Troy Aikman criticizes dysfunctional way Dallas Cowboys handled Jason Garrett firing
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman says how the team handled the Jason Garrett firing was another example of the dysfunction within the organization.
Aikman, the Hall of Famer who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s and is now an analyst for Fox, has long been a critic of how owner Jerry Jones has run the franchise.
And he didn’t let up up Sunday during a phone interview on FOX 4, following the official firing of Garrett, seven days after the end of the 2019 season and two days after the team started interviewing potential replacements.
Former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis interviewed on Friday before former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy was brought on Sunday.
It wasn’t until early Sunday evening before the Cowboys finally announced Garrett’s departure.
“He committed everything he had to the organization and to doing the best job that he could,” Aikman said. “He made it a priority, and he committed himself. 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.
“When the organization was unwilling, for whatever reasons, and I don’t know the back stories to it all, but when the organization was unwilling to come out publicly and say that, ‘We are seeking a new coach,’ and yet at the same time, reports are coming out that they’re interviewing potential new candidates for the head coaching position, 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.”
The Cowboys have not reached the NFC Championship Game, much less the Super Bowl, since 1995 when Aikman led them to the last of their three titles in the 1990s. The Cowboys have won just four playoff games since.
Aikman doubts that things will change with a new coach if the Cowboys and Jones don’t change how they do things. He has no confidence that they will.
“I don’t know that anything will change,” Aikman said. “Nothing has changed up to this point. It’s been consistent. For someone like myself, it’s been frustrating for me and probably for the fans. You can’t change the head coach and expect things to be different when everything else is in place. It’s been the same ownership and same general manager. And yet the results have remained the same.
“I think they need to address how we are doing it, how can we do it differently, why are the results are the way they are and make the changes. Am I confident they will happen? Unfortunately, I am not. Up to this point those changes have not occurred.”
Aikman said he doesn’t know who they are looking at but he would kick the tires on the best coaches in football and see if they can get them to come to Dallas, which seems to hint at New England’s Bill Belichick and New Orleans Sean Payton, if not Alabama’s Nick Saban.
“If you are committed to winning, if you want to win and you are the Cowboys and you attract the greatest coaches then go kick the tires on the greatest coaches and see if you can get them and make a move to make that happen,” Aikman said.
Aikman hopes changes are made to make the Cowboys better for the fan base.
And of the two candidates who have interviewed, he said he was a huge fan of McCarthy.
“I love Mike McCarthy,” Aikman said. “His resume speaks for itself. It’s a good fit if you allow the coach to be the coach and be the voice. In Green Bay, he was the voice. He was the one people answered too. It’s up to the Jones family whether they are going to allow someone to be given the opportunity.”
