DECEMBER 9: Garrett is no longer pursuing the Stanford HC gig, he announced (via Twitter). The former Cowboys coach, who was in the running for the Duke HC job last year, will remain at NBC.
DECEMBER 8: Settling in as an NBC analyst, Jason Garrett may soon return to the sidelines. The longtime Cowboys head coach is one of two finalists for the Stanford HC gig, Pete Thamel of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Garrett joins Sacramento State HC Troy Taylor as the known finalists, per Thamel, who adds Garrett is expected to visit this week. Garrett, 56, has never coached at the college level but was close to landing the Duke HC gig last December. He rose from Cowboys offensive coordinator to interim HC to full-time HC, keeping the final position for nine seasons. The Cowboys fired Garrett after the 2019 campaign, but he resurfaced as the Giants’ offensive coordinator for most of the next two seasons.
This report stands to put Ravens OC Greg Roman out of contention to replace his former Stanford coworker, David Shaw, who left his post after 12 seasons last month. Roman, who is in his fourth season as Baltimore’s play-caller, spoke with Stanford reps last week about returning to Palo Alto. Roman was a position coach under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, but the current John Harbaugh staffer appears to be staying put. Roman is no longer in the running, Stewart Mandel of The Athletic reports (subscription required).
Stanford considered both Roman and Vic Fangio, per Mandel. Having been fired after three Broncos HC seasons, is sitting out this year. But he has alluded to returning to the NFL sideline. He is aiming to coach in 2023, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.
Holding only one NFL coaching job before becoming Cowboys OC in 2007 (Dolphins QBs coach), Garrett became one of this era’s longest-tenured head coaches. While calls for his firing persisted during the back half of his Dallas tenure, the longtime NFL backup guided the team to playoff berths in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Garrett, however, missed the playoffs during his first three full seasons and went 8-8 four times as Cowboys HC. Mike McCarthy replaced him in 2020.
The Giants hired Garrett to be their play-caller under Joe Judge, but the team struggled for most of this stretch. Garrett ended up being fired midway through his second season at the helm of the Daniel Jones-piloted attack, leading him to NBC.
They might throw a lot of guaranteed cash his way, but can Stanford really compete in the NIL giveaway/transfer portal era?
the PAC12 is being very smart about replacing USC and UCLA
Making their own new powerhouses with the teams they already have mainly through head coaching hires.
Colorado could be ranked immediately, and Jason Garret seems like a guy who could turn around Stanford in a few years.
I think we’ll see something similar if UNLV is added
I like your suggestion of UNLV. It makes sense given the need for complete re-vitalization of the PAC-12. What about adding someone like Boise State?
I’d be surprised if Boise gets added.
Conferences are putting market size and value over football programs.
Thus why we saw the Big 10 target UCLA instead of Oregon.
Not sure if the Idaho market meets the requirements.
Not sure what a decline in winning % would do to the Boise football program longterm.
Would be sad to see them at the bottom of a power 5 conference.
From what I’ve heard, PAC12 is leaning towards heading into next season with 10 teams.
Fresno & San Diego State are rumored to be favorites to fill the void left in California.
UNLV & SMU are also top candidates given the Vegas & Texas markets.
Also Gonzaga is a dark horse as the conference may lean towards basketball.
it’s entirely possible the PAC doesn’t add anyone too, as conferences are looking for stability and could stick with prior strict requirements for joining members.
Some of these programs are on the come-up, but does adding Mountain West teams make the PAC12 better? or more like the Mountain West?
If I had to guess, I’d say they add San Diego State & UNLV to get back to 12
I agree with your San Diego State theory. The Aztecs already have a potential rivalry with California.
Another big question will be how successful the Big-12 is in luring away other teams over the years. Supposedly they want the Arizona teams, in addition to several of the non-California teams.
they did, but now that the Big 12 got its TV deal , there’s really no reason to add any more teams.
I think we’ll see similar stability with the PAC.
apparently UCLA may not even be leaving after all. it’s a toss-up and will come down to a final vote.
I’d like to see UCLA stay personally; Southern Cal leaving is jarring enough. Having those two in different conferences seems off, and nothing about them says Big 10 at all. But the only top tier team currently that is a sure bet to stay is Oregon. UCLA would have a much clearer path to contention in the PAC 12 if they care to exploit that.
ya for football it makes sense, they get about 20 mil extra per year and join a (Power 2 ?) conference.
however it’s really selling the other sports out big time… forcing them to travel through time zones on the reg is gonna be painful for sports that have multiple games per week all over the country.
money talks tho so we’ll see
hope he gets it. he is a mediocre analyst at best
Stanford should drop to DIII.
Goddamit! Thought we were finally rid of Roman’s incompetent ass
Every college team needs a HC that can ice his own kicker to claim defeat from the jaws of victory.
link to youtube.com
Glyn Milburn is available.
Better off with Milburn Stone even if he’s dead.
He would still be a better coach then Nathanial Hackett alive.
Why leave NBC? Great gig. Great crew.