Assuming Jason Garrett is eventually fired, here are five dark horse candidates to be the next Dallas Cowboys head coach.
Tuesday came and went, with a third meeting to come. Jason Garrett is still in place as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday morning as the calendar flips to 2020. He is also still without a contract for next season, so barring something unforeseen, a decision to dismiss Garrett can be labeled as a decision not to offer him a new contract.
Jerry Jones would surely like to aim for a big name in a looming coaching search, but many candidates that fit that bill will take attention away from the ever-present and front-facing Cowboys’ owner/general manager. In many ways, Garrett has been the perfect head coach for Jones.
So there’s a chance Jones goes down the totem pole a bit, away from the Urban Meyers of the world and down to candidates that profile more similarly to Garrett in terms of cache.
The longer it takes for a decision, the longer the door is open for Garrett to be retained, as inexplicable as it seems.
But assuming Garrett is indeed gone, perhaps not later than the end of the week, here are five dark horse candidates to be the next Dallas Cowboys’ head coach.
5. Jason Witten
The source has to be taken with a big grain of salt, but last March Fox Sports Radio’s Doug Gottlieb threw out a hot-take theory that Witten could be the next Cowboys’ head coach. The idea of Witten going from a one-year return to the playing field to becoming the head coach is surely a reach. But compared to the far-flung, humor-tinged idea that Jerry Jones himself is the only man for the job, as offered by Andy Nesbitt of For The Win, it’s not that bad.
If Jones wants one of “his guys” that will just coach the team and stay out of the limelight, a conversation with Witten may be coming (if it hasn’t happened already?). Never say never here, but let’s get to some more realistic dark horse candidates to take over as the head man in Dallas.