Jason Garrett’s departure was inevitable. The Dallas Cowboys just made it official.
Jason Garrett’s time as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys has finally come to an end.
After days of post-season meetings and speculation, the team announced on Sunday that they were moving on from Garrett following nine largely-mediocre and unfulfilling seasons.
Garrett won three NFC East titles but is mostly known for four 8-8 finishes, ranking second most for a coach in NFL history behind Jeff Fisher’s five. Garrett missed the playoffs in six of the nine full seasons he led the team.
The fact that the Cowboys finished 8-8 in 2019 is a fitting end for Garrett’s tenure. The team, once again, entered a season with a legitimate belief that it could capture its first Super Bowl title since 1995.
And with Garrett in the final year of his second contract the view was that an NFC Championship Game appearance would be the minimum level of success needed to earn another contract extension.
The Cowboys harbored expectations of being a Super Bowl team in 2019, following a season in which they finished 10-6, won the NFC East and a wild card game before losing in the divisional round to the Los Angeles Rams.
Owner Jerry Jones threw money behind his expectations with contract extensions for running back Ezekiel Elliott, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, linebacker Jaylon Smith and tackle La’el Collins as well the free-agent acquisition of defensive end Robert Quinn and a mid-season trade for defensive tackle Michael Bennett.
But a 3-0 start was followed by losses in eight of the next 12 games, a run that included two three-game losing streaks.
The Cowboys only beat one team with a winning record -- a 44-21 thrashing of the then 8-5 Rams on Dec. 15 -- and lost all eight games in which they trailed halftime.
The lowest points were a 24-22 loss to the then 0-4 New York Jets in Week 6, a frustrating 28-24 home loss to Minnesota Vikings in Week 9 and a 17-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16, with a chance to clinch the NFC East title on the line.
Despite beating the Washington Redskins in season finale, the Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs when the Eagles beat the New York Giants the same day.
Garrett finished with a 85-67 record in nine years as Cowboys coach. He is the second-longest tenured in franchise history and finished with the second-most wins. Garrett trails legendary Hall of Famer Tom Landry in both categories. Landry was 250-162-6 from 1960-1988.
Landry was also the first coach fired by Jones when he bought the team in 1989. Garrett is the seventh-coaching change made by Jones since. The team’s previous head coaches were Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells and Wade Phillips.
Garrett was named interim coach midway through the 2010 season, replacing Phillips after the Cowboys started 1-7. The move helped spark the team to a 5-3 mark in the second half of the season, and a 6-10 record overall.
He was rewarded by being promoted to full-time coach in 2011, but that began a string of three straight 8-8 finishes, losing in the last game every season to a NFC East division rivals Giants, Redskins and Eagles and missing the playoffs all three seasons.
Garrett entered the 2014 campaign with his contract set to expire at the end of the season. The Cowboys went 12-4 and won the NFC East for the first time under Garrett. In the playoffs, Garrett secured his first postseason victory with a 24-20 defeat of the Detroit Lions in an NFC Wild Card Game, but the team was eliminated in the next round with a 26-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Despite the loss, Garrett was given a five-year, $30-million contract extension after the season.
In 2016, the Cowboys had their best season under Garrett -- the No. 1 seed in the NFC, a 13-3 record, and the franchise’s best since 2007 -- but the team was once again bounced from the playoffs by the Packers, 34-31, in the divisional round.
Similar to 2014, Garrett entered 2019 facing an expiring contract at season’s end. But there was no happy ending this time as the Cowboys finished 8-8 and were eliminated from the playoffs in the season finale.
Instead, Jones is now looking to hire his eighth coach.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 3:16 AM.
