UPDATE, 9:10 a.m. Monday: Mike McCarthy will be the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, The Dallas Morning News has confirmed.

ORIGINAL STORY

FRISCO — At 5:48 p.m. Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys issued a long-awaited news release.

Jason Garrett is out after 91/2 seasons as the head coach.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones made the announcement, stealing a little attention from the final National Football League playoff game of the day, between the rival Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks.

Garrett’s demise had been expected after the Cowboys failed to qualify for the playoffs, after the team began the season with high expectations. The Cowboys have gone 24 years since their last Super Bowl title.

Garrett, 53, went 85-67 with three playoff appearances and three NFC East Division titles, but it was his failure to reach the Super Bowl that ultimately decided his fate.

Garrett ends his tenure with the second-most victories in franchise history behind Tom Landry (250-162).

Decision time

Garrett’s contract expires on Jan. 14. A quick decision on his fate after the season ended Dec. 29 was expected, but it was almost exactly a week after the Cowboys’ season ended with a defeat of the Washington Redskins before anything official occurred regarding Garrett’s status.

Team officials allowed Garrett to conduct exit interviews with players and assistant coaches. Garrett had two meetings with team officials about his job and made a case to stay. The decision: It was time to move forward without him.

Before the decision was announced, former NFL head coach Marvin Lewis arrived Friday to interview for the head coaching position still held by Garrett. Saturday morning, another former head coach, Mike McCarthy, interviewed with team officials about Garrett’s job.

After McCarthy left town early Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys issued their statement to the media. (There isn’t a league rule prohibiting coaching announcements during the playoffs.)

“We are extremely grateful to Jason Garrett for his more than 20 years of service to the Dallas Cowboys as a player, assistant coach and head coach,” Jones said in his statement. “His level of commitment, character and dedication to this organization has been outstanding at every stage of his career.”

Garrett first joined the Cowboys as a backup quarterback in 1993 and spent seven seasons with the organization and was part of two Super Bowl title teams. He returned as an offensive coordinator in 2007 and was groomed to one day become a head coach.

Under Garrett, the Cowboys failed to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs three times and suffered two heartbreaking losses.

During nine seasons, Garrett’s teams finished 8-8 four times, including in 2019. The Cowboys began the season 3-0 and raised the hopes of a potential Super Bowl run.

Everything crashed around Garrett and his team when they endured a pair of three-game losing streaks, which included a loss to the then-winless New York Jets, the failure to score a touchdown in road loss in New England, raising the ire of Jones, who said his team missed an opportunity to make a statement. The Cowboys still had a chance to win the NFC East title by defeating rival Philadelphia in the next to last game of the season but lost 17-9. And based on that loss alone, the Cowboys needed help to make the postseason. The Eagles defeated the New York Giants in the regular-season finale to eliminate any chance of a postseason berth for the Cowboys.

Normal routine

Garrett continued to march forward, saying he wanted to remain the coach. He maintained the same routine as always after every home game, win or lose. Following the victory over Washington, Garrett played a game of touch football with family and friends more than two hours after the game. He posed for pictures with family and friends as he would after all home games.

“He’s always an optimistic guy no matter what the situation is, no matter what the circumstance is,” wide receiver Amari Cooper said. “He’s a good guy. He’s a great coach.”

Everything seemed normal, but it wasn’t. The Cowboys were preparing to move on from Garrett and despite his push to get a new contract, the Cowboys decided to cut ties.

“Jason Garrett’s legacy with the Dallas Cowboys will always be that of someone who strived for greatness every day that he walked through the door,” Jones said in his statement. “And as someone who instilled the virtues of enthusiasm, hard work and appreciation for the profession in all of the men who played with him and for him.”

Despite the playoff failures, Garrett was credited with bringing accountability to a franchise that lost its way under previous head coach Wade Phillips. Garrett was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year after going 13-3 in 2016.

Consistent

Garrett also ushered the organization through the tragic death of practice squad player Jerry Brown and the retirement of two franchise favorites, quarterback Tony Romo and tight end Jason Witten (who returned this season).

It was also under Garrett that the Cowboys drafted three offensive linemen in the first round as he preached a run-first mentality with the offense.

Cowboys fans, however, grew tired of Garrett’s inability to deliver a championship and frustrated with his “one game at a time” mantra.

Garrett remained consistent because that was how he was taught to coach by his father, Jim Garrett, a former long-time Cowboys scout.

Garrett entered the 2019 season in the final season of his contact with high expectations. Jones believed the Cowboys had a championship-caliber roster ready to end the title drought.

Garrett said he didn’t worry about his job security because if his team made a deep playoff run, at least to the NFC Championship Game, he would secure another contract.

It didn’t happen, and now he’s gone.

“He believed in me,” cornerback Chidobe Awuzie said. “That’s one coach that I could really trust and whatever he says I know he was being genuine about himself. Yeah, I love him as a guy and as a coach he helped me a lot in my career.”

Who’s next?

As for the next coach, the Cowboys could turn toward the college ranks and try to hire Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, Baylor’s Matt Rhule or former college coach Urban Meyer. The Jones family will also consider former NFL head coaches or current NFL assistant coaches such as Robert Saleh (San Francisco), Josh McDaniels (New England), Eric Bieniemy (Kansas City), Matt Eberflus (Indianapolis) and Greg Roman (Baltimore).

Internal candidates such as passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach Kris Richard or offensive coordinator Kellen Moore could get interviews. Richard interviewed for the vacant New York Giants position last week and doesn’t have a contract next year. Moore is signed through 2020. And, of course, there could always be a wild card, with tight end Jason Witten expressing an interest in coaching.

A time frame hasn’t been set for when the Cowboys would hire a coach, but typically teams like to fill their vacancies by the NFL scouting combine, which starts in late February.

“Well, I just look for people with an edge, too,” Stephen Jones said of head coaches during an interview on “105.3 The Fan” (KRLD-FM). “We call it ‘dog’ around here. Guys around here when the chips are down they’re going to step up and compete and make the play. I think that’s really important, sometimes that can make everybody in the building and the organization a little uneasy. But I think that’s very important as to have that fire burning bright in terms of having that edge and wanting to compete.”

Twitter: @calvinwatkins

Coaching candidates pool

Former NFL head coaches College coaches Top NFL assistants Leslie Frazier, Vikings Matt Rhule, Baylor HC Greg Roman, Ravens OC Mike McCarthy, Packers Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma HC Brian Daboll, Bills OC Todd Bowles, Dolphins and Jets Tony Elliott, Clemson OC Robert Saleh, 49ersr DC Marvin Lewis, Bengals James Franklin, Penn State HC Eric Bieniemy, Chiefs OC Matt Eberflus, Colts DC Josh McDaniels, Patriots OC Internal candidates Fritz Pollard Alliance* Wild cards Kris Richard, defensive passing game coordinator David Culley, Ravens assistant HC and WR coach Nick Saban, Alabama HC Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Buccaneers OC Sean Payton, Saints HC Rod Marinelli, defensive coordinator George Edwards, Vikings DC Mike Zimmer, Vikings HC Jon Embree, 49ers assistant HC and TE coach Urban Meyer, Former Ohio State and Florida HC Joe Woods, 49ers defensive passing game coordinator Jason Witten, Cowboys TE

* The Fritz Pollard Alliance cultivates a list of minority candidates to help teams satisfy the Rooney Rule, which states teams must interview at least one minority. These are notable names considered to be top performers.

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