“Garrett should be fired”. I’ve heard this on talk radio a lot of times and I’m amused by it. There’s a lot of folks on the air, mostly radio, that can’t tolerate that they are essentially being shut out by someone with the internal strength to firmly blunt their breathless entreaties for good stories and inside information. No quotes about Mr. Fixit, no hotdogs on the sideline, no exhortations to ‘pound a few’ before the game just…dull. FIRE GARRETT. Fire the guy who gives us NOTHING. They don’t want him gone for being dull, of course. They want him gone b/c the Cowboys are bad. They’re not winning enough. And when they do win they don’t win in convincing enough fashion. His decisions aren’t…right. They’re not good enough. They’re not the kind good coaches might make or for that matter what good media types would certainly make. Although Garrett has a (slight) winning record he’s mismanaged the clock on several occasions and his play calling is widely regarded as too conservative to consistently win games.
However, what’s quietly going on in the background and what doesn’t get discussed during press conferences is that Garrett is doing what he has experienced from coaches all his life and while he’s working on winning ballgames with the folks he has he’s building men, and, more importantly, teaching them to find their fight. Barry Horn in his recent piece on Garrett detailed some of the impact that Garrett’s previous coaches have had on him and it’s clear to me that Garrett sees coaching like his father and the coaches he had in high school did. As an important job-an opportunity to mold men, something almost sacred. Garrett’s performance in the face of Jerry Brown’s death and Josh Brent’s apparent responsibility in the accident highlights the fact that his team sees Garrett as the father figure he has been for a long time. The wide praise Garrett has received for his handling of the trying situation the Cowboys have found themselves in seems to acknowledge that this is his style and that he is emotionally dialed in to his players.
And, it’s for this reason that I believe Garrett will be a long term coach of the Cowboys. Potentially longer, and, if not thought of in more glowing terms than Landry, then certainly thought of just as highly.
He may or may not come up with any innovations in coaching as Landry did but he’ll build teams of men that value and display ‘grit’. University admissions folks want kids with ‘grit’. Elementary schools are beginning to learn about and value ‘grit’. Employers other than National Football League franchises also value ‘grit’ although not as much as they should or most likely will come to.
‘Grit’, Wikipedia simply defines, as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals”. It’s what’s referred to as the missing ingredient when smart people fail, when necessary components abound but sufficient ones are absent. It’s the comment about the guy on the field who isn’t that talented but who ‘outworks’ you. Grit is character. Grit is about not giving up even when there is no clear path to an acknowledged goal. And, it can be argued, that it’s what’s been missing in the Cowboys organization for a long time. The Cowboys have almost always had stars-certainly since Jerry Jones has owned them they’ve had stars. There’s an argument to be made that Jerry Jones as GM has lived and died by the philosophy that stars are essential to a successful team. That his focus has been on building a team of stars, not a team of depth, is cited as one possible reason for the Cowboy’s now familiar December fade (although not this year) as the stars become worn and injured. As the focus has been on talent the Cowboys have often looked good on paper if not so much on the field. And, in the recent past when they have looked good on the field they haven’t looked good in the playoffs. In ’09 and ’07 they had successful regular seasons that ended with thuds in the post season, when all of their talent should have carried them.
What Jerry Jones may have now come to realize, or perhaps, more likely, what he is now coming to serendipitously learn from Garrett is that grit is as important if not more so than talent.
If Garret continues to have the opportunity to mold this team and I’ve noted that I believe he will, he will continue to build a ‘dull’ team that demonstrates ‘grit’. One that lives not so much on talent but on the chemistry and trust that perseverance and ultimately the achievement through adversity that it brings. It’s this key characteristic that will bring out the best in average to good players and make stars the kind of teammates that are coveted in the locker room. It’s also the characteristic that will bond Jones to Garrett, Garrett to the organization and the fans to the team.
