TV Would Probably Be a Better Job For Jason Garrett Than Being an Assistant Coach

While Jerry Jones said last month that Jason Garrett would be coaching in the NFL next year, there is only one head coaching position remaining: the Cleveland Browns, and they have expressed no interest. Therefore, the only way that Garrett could coach in the league next year would be as a coordinator. According to Ed Werder, the Giants requested permission from the Cowboys to interview Garrett as a coordinator on new head coach Joe Judge's staff. But wouldn't TV be a better option for Garrett?

If Garrett's goal is to be a head coach in 2021 or beyond, there is decisively less risk in either doing television or sitting out a year, like Mike McCarthy did this season, than taking an assistant job. Going to, say, the Giants carries a lot of risk. Garrett would be putting his eggs in a basket of a first-time head coach off the Bill Belichick tree that has, at its most generous description, had mixed results at the NFL level, on top of a roster that has more holes than a 1984 Def Leppard tour shirt.

TV is the safer option right now. Former Cowboys personnel are always in demand in media. See Troy Aikman, Tony Romo, Michael Irvin, Moose Johnston, and Jimmy Johnson. Darren Woodson spent 14 years at ESPN. Emmitt Smith and Jason Witten had media stints, too.

Garrett might also be pretty good at it. While I can't recall a time he ever said anything particularly incisive in a press conference, he is upbeat and presents well-- which is arguably more important for how former football coaches are evaluated by media decision-makers than what they actually say.

All five primary league TV partners -- ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS, and NFL Network -- make varying degrees of sense for Garrett. On first blush, NBC and CBS make the least sense because they don't have wall-to-wall NFL coverage on their cable networks, and already have Super Bowl-champion coaches in Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher on their pregame shows. Fox, NFL Network, and ESPN could all make room for Garrett in some capacity given the tonnage of their weekday studio programming. ESPN recently lost Jack Del Rio to Ron Rivera's staff in Washington, and could reasonably be assumed to be in the market for a replacement with coaching experience.

Taking a year away from coaching would give Garrett time to self-reflect, and also to angle himself for jobs that come open in the NFL (or potentially even the college ranks) throughout next football season. I wouldn't rule out a television gig for the former Cowboys head coach.