, and I’m just so proud of what our team did today. We’ll think about what’s next at some point, but again just want to soak in the day and devour the moment and the emotions of the day, and again I’m so proud of our football team.”
On did he get disappointed that he saw that spirit at practice Christmas day or did he see plenty of those throughout the season
“Our team comes to work. They love to play football, they love and care about each other. That was not unique. That was not unique at all, that is how we go about doing things. The circumstances were unique. We had a disappointing loss last week. On Christmas, Christmas eve, Christmas day, sometimes it’s hard to get those guys going, in those kinds of situations, but they came in and showed what they were all about and their preparation from 12:30 pm on Wednesday to the final whistle was off the charts. I’m real proud of our guys, real proud of what they are all about, they are grown men and inspirational to me.”
On if he was getting updates on what was going on in New York
“I saw a score 17-17 and I didn’t see anything after that.”
On the seriousness of Tank Lawrence’s back
“It was obviously serious enough for him to not finish the game. I will find out more tomorrow on what that is. He seemed to be okay afterwards.”
On Michael Gallup’s three touchdowns and his impact in the game
“It was outstanding, to the point the officials were coming up to me asking is that the same guy? I said ‘yea.’ He makes a great play in the corner of the end zone, makes the acrobatic run after the catch in front of us to get in the end zone and the play at the end, when they played cover zero, fight for the contact and the make that play. He’s one of those guys that just goes about it the right way. He’s still a young player but gets better and better with every opportunity he gets. Again, he’s got a bright, bright future.”
On what his message to the guys was after the game
“Just so proud to be part of this football team. We talked about standing tall. I had a really great high school football coach, his name was Cliff Foust. He was kind of a legendary coach in northeast Ohio. My senior year I was playing quarterback, he was more of a defensive guy and he wanted to coach the quarterback, so he coached me and coached me as hard as anyone has coached me in my life and the big thing was get back, get back, get back, stand tall, stand tall, stand tall. At the time, I needed to get in the line of the scrimmage faster and better and probably played too low and he wanted me to stand up a little bit higher. It wasn’t until years later when I realized what he was talking about when he was saying stand tall. Stand tall through the successes in life, stand tall through the adversities in life and I got a great letter from him over the last 25 years. Good things were happening and maybe some challenging things were happening, and he always concluded the letter with stand tall, Coach. I shared that with our guys last night, and it challenged them to stand tall. Stand tall through successes in life and stand tall through the adversities. Get your shoulders back, get your eyes forward and go represent yourself the right way. Represent your family the right way, your coaches the right way, your teammates the right way. Our guys did that today and I’m so proud of being part of this group. I shared that with them. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t easy to get through, it was emotional, but again so proud to be a part of this team.”
On if he feels he has stood tall through these nine years
“I strive to do it every day, I strive to do it every day of my life.”
On does he feel he has more coaching to do in this league
“Absolutely.”
On how much he wants to be the coach of the Cowboys in 2020
“I want to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. We will see what happens.”
On does he think he will be the coach of the Cowboys
“I have no idea.”
On Dak’s performance today
“Off the charts, off the charts. People ask me all about Dak in all walks of life. I say ‘if he weren’t such a good football player, hire him.’ Whatever your business is, hire him, and make him the first hire, because he’s just a rare, he’s a rare human being. His leadership, his physical toughness, his mental toughness, the way he connects with people makes everybody around him better. It’s just contagious, and he’s an inspirational guy to be around every single day. It’s one of the things I might be most grateful for, to be around guys like that. He’s just getting started. He’s going to be a hell of a football player in this league for a long time. The last couple of weeks have demonstrated that. His performance was off the charts.”
On if Dak’s 23-yard run was emblematic of what he stated above
“He’s just ridiculous in terms of his physical toughness, mental toughness, his commitment, his will, his determination, his drive, he’s just a unique individual. Again, he’s just one of those guys, it happens over and over again, where we say ‘Did you see? Did you just see what he just did?’ Last week, he was lowering a shoulder trying to get a first down in Philly. Doing it again today. He’s an unbelievable football player and he’s a better person and he’s going to be a great player in the league for a long, long time.”
On if he shared a moment with Jason Witten, as he made a comment he will make a decision soon about his future
“We had a good hug in the locker room afterwards. Witt’s a special, special guy.”
On what is the process once the season has concluded. What does the Monday after look like and so on
“We have exit physicals tomorrow at 8 a.m. and we will hold a team meeting at noon. We have a lot of different conversations and will touch base with a lot of our players individually in the course of tomorrow and the next couple of days as best we can. We’ll have conversations with coaches and upper management and everybody in the next 48 hours.”
On if there is anything planned yet with Stephen, Jerry and him
“No.”
