‘It shines a light on some of the dysfunction.’ Troy Aikman rips Jerry over Garrett saga
Troy Aikman is at it again.
The Hall of Fame quarterback and FOX analyst doesn’t like how Jason Garrett’s firing was handled by the Dallas Cowboys.
“I’m disappointed, on a lot of levels, at the way it all unfolded after the season ended,” Aikman said on was on KDFW/Ch. 4’s “Free 4 All” Sunday night. “Breakups are always hard, we all understand that at whatever level that they occur, but I don’t know that after all that he gave and committed to this organization, that he received the same in return.”
Specifically, Aikman cited the fact that reports surfaced about candidates to replace Garrett being interviewed days before the club made it’s official announcement in an emailed press release known at 5:47 p.m. Sunday.
“That’s disappointing. I think in a lot of ways it shines a light on some of the dysfunction, if you will, within the organization and kind of how they got to the point that they’re in now,” he said.
Aikman, who hasn’t shied away from critiquing Garrett while calling a game for FOX, said he was “disappointed for a really good friend.”
“I understand it’s a business. It’s a great game but it’s a brutal business,” he said. “I hope that changes are made to make the Cowboys better for our fan base and for the people who are really committed to this organization.”
As he said last week and countless times before, Aikman isn’t convinced a new coach will alter anything for the Cowboys with the current power structure under Jones.
“I don’t know that anything will change. Nothing has changed up to this point, it’s been pretty consistent. I think for someone like myself that’s been kind of the frustration and probably for a lot of fans,” he said. “You can’t just simply change the head coach and expect things to be different when everything else is in place. That’s not the way it works in a lot of other organizations because there’s a lot of movement. Things are very fluid within a lot of other organizations. But within this one, it hasn’t been that way. It’s been the same ownership, the same general manager and yet the results, for the most part, have remained the same. I’m hopeful for our fans. They invest a lot. I think they expect a lot, which they should. All fans should. This is very important to all of those people.”
Aikman called for Jones to reassess how he operates the team.
“I think the organization needs to address how are we doing it? How can we do it differently? Why are the results the way that they are,” he said. “And make the necessary changes. Am I confident that will happen? No, unfortunately I’m not, because up to this point those changes haven’t occurred.”
Aikman said he’d go after the best coaches in the world if he was running the team. He didn’t mention any names, but the Patriots’ Bill Belichick, Alabama’s Nick Saban and former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer are likely to be among the three names he’s referring to.
“I know who I would look at. If you’re truly committed to winning, if you’re the Dallas Cowboys and you attract the greatest coaches there are, then go kick the tires and see if you can get them,” he said. “And make a move to make that happen. We’ll see.”
