How Giants' Hiring Of Ex-Cowboys Coach Garrett Is a 'Jerry Jones-Like' Move

The New York Giants Have Hired Ex Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett As Their New Offensive Coordinator. Here's How It Is a 'Jerry Jones-Like' Move

FRISCO - The New York Giants see something in the way Jason Garrett "sees things.'' But what do we see? A hire orchestrated by Giants ownership that in a couple of ways is very Jerry Jones-like.

New Giants coach Joe Judge, in making the Friday night announcement on Garrett’s hire as his offensive coordinator, lauded Garrett for “how great a teacher he is and how his perspective of the game [is] through a different lens than most coaches. And when he sees it, he’s able to communicate it and paint that mental image to the players.”

Judge has a view of Garrett, the just-deposed Dallas Cowboys coach, all gleaned from second-hand information. Judge conceded that before this week’s job interview that he only “knew about” Garrett via his high profile in Dallas and people who “I came across in my career at both Alabama and at the New England Patriots that worked with Jason through their time in Miami with him.”

The truth is, as we pointed out here when news of the interview first broke, Garrett in New York is more about the desires of Giants ownership than it is about Judge, 38, who is a head coach for the first time at any level.

That doesn’t mean the marriage won’t work—though it’s ironic that the Giants’ move here in “ownership picking the staff” is the sort of move Garrett’s old bosses, the Jones family, have been so often ripped for. (Not this year, however, as Garrett’s replacement, Mike McCarthy, says "I have absolute final decision on my coaching staff.'')

Garrett hasn’t called plays since 2012, but that will be like riding a bicycle for him. Same with the mentorship of young QB Daniel Jones; Garrett’s detractors don’t give him near enough credit for the accomplishments of Cowboys QBs Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

Judge closed his remarks on the Garrett hire by adding, “And he does a fantastic job of making in-game adjustments.”

That Giants claim is more wishful thinking than the result of deep factual research, making it a bit Jerry-like, too.