|
IRVING, Texas - The Dallas Cowboys dismissed one coordinator early Friday evening and might have watched their other coordinator walk out the door hours earlier for a head coaching job.
Gone for sure is defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, sent packing after two seasons as head coach Wade Phillips' hand-picked defensive coordinator. Stewart dismissal came in an early-evening, two-paragraph press release.
But before that occurred, sources had confirmed Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, seen leaving The Ranch mid-afternoon on Friday accompanied by his wife Brill, was headed to St. Louis and likely for more substantial talks about the Rams' vacant head coaching job than just a second interview.
Indeed Garrett did land in St. Louis early Friday evening, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was in for a second interview and that no job had been offered. Even Rams general manager Billy Devaney was saying the same, quoted as saying, "It's part of the interview process. He wanted to look at the facility. We're not close to moving on Jason Garrett. I'm not even going to say he's the leading guy."
He might not be, but sources told DallasCowboys.com Garrett was heading to St. Louis for much more than just a second interview. And while the Rams are not confirming Garrett has the job, there have been several national reports claiming that indeed will eventually be the case and all signs point to Garrett departing the Cowboys as their assistant head coach/offensive coordinator to take over the Rams' rebuilding job, according to two sources.
The Rams were sending out even more clues Garrett was their man, since he becomes the first of the known finalists to visit St. Louis, and with his wife. All the previous candidates were flown into Los Angeles to interview where owner Chip Rosenbloom lives. Devaney also told the Post-Dispatch that he'd already made his recommendation to Rosenbloom on who he wants to hire as the next Rams head coach.
That would be a strange move then to fly Garrett into St. Louis if he was not the guy, and likely the two sides will spend the evening hashing out the final details of a contract.
This all, though, must be somewhat surprising to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which just four hours earlier declared Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier "Choice No. 1" for the Rams, according to multiple sources, including some within the team, and that Steve Spagnuolo, brought in for a second interview on Thursday, was a "strong 1A."
Reportedly the Rams' search committee was going to convene in Los Angeles this weekend, and cut down the field, possibly to a final two or, as has been reported, make a final decision by Monday. But in light of Garrett's mid-afternoon departure and arrival in St. Louis Friday night, that might not be the case.
But new Rams general manager Billy Devaney, who flew back to St. Louis on Thursday to inform interim head coach Jim Haslett, a finalist for the head coaching job, he would not be retained, might have had other ideas. Garrett turned down the head coaching job last year at this time in Atlanta, where Devaney was intimately involved in the coaching search.
Evidently, with Garrett in St. Louis to seemingly bad out the final details on a contract, Devaney did not feel overly slighted by being rebuffed last year by Garrett, who had become friends with Devaney over the years.
The Rams' decision might have been fast-forwarded after possibly learning the Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprisingly were going to announce the firing of head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen. The Bucs evidently were perturbed by their 9-7 finish and missing the playoffs after winning the NFC South in 2007. Garrett had spent part of one season with the Bucs as a backup quarterback before retiring as a player and going to Miami as a quarterbacks coach.
A Garrett departure certainly would leave a huge hole on the Cowboys' coaching staff, and likely causing the team to look outside the organization for a replacement at offensive coordinator. Only wide receivers coach Ray Sherman has any experience as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, handling the job in 1998 for Pittsburgh and 1999 for Minnesota.
While quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson played 19 seasons in the NFL, and has now been an assistant coach eight years, he's never been in charge of an offense.
Obviously the Stewart dismissal is somewhat surprising since he was Phillips' hand-picked coordinator, the Cowboys newly-named head coach holding out last year until the Chargers finally released Stewart from his contract before naming a defensive coordinator.
Phillips, though, after giving Stewart freer reign with the defensive this season, took on a bigger role seven games into the season, right after the Cowboys were beaten by the Rams, 34-14. Phillips returned to being more hands-on with the defense and calling more of the plays during the game.
The Cowboys had no comment about the move but defensive captain Bradie James did.
"We knew with the way our season went down, especially at the end, that something had to happen," James said of a shakeup on the staff. "We knew there would be a change. Unfortunately it had to be B-Stew. That's just the way it is in that business."
The Cowboys do, though, have a natural replacement at defensive coordinator, since former head coach Dave Campo, who returned to the team this year as the secondary coach, previously served as the Cowboys defensive coordinator for five seasons (1995-99) before becoming the head coach for three seasons. After Campo was relieved of his duties, he then went on to become the Cleveland defensive coordinator Cleveland for two seasons (2003-04).
Also on the staff is defensive line coach Todd Grantham, a three-year defensive coordinator for Cleveland (2005-07) before coming to the Cowboys this year to replace Kacy Rodgers.
| Home | Email | Print | Register for New Alerts | RSS |
|
Mickey Spagnola - 
