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For Garrett, culture second to nothing
Jean-Jacques Taylor, ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- You would think Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett spends most of his time figuring out new ways to get Dez Bryant the ball or preventing owner Jerry Jones from releasing highly classified injury information.
Nope.
"I probably spend as much time on culture and team chemistry as anything we do," Garrett said Thursday before the Cowboys' final minicamp practice of the offseason.
You can see it in the inspirational messages and phrases on the large white boards that hang throughout the team's locker room, training areas and meeting rooms.
You can see it in the way Garrett quickly addresses issues before they spiral out of control, the way running back Joseph Randle's comments about DeMarco Murray "leaving meat on the bone" threatened to do a couple of weeks ago.
Garrett talked the matter out in front of the team.
You can also see it in the way he played down the notion of the Cowboys having one of the better offensive lines in NFL history. Garrett is about action, not words, and his team willingly follows his lead.
That should surprise no one.
Garrett has built a roster primarily of like-minded players, players who speak in monotones and reveal nothing beyond that they're trying to get better each practice, each meeting and each day.
Under Garrett, the Cowboys draft and acquire players with the same football DNA. They want high achievers and productive players from Power 5 conferences.
They prefer captains, and they want guys with common sense and book sense. Garrett is forever talking about players who practice and play with passion, emotion and enthusiasm.
As with every coach, he makes exceptions for uber-talented players such as Bryant, Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory and Rolando McClain, each of whom has had varying degrees of off-the-field issues.
"Not every guy who comes here is a finished product," Garrett said, "but the culture we've established can help them grow and develop and become the right kind of guy."
Garrett's approach is why the Cowboys feel comfortable taking a chance on a player such as Gregory, a top-10 talent who fell to Dallas in the second round of this year's draft, in part because of a past fondness for smoking marijuana.
Garrett believed the Cowboys' locker room was also strong enough to accommodate a player such as Hardy, who's appealing a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal-conduct policy in connection with an alleged domestic-violence incident.
Bryant, in the midst of a contract dispute with the Cowboys, watched a video with his teammates Thursday and attended the final practice, playing catch on the sideline when he wasn't talking to the owner.
Bryant spent the day with the Cowboys because Garrett asked him to attend the practice -- a show of respect for Garrett, and a clear sign the coach's culture is working.
That culture Garrett has spent the past five years implementing gives him an opportunity to become one of the NFL's best coaches.
"A big part of the culture is controlling the things we can control," Garrett said. "What I try to do every day is wake up and do everything I can to build the kind of football team that we can all be proud of every day.
"I try to instill that mentality in our coaches and our players. That's how we think. We try to control what we can control. We don't worry what people say on the outside and try to do our best every day."
These Cowboys are good -- just how good will be determined during the 2015 season. But in a world dominated by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Garrett coaches the minds of his players as much as he does technique, keeping them focused on today -- no easy task.
And as with any good preacher, Garrett excels at using a variety of methods to deliver essentially the same message: Be obsessed with the relentless pursuit of excellence.
Garrett uses guest speakers and videos -- and some of his own experiences, though not too many. Some messages are blunt, others more cerebral.
Occasionally, a message will start on Monday and build to a crescendo that ends Saturday night, when he addresses the team ahead of Sunday's game.
"You have to constantly reinforce the behavior in the organization, positively and negatively, on a day-to-day basis and you never have it down-pat," Garrett said.
"We have to establish it every single day by what we do, what we say and how we present ourselves."
Jean-Jacques Taylor, ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- You would think Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett spends most of his time figuring out new ways to get Dez Bryant the ball or preventing owner Jerry Jones from releasing highly classified injury information.
Nope.
"I probably spend as much time on culture and team chemistry as anything we do," Garrett said Thursday before the Cowboys' final minicamp practice of the offseason.
You can see it in the inspirational messages and phrases on the large white boards that hang throughout the team's locker room, training areas and meeting rooms.
You can see it in the way Garrett quickly addresses issues before they spiral out of control, the way running back Joseph Randle's comments about DeMarco Murray "leaving meat on the bone" threatened to do a couple of weeks ago.
Garrett talked the matter out in front of the team.
You can also see it in the way he played down the notion of the Cowboys having one of the better offensive lines in NFL history. Garrett is about action, not words, and his team willingly follows his lead.
That should surprise no one.
Garrett has built a roster primarily of like-minded players, players who speak in monotones and reveal nothing beyond that they're trying to get better each practice, each meeting and each day.
Under Garrett, the Cowboys draft and acquire players with the same football DNA. They want high achievers and productive players from Power 5 conferences.
They prefer captains, and they want guys with common sense and book sense. Garrett is forever talking about players who practice and play with passion, emotion and enthusiasm.
As with every coach, he makes exceptions for uber-talented players such as Bryant, Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory and Rolando McClain, each of whom has had varying degrees of off-the-field issues.
"Not every guy who comes here is a finished product," Garrett said, "but the culture we've established can help them grow and develop and become the right kind of guy."
Garrett's approach is why the Cowboys feel comfortable taking a chance on a player such as Gregory, a top-10 talent who fell to Dallas in the second round of this year's draft, in part because of a past fondness for smoking marijuana.
Garrett believed the Cowboys' locker room was also strong enough to accommodate a player such as Hardy, who's appealing a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal-conduct policy in connection with an alleged domestic-violence incident.
Bryant, in the midst of a contract dispute with the Cowboys, watched a video with his teammates Thursday and attended the final practice, playing catch on the sideline when he wasn't talking to the owner.
Bryant spent the day with the Cowboys because Garrett asked him to attend the practice -- a show of respect for Garrett, and a clear sign the coach's culture is working.
That culture Garrett has spent the past five years implementing gives him an opportunity to become one of the NFL's best coaches.
"A big part of the culture is controlling the things we can control," Garrett said. "What I try to do every day is wake up and do everything I can to build the kind of football team that we can all be proud of every day.
"I try to instill that mentality in our coaches and our players. That's how we think. We try to control what we can control. We don't worry what people say on the outside and try to do our best every day."
These Cowboys are good -- just how good will be determined during the 2015 season. But in a world dominated by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Garrett coaches the minds of his players as much as he does technique, keeping them focused on today -- no easy task.
And as with any good preacher, Garrett excels at using a variety of methods to deliver essentially the same message: Be obsessed with the relentless pursuit of excellence.
Garrett uses guest speakers and videos -- and some of his own experiences, though not too many. Some messages are blunt, others more cerebral.
Occasionally, a message will start on Monday and build to a crescendo that ends Saturday night, when he addresses the team ahead of Sunday's game.
"You have to constantly reinforce the behavior in the organization, positively and negatively, on a day-to-day basis and you never have it down-pat," Garrett said.
"We have to establish it every single day by what we do, what we say and how we present ourselves."
