Jason Garrett On The Dan Patrick Show Full Interview | 2/1/24

[Music] [Applause] Jason Garrett football night in America Studio analyst and uh three-time Super Bowl champ with the Cowboys head coach with the Cowboys back on the program good to have you um when you were head coaching the Cowboys and an assistant would be asked by another team to interview how does that process work as the head coach with one of your assistant coaches you know I think you have to try to facilitate it as best you can I don't think the system is a great system because there's no doubt there's some distraction that's going to come with it uh particularly you know these guys are usually coming from playoff teams so you're playing these playoff games and guys are getting ready to do an interview but you carve out some time you know I thought the guys you know in Detroit seem to do a good job with it you know hey you got three hours on Saturday you got a couple hours on Friday that kind of thing but you know the tricky part about it is you have to prepare for the interviews and uh you can't just go in there cold you're not going to get the job so you have to allocate some time in an already packed week when you're a coach I mean every minute is occupied from from you know the the the start on Monday morning till getting ready to go uh on the field on Sunday so uh to carve out that time can be a little tricky what still bothers you about the Lions loss well they had it you know they played so well you're up 247 with 30 minutes to go you think that hey you know we should be able we should be able to seal this deal um you know there were a couple moments there a lot of conversation about Dan Campbell going forward on fourth down uh in two occasions in the second half um a big part of their success all year long has been his belief and his aggressiveness in his players and they've responded well we'll never be able to measure the residual impact of that and how that helped them get there having said that you know with seven to go in the third quarter and you're up 2410 and you have the opportunity to make it a three-score game that's the one that I'm like huh you know three scores is hard psychologically two scores you say okay we get a stop it's 2410 now we go drive we're back in it and that's exactly what happened you make it you make it 17 points and three scores all of a sudden they're saying hey we got to score fast and we got to stop them and if they score again there's all these mental gymnastics that you play so for me that was an opportunity even though aggressiveness has been good for them that was an opportunity to kick go up by three scores and then the one at the end it's hard for me not to try to go for the tie but when all that stuff starts to unravel you know sometimes those decisions you make as a coach can help your team now if they go the right way and they make those fourth Downs you know they get the result that they want but you can't lose sight of the fact that they didn't play great defense in the second half of the game San Francisco went up and down the field and I think that was the difference as well this may sound obvious your answer but I'll still pose it if you're the ners are you more concerned about Patrick momes or Kansas City's defense well ultimately you're more concerned about Patrick Mahomes because what he's done in big moments and big game is really unprecedented in my view he always seems to make the play to get him to the games and then to win those games so ultimately I think it will come down to him but your points well made your question's a great one they've played so well on defense and you think God that Ste bagn has done with a lot of young guys on that defense really good on all three levels but you know you and I have talked about this before about Kansas City I've been so impressed with with how they've gotten to this point you know they they flopped around a lot this year and you know they were looking for their identity and and I I had a chance to do that playoff game a few weeks ago the real cold one against Miami and you know they just had a look in their eye the head coach did the quarterback did you know the different guys we spoke to and it just seemed to me a great example of a team saying okay who can we trust who can we trust on offense we can trust 15 we can trust 10 we can trust 87 we can trust four and everybody else if they get a if they get a chance to touch the ball that's fine and and it's amazing how when you do that those other guys start to respond and uh to me it's been a master class in coaching by Andy Reid to win the way they've won the last three weeks the last couple on the road and and and to your point the defense has a lot to to do with the two but I loved how they've embraced their identity on offense it's been fantastic we're talking to Jason Garrett football night in America analyst this whole game manager thing has taken over with Brock cie and I look I might be somebody who led the charge on this years ago I called Alex Smith a game manager but I didn't mean it as a negative I mean you were there with Troy Aman was Troy a a game manager yeah yeah I agree with you I mean that's what quarterbacks are supposed to do you're supposed to be great decision makers throw the ball to the right guy and make the kind of decisions that help you win games and if that's a game manager great it used to be game manager and Gunslinger Troy a is managing games and Brett Favre's a gunslinger right you know and and and when it goes sideways at the end of a game because a gunslinger is trying to stick a ball in there and it gets tipped up in the air you know he was aggressive he was ripping it in there you know I'd rather try to win the game games and that's what Troy was able to do for us I absolutely love Brock pie and and and and and the story of hey he's the last pick in the draft that's fascinating I love all that but this guy has played so well for such a young guy to to walk in I get it's a good environment I get they have a good team Kyle does a fantastic job I understand all that look at the record of the backup quarterbacks in San Francisco not named Jimmy Garoppolo the last few years ain't real good so a lot of guys can't simply just go in there and play this guy's played at a high level sometimes people have an agenda when they evaluate and that always gets them in trouble just watch what he's done look at the production he's been really impressive and he made the he made the big plays in the game the other day with his feet to allow them to win that ball game yeah I know that's what I think is lost on people that he he does he doesn't have to do a lot of crazy things or be a guns Slinger or uh you know take a risk because of the talent around him and when he does you know when he's forced into making a play he did make three plays with his with his legs and and he looked quick when he was making those plays so I I don't know what role that plays in the Super Bowl there but it feels like and I I remember saying this to a couple of analysts he might not get credit unless he wins two Super Bowls like he wins one they'll go yeah but hey with that team you know like Brad Johnson or Trent dilford well with that team if he wins a second one then they'll go all right I think he's a pretty good quarterback yeah and I think that's an unfair standard I really do and if you really watch how he plays if you think about what the game manager would be described as it would be one two three throw it one two three throw it one two three four five throw it the guy's always open all you're doing is making these decisions watch the plays that he makes takes watch the touchdown he throws to auk where he drops back slides this way slides again and sticks the ball in the hole between the two Defenders obviously the plays that he made with his feet at the end of the game so this guy makes these kind of sneaky plays he doesn't wue when he walks in the room he looks like the paper boy we get all that you know he's not 64 220 you know shot out of a cannon when he runs it and throws it we understand that but watch him play football he plays at a high level and he has and young this is year two he's really impressive can you help me understand what Jerry Jones is saying about Dak Prescott so he says Dak has done nothing to change my mind about any promise for the future I think I've said that we will go as far as Dak takes us in the playoffs remember that we'll go as far as Dak takes us and that's how far we went we will go as far as Dak takes us okay this is how far he took you you didn't even get to a conference title game so it it doesn't he may mean it as a compliment Jason it doesn't sound like a compliment well let's go back to your question about the Chiefs why are the Chiefs dangerous they got an amazing quarterback certainly the best of his generation and they have a fantastic defense right wh why are the 49ers in in the big game a lot of weapons on offense quarterback plays really good they got a fantastic defense so something I learned a long time ago playing for the Cowboys on those Super Bowl teams is teams win now you have to have a great quarterback quarterback play is critical but teams win people forget that the teams in the 90s we had the number one defense in football right we also had Troy aan EMT Smith Michael irvan unbelievable offensive line and go on and on and on teams win in the NFL and and so this idea that it's all on the quarterback back to be able to take your team all the way NFL's too good you can't do it John Elway is probably the best example for me for years he took the city of Denver and went like this and put him on his shoulders and took him to the playoffs and had these bad Super Bowl losses when they got better around them they played better defense they got Terell Davis all of a sudden you know John Elway is John Elway so you you know the idea that you're going to put it all on the quarterback is unfair Dak didn't play his best ball against Green Bay we all know that the defense didn't play their best ball either so teams win when the Cowboys are able to win some of these critical games as a team that's when they're going to get that's we're going to go uh where Jerry Jones wants them to go would you rather have Travis Kelce or Rob gronowski you always do this to me why do you always do this to me it was bich versus Brady I I wait until the end of the interview to bring this question fast that's a great so who would you rather have Travis Kelce or Rob gronowski uh I'll take Travis Kelce just by a hair both of them are you know they're alltime great their top five tight ends ever to play both those guys so but tougher to defend if you were if you were running the defense here defending grank or Kelce you know for for me I think it's more challenging to defend Kelsey Ju Just because uh he's a little bit more elusive I think he's probably a better route Runner um and so you know that matchup is hard but it's the same problem you put grank over there his size his ability to just go get a ball is is really unprecedented at the position so you know they're both incredible players gun to my head I'll take Kelsey that's probably because he was 11 for 11 the other day in my most recent memory but uh the they're both incredible would you rather have Tom Brady or Troy Aman wow now you're killing me um I I I I think Troy Aman is the most underrated quarterback in ball I don't think people realize how great this guy was and um he's obviously a dear friend of mine we had lockers next to each other for eight straight years but I just think he's an amazing amazing football player he um I've never seen a guy put a team first more than he did if you think about that you know the temptation to make it all about me yeah make it I'm the quarterback of the Cowboys cash in uh make it about my stats make it he made it about winning and and if you think about his postgame interviews anybody who watched him do interviews for years would say Troy Aman going to broadcasting are you kidding me I mean he's the he's he's like boring well he was boring on purpose it was all intentional because he was leading the team and he was trying to limit the distractions and so his leadership was rare and then his ability to go out there and play at the highest level in the biggest moments was incredible um now Tom Brady comes along and you say Troy won three Thomas won seven you know the the facts tell you that boy we got you know Brady's This is the first face we chisel on Mount Rushmore but uh so okay gun to my head I take Brady but Troy Aman could do anything that Tom Brady could do in my opinion he's one of the alltime greats yeah and I think you're being fair to Troy when you say and you know he had all these weapons and I don't know he was probably labeled a game game manager which maybe was a negative to people but he did he managed the game he had EMT you I mean why wouldn't you share the wealth with everything that you had there instead of being one-dimensional let's throw it 40 times you guys LED with EMT and then you know you needed a big play you had Irv that you know would be there to get a first down so I think to suppress your ego at that position with that team is even more challenging than what people realize no no doubt no doubt and it's a different time it's it's 25 30 years ago now and and the world's crazy now with with you know everything's so immediate and and everything so so much in your face just with how the media is but it was wild back back then too I mean there was a lot of attention given to that team and he he led it so well and and and I agree with what you said we always LED with EMT but sometimes we LED with Troy you know a typical Troy Aman game was he's 15 for 19 at half for 180 yards and two touchdowns and then he finishes 19 for 26 you know because we throw it six times in the second half and we run it more yeah so it wasn't always run run run you know Troy fit in sometimes it will start with the pass and then over the course of the game we just wear him down by doing both I'd like to make you sweat a little bit you do a great job of that that's why they call you the best in the business and you thought coaching the Cowboys was difficult come on come on uh hey great to talk to you and uh thanks for joining us as always jayon yeah always enjoy it you're fantastic have a great day that's Jason Garrett NBC football night in America Studio analyst of course peacock will be on display at the Super Bowl our show pro football talk with Florio and Chris Sims uh Michael Smith and Michael Holly brother from another Matthew Barry's fantasy football happy hour all of that coming from Vegas coming up next week