IRVING, Texas -- Jason Garrett is a lame duck, which is considerably different than being a puppet.

See, a lame duck is a coach in the final year of his contract who hasn't received an extension, for whatever reason. A puppet is a coach who is so happy to have a job that he does whatever his boss tells him without any push back.

Jason Garrett is only guaranteed one more year under Jerry Jones, so he's doing what he has to do to keep his job. AP Photo/Gus Ruelas

Well, offensive coordinator Bill Callahan -- Jerry Jones' handpicked playcaller -- won't be calling plays this year because Garrett wants Scott Linehan in that role.

Is that the kind of power play a puppet makes? Nope.

A puppet wouldn't go to the owner and essentially say, give me the playcaller I want since you're not going to keep me another year if I don't win enough games. None of us knows exactly how the conversation between Jerry and Garrett went down, but all we have to do is look at the final result.

The Cowboys made the formal announcement Tuesday night, but Linehan already had been attending meetings at the club's Valley Ranch training complex and is now the team's passing-game coordinator and playcaller.

The reality is Garrett has one of pro sports' toughest jobs. He works for one of the most dysfunctional franchises in professional sports, and he's trying to win enough games to keep his job -- all while rebuilding the roster.

Garrett has never been a puppet; it just appears that way to most folks, which is understandable because Garrett fights few public battles. He prefers to operate behind the scenes, where he can be more effective. Or you have to read between the lines to figure out when he's fighting Jerry.

For example, Jerry said last week that Callahan and Monte Kiffin were still the offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively. A day later, Garrett said each man was under contract but that their roles might change. And on Tuesday night, the team announced that Kiffin had been demoted to assistant head coach/defense with defensive line coach Rod Marinelli taking over as coordinator.