The St. Louis Rams apparently have wrapped up their interviews Thursday with their five finalists when New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo talked with the team in Los Angeles.
Now, let the speculation begin as to which one of that group — Spagnuolo, Leslie Frazier, Jason Garrett, Jim Haslett and Rex Ryan — gets the nod as the new head coach.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is already reporting that Haslett has been told he’s no longer in the running. Haslett, the interim head coach after Scott Linehan’s firing, could land on his feet in Green Bay as the Packers’ new defensive coordinator.That leaves us with four candidates.
So why not Jason Garrett? The mere fact that he has made it to finalist status might be a shock to some and if he was to be hired as head coach, could be termed a stunner around the league after Dallas’ mediocre showing this season on offense.
Maybe Garrett was undeservedly assessed too much of the blame for the Cowboys’ struggles this season after a stellar 2007 campaign — Garrett’s first as an offensive coordinator. After all, it wasn’t Garrett’s fault that Tony Romo got hurt and missed time at midseason. Not many teams lose their starting quarterback and continue to pile up points at record pace. Garrett was also faced with the unenviable task of implementing wide receiver Roy Williams into the offense during the season after Williams’ acquisition from Detroit. Inserting Williams into the mix without the aid of a full offseason or training camp isn’t easy, especially when a guy named Terrell Owens is on the other end of the line of scrimmage wanting the ball. Also, top running back Marion Barber was hobbled down the stretch with a toe injury.
By all accounts, Jason Garrett appears to be an astute football man. He’s a Princeton grad and his father Jim has been a collegiate coach and worked in the NFL as an assistant coach and scout. His brothers, John and Judd, both work for the Cowboys as well.
Just last year, Garrett was offered the head coaching jobs at Atlanta and Baltimore, but came back to Dallas as the league’s highest-paid assistant coach at $3 million per year, possibly looking to become the Cowboys’ next coach some day. Garrett suddenly didn’t forget to coach in one year.
Too often we look at offensive and defensive numbers when trying to judge if a coordinator will make a head coach when in fact, owners and general managers are looking at qualities such as character, leadership, discipline when they are doing their appraisals.
If Garrett has displayed those qualities during his interviews, then it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him as the Rams next head coach.
