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A third meeting between Jason Garrett and Jerry and Stephen Jones is reportedly going to happen later today. Now that we’re hitting a third meeting, speculation has gone beyond the simple question of whether Garrett would be back as head coach or not. It’s hard to imagine that issue couldn’t have been settled within one meeting, at the most two.
Yesterday we threw out some theories for Cowboys fans to vote on, and the winner is the idea that the Cowboys are trying to keep Garrett in some kind of front office position.
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That theory seems to be gaining momentum with so many meetings going on.
I’m live on #NFL Live in 90 minutes. As Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett resume their series of meetings, I can tell you this: people inside the building have begun to wonder if Garrett is going to have a role with the 2020 #Cowboys - whether as head coach or in another capacity.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 2, 2020
The people over at Pro Football Talk are even floating the idea of some kind of co-head coach arrangement. They use Gary Kubiak as the example.
Here’s an idea: What if the Joneses are trying to find a way to keep Garrett around, but not as the head coach? What if (and I’m just spitballing) the Cowboys are considering hiring someone like Gary Kubiak to be the head coach, but with very narrow and specific duties given the health issues that caused him to stop being head coach of the Broncos three years ago?
Kubiak has rejuvenated Minnesota’s offense this year. Maybe Kubiak could do the same in Dallas, with Garrett occupying a new kind of job with a new kind of title, like simply “coach” to Kubiak’s “head coach.” Or assistant head coach. Or assistant to the head coach.
Or co-head coach. Maybe the Cowboys will be the second NFL team to have two head coaches (Greasy Neale and Walt Kiesling served as co-head coaches of the Steagles, a blended Eagles and Steelers team during World War II), with Kubiak installed a half-step above Garrett and with Garrett doing most of the heavy lifting that otherwise would be done by Kubiak.
That seems a little unwieldy, even Jerry Jones would probably balk at trying some that out-of-the-box. And Garrett might not want to take what would be essentially a demotion. Maybe there are other arrangements they could make to keep Garrett in some kind of coaching capacity, but it would seem like the more likely solution would be some kind of spot in the front office.
Of course, they may just be taking their time to clean everything up before Garrett’s departure.
One other update. #Cowboys HC Jason Garrett hasn’t finished all his exit interviews either. There are players who have not yet met with him.
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) January 2, 2020
Let’s hope he wasn’t trying to meet with any of these guys since they are going to be away for a bit.
Looks like some Cowboys players are heading to the "desert". Vegas?
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 2, 2020
Left to Right: Jeff Heath, Sean Lee, Dak Prescott, La'el Collins, Ezekiel Elliott, Zack Martin, Travis Frederick, Tyron Smith, Xavier Su'a-Filo, Joe Looney, Connor Williams, Cam Fleming.
(via @cammyjfresh) pic.twitter.com/e7CWootnHX
The one thing the Cowboys have done really well in this whole scenario is keep it quiet. There have been virtually no leaks about what the discussions are involving Garrett and Jerry and Stephen.
Update from a team source on a Jason Garrett/Jones family meeting take 3 : “I think they will meet later today” no timeline, thoughts on the tone or direction of the meeting. The only people in the know here seem to be Jerry, Stephen and Jason. Wild.
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) January 2, 2020
Maybe later today all speculation will end and some clarity will prevail.