The Dallas Cowboys: Jason Garrett and the culture of dysfunction

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett (left), offensive coordinator Scott Linehan (center) and QB Dak Prescott (right). *Photo by Kieth Allision https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/

The Dallas Cowboys started off the 2018 season on the wrong foot with a loss on the road against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.  The Cowboys defense played pretty well but Carolina had the upper hand on special teams and the Cowboys offense was just plain awful.  Dak Prescott and co. did not even enter the opposing side of the field until the second half and showed very little spark to give Cowboy fans a reason to be optimistic.  Normally, I would not be too concerned over losing the 1st game on the road against a very good defense.  Especially, given that the offense has several new faces and needs some time to acclimate to each other.  It is not the ineptitude of the offense that has me worried.  No, it is something else altogether.  A dark cloud that seems to hang constantly over the Dallas Cowboys.  It is the lack of discipline and structure that has accompanied Jason Garrett during his tenure in Dallas.

During the television broadcast on Sunday it was announced that Randy Gregory, who has just been reinstated from over a year long ban involving substance abuse issues, has now reportedly had a relapse and could face discipline once again.  This is a player the Cowboys took a chance on in the 2015 draft after he failed a drug test at the NFL combine.  That is the equivalent of showing up high for a job interview.  A player who has made repeated mistakes, which nearly cost him his career, has received another opportunity and has apparently blow his final chance less than a month after finally being reinstated to the NFL.  If this turns out to be true, the Cowboys will surely regret cutting Kony Ealy or Charles Tapper in favour of Gregory.

It would come as no small surprise if Gregory is disciplined; And, the decision to keep him on the team would be consistent with the poor judgement the Cowboys have shown during the Garrett era.  Jason Garrett constantly preaches that he wants the right type of guys on his football team.  Despite this declaration, the Cowboys continue to allow players who have shown poor judgement to do so without consequences.  Rico Gathers is the latest example.  Gathers was not expected to even make the team and when news broke of his arrest for marijuana possession the day before final roster cuts most Cowboy fans wrote him off completely.  And yet Rico Gathers is now a member of the Dallas Cowboys.  The list of players the Cowboys have chosen to put up with despite their poor decision making is embarrassingly long.  Terrance Williams, David Irving, Rolando McClain, Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant, Lucky Whitehead, Damien Wilson, Joseph Randle just to name a few.  Many of those players are not even starters let alone superstars like Ezekiel Elliott who has had his own issues just last offseason.  Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys have gone ahead and cut a player like Dan Bailey who was a team captain and a well respected teammate.  Somebody please tell me exactly what the “right kind of guy” is supposed to represent.

The hypocrisy behind this “right kind of guy” nonsense leads me to believe one of two things.  First of all Jason Garrett does not have a significant say in the decisions regarding who does and does not make this roster.  Secondly, Garrett does not have the type of personality to relate to some of these troubled players unlike former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson.  Johnson won an NCAA national championship with a group of “troubled” players for the 1987 Miami Hurricanes before winning 2 Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990’s coaching notorious bad boys like Michael Irvin and Charles Haley.  Unlike Johnson, Garrett has no control over his players as evidenced by the number of suspensions the Dallas Cowboys have accumulated during his coaching tenure.

All of these suspensions and the curious roster decisions that show no regard for discipline issues must have an impact on the locker room.  It has created a culture of dysfunction for the Dallas Cowboys.  The players know that whatever they do off of the field, there is no consequence by the club.  They know that if they are talented enough, they will be on the team and they will get on the field.  In such an environment there is no accountability.  Dez Bryant was notorious for showing up late for, or even missing team meetings during his time with the Cowboys.  Why should Dez show up on time for a team meeting?  What would the consequences be for him if he did not?  This of course is all conjecture.  I have no idea what goes on in the locker room or in team meetings but from the outside looking in, it does not appear that Garrett has his house in order.

*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

REFERENCES

www.Wikepidia.org List of Suspensions in the National Football League, June 19, 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suspensions_in_the_National_Football_League

Gaines, Cork and Pelisson,Anaele; www.businessinsider.com, Ezekiel Elliott’s Suspension adds to the Dallas Cowboys’ huge NFL lead, published on Sept 6, 2017, 2:22PM http://www.businessinsider.com/dallas-cowboys-players-nfl-suspensions-2017-9

This article has 2 Comments

  1. Rico,
    I just sent you a nice email, but to call Dallas dysfunctional, especially in knowing who’s at the top, you can’t put this on the coach. And not just anyone can walk through the door and coach the Dallas Cowboys with Jerry Jones around. Nick Saban isn’t walking through that door. Neither is Bill Belichick. So let’s say Garrett is out, then who’s in? Now if you’ll go to Pro Football Reference (I’ll link it to you), it has every team, player, coach and stats. In the same amount of time coaching the Dallas Cowboys, compare Jason Garrett to Tom Landry. Coach Landry hadn’t done anything in his first 5 years as the HC. And in those days you didn’t have salary cap either. Now I’ll give you that Jason Garrett has a minimum of 2 years to turn this club into a solid team but nobody tells Jerry Jones what to do with his team. And unless the fans boycott games to let there voice be heard, Coach Garrett isn’t going anywhere.
    One more thing. Though I’m a paralyzed disabled veteran, I too coach from my wheelchair. So I can speak from experience about coaching. I challenge anyone who thinks that they’re an expert on any sport to go volunteer and be a coach. It’ll open your eyes.

    1. Those are great points Wayne. I agree entirely that even if many people are not fans of Garrett, it is very hard to find a replacement that is capable to succeed at that level. The real challenge is that the Dallas Cowboys have been such a successful organisation and there is more scrutiny and expectations for their players and coaches. We as fans expect to compete for championships and any shortcoming there will result in disappointment and even if at times unfair, criticism. I just happen to believe that Garrett does not have much say in some of these roster decisions and is therefore forced to take on players that do not fit his description of “the right kind of guys”. Conversely, Bill Belichuk appears to have more control over his roster and takes on players with character issues by choice.

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