BALTIMORE — Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and GM Ozzie Newsome likely will have a warm greeting for Jason Garrett should they run into the Cowboys coach before today's game.
But when Bisciotti and Newsome are alone? Don't they turn to each other and say something else? Something like, “What were we thinking?”
That's how far Garrett's star has fallen since those heady days in January 2008 when it seemed like every team with a coaching vacancy, including the Ravens, wanted him.
After Garrett had a second interview in Baltimore, ESPN.com cited a league source as saying there was a “60-40” chance Garrett would seize the chance to succeed Brian Billick, who Bisciotti fired after the 2007 season.
Garrett was red hot then. As the Cowboys' offensive coordinator, he presided over a unit that finished 2007 second in the league in scoring and third in total yards.
Garrett ultimately stayed with Dallas after receiving a hefty raise from Jerry Jones and became interim coach after the owner fired Wade Phillips midway through the 2010 season.
“It was a great experience,” Garrett said of interviewing with the Ravens. “They do things the right way. I was very impressed.”
“Impressed” wasn't a word the Ravens used when they faced Garrett late in 2008. Before the contest, then-Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan fired up his troops by reminding them Garrett turned down a chance to coach the Ravens because, as Ryan later wrote in a book, he didn't believe in their character.
Baltimore went on to win that game — the last one at Texas Stadium — 33-24. Afterward Ray Lewis suggested Garrett's play-calling was predictable. Then in January 2009, Ed Reed called Garrett's game plan “real simple” in an interview with Dallas' KRLD-FM.
“I thought it would be more complicated,” Reed said. “We knew (the plays). Looking at these coaches' openings and talking about a certain someone from Dallas, I'm like, ‘Hold on now.'”
Four years later, Garrett arrives in Baltimore under fire again. Dallas is either at the bottom of the NFL or near it in several offensive categories.
“They're up and down,” Lewis said. “I'm not saying nothing they're not going through themselves.”
Granted, even an offensive genius like the late Bill Walsh would have struggled shackled with a line as shaky as the one Garrett has to work with. But that doesn't excuse his predictable play-calling, which other defenders have cited after beating Dallas.
So would Jones ever relieve Garrett of his play-calling duties?
“I like the coach being a coordinator, preferably the offensive coordinator,” Jones said recently. “But when you do that, you're going to get in down times and have people say, ‘They've got too much on their plate.' Jason has a huge capacity to cover a lot of ground, so if anybody can do it, he can.”
And Bisciotti? With Baltimore possessing a coach in John Harbaugh who has guided it to a playoff berth each season, doesn't he turn to Newsome and say, “What were we thinking?”
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...ce-days-when-Ravens-3945909.php#ixzz29HHPq9g6
But when Bisciotti and Newsome are alone? Don't they turn to each other and say something else? Something like, “What were we thinking?”
That's how far Garrett's star has fallen since those heady days in January 2008 when it seemed like every team with a coaching vacancy, including the Ravens, wanted him.
After Garrett had a second interview in Baltimore, ESPN.com cited a league source as saying there was a “60-40” chance Garrett would seize the chance to succeed Brian Billick, who Bisciotti fired after the 2007 season.
Garrett was red hot then. As the Cowboys' offensive coordinator, he presided over a unit that finished 2007 second in the league in scoring and third in total yards.
Garrett ultimately stayed with Dallas after receiving a hefty raise from Jerry Jones and became interim coach after the owner fired Wade Phillips midway through the 2010 season.
“It was a great experience,” Garrett said of interviewing with the Ravens. “They do things the right way. I was very impressed.”
“Impressed” wasn't a word the Ravens used when they faced Garrett late in 2008. Before the contest, then-Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan fired up his troops by reminding them Garrett turned down a chance to coach the Ravens because, as Ryan later wrote in a book, he didn't believe in their character.
Baltimore went on to win that game — the last one at Texas Stadium — 33-24. Afterward Ray Lewis suggested Garrett's play-calling was predictable. Then in January 2009, Ed Reed called Garrett's game plan “real simple” in an interview with Dallas' KRLD-FM.
“I thought it would be more complicated,” Reed said. “We knew (the plays). Looking at these coaches' openings and talking about a certain someone from Dallas, I'm like, ‘Hold on now.'”
Four years later, Garrett arrives in Baltimore under fire again. Dallas is either at the bottom of the NFL or near it in several offensive categories.
“They're up and down,” Lewis said. “I'm not saying nothing they're not going through themselves.”
Granted, even an offensive genius like the late Bill Walsh would have struggled shackled with a line as shaky as the one Garrett has to work with. But that doesn't excuse his predictable play-calling, which other defenders have cited after beating Dallas.
So would Jones ever relieve Garrett of his play-calling duties?
“I like the coach being a coordinator, preferably the offensive coordinator,” Jones said recently. “But when you do that, you're going to get in down times and have people say, ‘They've got too much on their plate.' Jason has a huge capacity to cover a lot of ground, so if anybody can do it, he can.”
And Bisciotti? With Baltimore possessing a coach in John Harbaugh who has guided it to a playoff berth each season, doesn't he turn to Newsome and say, “What were we thinking?”
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...ce-days-when-Ravens-3945909.php#ixzz29HHPq9g6
