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Get to know Jason Garrett, the Dallas Cowboys' new head coach
02:41 PM CST on Thursday, January 6, 2011
SportsDayDFW.com
Jason Garrett — a quick biography
Name: Jason Calvin Garrett
Age: 44
Wife: Brill Aldridge
Family: Father James W. Garrett; mother Jane Lentz; brothers Jim, John, Judd; sisters Jane, Jennifer, Janine, Jill.
The fast track
Garrett’s star has been on the rise since he began his NFL coaching career with Miami in 2005.
Scott Linehan was so impressed with Garrett that he hired him as Miami’s quarterback coach 10 hours after meeting him. When Linehan became head coach in St. Louis he tried to bring Garrett along as his offensive coordinator.
Nick Saban wanted Garrett to follow him from the Dolphins to Alabama . Butch Davis wanted him at North Carolina and Les Miles tried to entice him to LSU. Norv Turner tried to get Garrett on his staff when he was in Oakland and Sean Payton wanted to hire him in New Orleans.
When Dave Campo was the Cowboys head coach he made a run at Garrett in 2000, but the quarterback wasn’t ready to walk away from his playing career.
Garrett was hired as the Cowboys offensive coordinator in ’07 before head coach Wade Phillips was in place. Miami didn’t want to let him go. Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga allowed the Cowboys to talk to Garrett on the condition that if he was hired he would call the plays.
He has interviewed for the head coaching jobs in Baltimore, Atlanta and St. Louis in his brief time with the Cowboys.
Now, he’s poised to have the interim tag removed and become their head coach.
Offensive influences
Garrett said his father Jim, a long-time scout with the Cowboys who is now retired, has been the greatest influence on how he thinks. But others have helped form his offensive philosophy.
Norv Turner. Ernie Zampese. Chan Gailey . Sean Payton. Jim Fassel. Jon Gruden. Scott Linehan. Mike Mularkey. Garrett has played or worked under some of the finest offensive minds in today’s game.
You can see elements of Turner’s timing-based passing game in the Cowboys offense. The base package is similar to what the team ran in the early 1990s. But it also incorporates the running game that developed under Tony Sparano when he was an assistant coach with the Cowboys.
Offensive systems and schemes don’t change in Garrett’s playbook as much as they evolve and grow. The most important question he asks is how does the system fit the current talent? If you don’t make the scheme work with the talent in hand, Garrett believes, “all you have are words on a piece of paper.’’
Timeline
March 28, 1966:
Born in Abington, Pa.
1984
Graduated from University School, a prep school in Hunting Valley, Ohio for one year. Lettered in football, basketball and baseball. All-league honors as quarterback and safety.
1985
He and brothers John and Judd transferred from Princeton to Columbia where his father coached. They transferred back to Princeton when his father resigned after Columbia’s 0-10 season.
1987-88
Completed 366 of 550 passes (66.5%) for 4,274 yards and 20 touchdowns, and selected Ivy League Player of the Year both seasons. In 1988 he lost to his former school, Columbia, which snapped a 44-game losing streak.
1989
Graduated from Princeton with degree in history; held Ivy League career record for completion percentage (66.5). Signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints and spent two seasons as a backup there.
1991-92
Started at quarterback for the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football, but separated his shoulder in the season opener. The next season led the Riders to a 7-3 record and then played for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League.
1993
Signed with the Cowboys, where he spent eight years, backup up Troy Aikman on the 1993 and 1995 Super Bowl winning teams. In 39 games over those years he completed 165 of 294 passes (56.1 percent) for 2,042 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Career highlight was 1994 Thanksgiving game against Green Bay. He led the Cowboys to a dramatic comeback, completing 15 of 26 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns.
2000-2004
Signed with the New York Giants , where he backed up Kerry Collins through the 2003 season. In 2004 played briefly in Tampa Bay and the Miami Dolphins and then retired as a player.
2005-06
Served as quarterback coach for the Miami Dolphins.
2007
Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator. Helped mold an offense that ranked second in the NFL. With other teams expressing interest in hiring Garrett as a head coach, he became the highest paid assistant coach in the NFL with a $3 million salary.
Nov. 8, 2010
Named interim head coach of the Cowboys, replacing Wade Phillips after the team opened with a 1-7 record. On Nov. 14, he won his first game as a head coach, defeating his former team, the Giants, 33-20. Guided Dallas to a 5-3 finish.
Jan. 6, 2011
Named head coach of the Cowboys.
• • •
02:41 PM CST on Thursday, January 6, 2011
SportsDayDFW.com
Jason Garrett — a quick biography
Name: Jason Calvin Garrett
Age: 44
Wife: Brill Aldridge
Family: Father James W. Garrett; mother Jane Lentz; brothers Jim, John, Judd; sisters Jane, Jennifer, Janine, Jill.
The fast track
Garrett’s star has been on the rise since he began his NFL coaching career with Miami in 2005.
Scott Linehan was so impressed with Garrett that he hired him as Miami’s quarterback coach 10 hours after meeting him. When Linehan became head coach in St. Louis he tried to bring Garrett along as his offensive coordinator.
Nick Saban wanted Garrett to follow him from the Dolphins to Alabama . Butch Davis wanted him at North Carolina and Les Miles tried to entice him to LSU. Norv Turner tried to get Garrett on his staff when he was in Oakland and Sean Payton wanted to hire him in New Orleans.
When Dave Campo was the Cowboys head coach he made a run at Garrett in 2000, but the quarterback wasn’t ready to walk away from his playing career.
Garrett was hired as the Cowboys offensive coordinator in ’07 before head coach Wade Phillips was in place. Miami didn’t want to let him go. Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga allowed the Cowboys to talk to Garrett on the condition that if he was hired he would call the plays.
He has interviewed for the head coaching jobs in Baltimore, Atlanta and St. Louis in his brief time with the Cowboys.
Now, he’s poised to have the interim tag removed and become their head coach.
Offensive influences
Garrett said his father Jim, a long-time scout with the Cowboys who is now retired, has been the greatest influence on how he thinks. But others have helped form his offensive philosophy.
Norv Turner. Ernie Zampese. Chan Gailey . Sean Payton. Jim Fassel. Jon Gruden. Scott Linehan. Mike Mularkey. Garrett has played or worked under some of the finest offensive minds in today’s game.
You can see elements of Turner’s timing-based passing game in the Cowboys offense. The base package is similar to what the team ran in the early 1990s. But it also incorporates the running game that developed under Tony Sparano when he was an assistant coach with the Cowboys.
Offensive systems and schemes don’t change in Garrett’s playbook as much as they evolve and grow. The most important question he asks is how does the system fit the current talent? If you don’t make the scheme work with the talent in hand, Garrett believes, “all you have are words on a piece of paper.’’
Timeline
March 28, 1966:
Born in Abington, Pa.
1984
Graduated from University School, a prep school in Hunting Valley, Ohio for one year. Lettered in football, basketball and baseball. All-league honors as quarterback and safety.
1985
He and brothers John and Judd transferred from Princeton to Columbia where his father coached. They transferred back to Princeton when his father resigned after Columbia’s 0-10 season.
1987-88
Completed 366 of 550 passes (66.5%) for 4,274 yards and 20 touchdowns, and selected Ivy League Player of the Year both seasons. In 1988 he lost to his former school, Columbia, which snapped a 44-game losing streak.
1989
Graduated from Princeton with degree in history; held Ivy League career record for completion percentage (66.5). Signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints and spent two seasons as a backup there.
1991-92
Started at quarterback for the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football, but separated his shoulder in the season opener. The next season led the Riders to a 7-3 record and then played for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League.
1993
Signed with the Cowboys, where he spent eight years, backup up Troy Aikman on the 1993 and 1995 Super Bowl winning teams. In 39 games over those years he completed 165 of 294 passes (56.1 percent) for 2,042 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Career highlight was 1994 Thanksgiving game against Green Bay. He led the Cowboys to a dramatic comeback, completing 15 of 26 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns.
2000-2004
Signed with the New York Giants , where he backed up Kerry Collins through the 2003 season. In 2004 played briefly in Tampa Bay and the Miami Dolphins and then retired as a player.
2005-06
Served as quarterback coach for the Miami Dolphins.
2007
Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator. Helped mold an offense that ranked second in the NFL. With other teams expressing interest in hiring Garrett as a head coach, he became the highest paid assistant coach in the NFL with a $3 million salary.
Nov. 8, 2010
Named interim head coach of the Cowboys, replacing Wade Phillips after the team opened with a 1-7 record. On Nov. 14, he won his first game as a head coach, defeating his former team, the Giants, 33-20. Guided Dallas to a 5-3 finish.
Jan. 6, 2011
Named head coach of the Cowboys.
• • •