After the official announcement yesterday that Jason Garrett would be getting the head coaching job full-time next season (if there is a next season), it has been repeatedly announced that Garrett planned on remaining the offensive coordinator despite the promotion. At first I was in agreement with most sports talk pundits that it was a bad idea to not hire an offensive coordinator as the head coaching position requires a lot of attention and responsibilities. I even did some research to see how many Super Bowl winning teams had a head coach and an offensive coordinator, which is something all the reporters in television, radio, and print had said was the case but I wanted to see for myself. After going as far back as the 1992 Dallas Cowboys I verified that in the past 18 seasons the team that won the Lombardi Trophy had split the jobs of head coach and offensive coordinator between two people.
However, then I started thinking about this season's playoff-bound teams and realized something. The New England Patriots, who many think are a favorite to win it all, don't have either an offensive or defensive coordinator. Now, they have people doing the job of those positions, but not the title. Head Coach Bill Belichick appointed himself defensive coordinator at the start of the season and the team's quarterbacks coach is the offensive play caller.
Now I am not saying Jason Garrett is as great as Belichick in that he can be the team's master and commander as well as call plays while on offense, but what I am saying is that it is possible to do both and achieve a high level of success. I am behind the Jason Garrett hire completely as he showed in the final eight games a fire and passion in the team that was lacking under Wade Phillips, but as for continuing to be the offensive coordinator I will wait on passing judgement until I see how things are rolling in 2011.
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