FanPost

A Garrett Endorsement

There have been a wide array of views expressed on the Giants' hiring of former Cowboys HC Jason Garrett as Offensive Coordinator. Overall, I think it is as good a hire as any -- and maybe a very good hire.

1. Cowboy Failures. We're not hiring Garrett as Head Coach. Whereas Tom Coughlin deserves to be in the Hall of Fame for winning with less talent, Garrett's squads underachieved. He regularly missed the playoffs despite solid teams that finished 8-8 or 9-7 teams (five times). But let's not confuse the failure to win a Super Bowl with being a bad coach. Garrett boasts an 85-67 record in the regular season, a winning percentage better than Coughlin (and new HofF Jimmy Johnson, Mike Shanahan, Dennis Green, new Washington HC Ron Rivera, and Jon Gruden). He's a very good coach, though not a great HC.

2. Other Options. Amongst the potential OC names we've heard bandied about, include Scott Linehan, Freddie Kitchens, Mike Shula, Jay Gruden, Mike LaFleur (SF Ass't), James Urban (Ravens QB Coach), Kevin O'Connell, Joe Lombardi, Chad O'Shea, Jon Kitna, Mike Kafka (KC) and Joe Brady. That's a long list. Any no-brainer hires in there? I didn't think so either.

I think Judge did not want a West Coast guy. That eliminates a few options. LaFleur and Kafka are still in the playoffs so they can't yet be hired. Joe Brady's ascent in Carolina has been met with such confidence that they're considering hiring Ben McAdoo to help him. O'Shea was a flop in Miami. If Garrett is uninspiring to some, Shula and Linehan would be worse.

I suppose you could be a believer in one of these names, but I don't view any as brilliant slam-dunk hires. To the contrary, I think the recency bias against towards young, brilliant OCs instead of older, retread coaches ignores that an NFL lifer may be best for a 38-year HC.

3. Flexible Offenses. Say what you want about the Cowgirls, but during Garrett's 13 years as OC or HC they were regularly amongst the top offenses in football. Commencing with Tony Romo's second season as a starter thru to the Dak Prescott-Ezekiel Elliot era, the Cowboys have been a very good offense. More importantly than merely being good, they have changed their offense to reflect their personnel: boasting a wide-open Air Coryell attack under Romo, then shifting to a more balanced attack riding DeMarco Murray, then again pulling back to base the offense around a dominant offensive line and Elliot and, finally, opening the offense with the addition of Amari Cooper to the receiving corps. While he employed OCs during this tenure, Garrett's fingerprints are undeniable on the offense.

Is that not the definition of what we want for a coach? We don't want a McAdoo who runs "his offense" or a Shurmur that seemed to be unable to adapt. We want someone who can scheme to fit personnel strengths. .

4. Head Coach Experience. Young head coaches benefit from having senior coaches on the staff. Heck, veteran head coaches benefit from it too. Judge has hired, mostly, a very young staff. Having a few guys with additional experience is important, but . . .

5. Garrett is Not a Head Coach in Waiting. He's not looking to take Judge's job. He knows that if the Judge hiring backfires, he will certainly be the likely "interim" coach. But he also knows that if Judge doesn't work out, then Gettleman is out too and the whole regime will be changed. In which event, Garrett will get a "courtesy" interview like Spagnuolo did a few years ago and then be shown the door. This move is the move of a person checking his ego at the door. Otherwise, he'd be looking for a TV gig and waiting til 2021.

6. Garrett Wants to Be HC Again. This argument confounds me. So you're concerned that Garrett may leave next year to be a head coach because he does a great job for us! O.k. Ok. I'll acknowledge there's something to be said for continuity. As such, Judge should hire an assistant to groom in case of that event. Maybe he already has in former Josh McDaniels assistant Jerry Shuplinksi. Maybe Garrett brings in Linehan as passing game coordinator or Bill Callahan to run OL/running game coordinator.. I suppose you may be focused on avoiding a 3rd coordinator in 3 years for Daniel Jones but, as the immortal Blake Bortles once observed "Everybody runs the same stuff. Some people call it apples. Some people call it oranges. So you’ve just got to learn the language." Jones is a bright boy, he'll figure it out. Besides, shifting to the West Coast Offense is considered the biggest change for a QB -- and Jones has already learned that.

It's a good hire. As good as any option available. And may work out really well.

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