So-so season for Cowboys could mean so long for Garrett

When the Dallas Cowboys land at Point Mugu Naval Air Station on Tuesday afternoon and deplane the team charter, signaling their arrival in Oxnard, Calif., for the start of the 2014 season, they should all take a selfie.

Capture the moment. Tweet it. Put it on Instagram. Snapchat. Facebook.

Whatever your social media pleasure.

For many Cowboys, it might be the first day of their final season with the franchise.

It all starts in camp and will carry through the 2014 campaign. But if the outcome and results are not a stark improvement over recent years, many important figures shall not walk this way again.

No. 1 on the hit list is coach Jason Garrett and his staff.

Garrett is likeable. He certainly has the right bloodlines and the backing of owner Jerry Jones.

But it’s time for the “process” to be over.

Results are what matter now.

A 29-27 record, three consecutive 8-8 seasons, and out of playoffs is not what Jones had in mind when he fired Wade Phillips and promoted Garrett midway through the 2010 season.

They were supposed to get better under Garrett, not worse. Phillips gladly pointed this out in a tweet in March: “Jason Garrett is tied with Wade Phillips for 56 games as the @dallascowboys head coach. Phillips: 34-22; Garrett: 29-27. #suprisesMe”

Phillips tried to distance himself from the negative comment, saying in a subsequent tweet that he was surprised that the two had coached the same number of games with the Cowboys. That Phillips has a much better record, including two division titles and the franchise’s only playoff win in the past 17 years through the same number of games is a downright stunner to Jones.

Garrett is heading to camp in the final year of his contract. He won’t get a new one, thus a return to Oxnard next year, minus a trip to the postseason and possibly a playoff win.

The list of players who could follow Garrett out the door include:

Romo turned 34 in April, has had back surgery the past two years, and has yet to lead the Cowboys deep into the playoffs. Another so-so season and he might be preparing to work for his fourth head coach, who might be looking in a new direction.

All of this is at stake when the Cowboys arrive in Oxnard on Tuesday.

They can write their own story, happy ending and all, based on what they do in training camp and during the 2014 season.

What can’t be disputed is that a rough draft is already in place.

But first, let them take a selfie.

This story was originally published July 21, 2014 at 8:28 PM with the headline "So-so season for Cowboys could mean so long for Garrett."