The Cowboys named Jason Garrett offensive coordinator and retained Tony Sparano - actually they extended his contract.
In doing so, the Cowboys also gave Sparano a two-year extension that keeps him under contract through at least the 2009 season. Sparano, who spent last year as the team's running game coordinator/offensive line coach, will continue to direct the offensive line as well.
I like it. I argued yesterday it would be a mistake to not keep Sparano and not only did they keep him, they rewarded him with more security, money and a spiffy title. Nice payback for a coach who did a great job last year.
Still undecided, who calls the plays.
"We're not going to get into that right now," Phillips said. "We're setting up everything for the season. Actually, they just started working on the formations - what formations we're going to be in. It'll be a little while before we proceed there."
Phillips thinks Garrett has that special something.
Keeping Sparano was important because we needed a link to the past, so the new coaches could tap into that knowledge.
"I named him assistant head coach because he's going to help quite a bit. Probably more than other coaches. That's why he got that title."
Good job Cowboys. Keeping Sparano and signing Andre Gurode makes this a very good day for the Boys.
Hat tip to boysandbosox for posting the news in the comments, and barrypopik has a diary on it here.
Here are the numbers on the Gurode contract.
The Cowboys made sure Gurode never tested the free-agent waters next month by locking him up to a six-year deal Tuesday in the neighborhood of $30 million, including a $10 million signing bonus.
"I was actually a little nervous because I didn't know how this whole thing was going to work out," Gurode said. "I didn't know if the Cowboys were going to wait until free agency started. I was anxious and nervous. I feel very good to get the deal done and come back to the Cowboys."