What Did Outgoing Cowboys Coach Garrett Know About the Jerry and McCarthy 'Process'? Everything

FRISCO - We tried to make this point repeatedly in this space when the Dallas Cowboys' "Long Goodbye'' to Jason Garrett "suddenly'' resulted in a "quick hello'' to successor Mike McCarthy, and now the point is clear: When it comes to Garrett, it really wasn't "sudden'' - or even all that "secretive'' - at all.

Garrett lost his head-coaching job to McCarthy this week. But the outgoing coach was so plugged into the process that he offered some kind words to owner Jerry Jones about McCarthy, a Cowboys rival when McCarthy coached against Garrett - and winning seven of their 10 head-to-head matchups.

"You'r not going to meet anyone more special than Mike,” Garrett told the owner.

Garrett spent nine-and-a-half seasons as the head coach for the Cowboys, and there was a level of success in there, as he went 85-67 while delivering three NFC East division titles. But Dallas won just two playoff games under RedBall, with the Packers too often being among the teams blockading progress.

And so the Joneses decided progress might come with "change.'' Jerry in particular found the Garrett Goodbye to be difficult emotional. But both Joneses were truly giddy during the Wednesday introductory presser for McCarthy here at The Star, Stephen grinning ear to ear and Jerry tip-toeing to telling off-color jokes about how his weekend bromance with McCarthy made him "hear bells.''

#Cowboys Jerry Jones' Attraction To New Head Coach #MikeMcCarthy - ‘I Heard Bells!' https://t.co/gOSEBUwzMO pic.twitter.com/bYkwew0Soy
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 8, 2020

And again, not of this was done without Garrett's understanding. We knew that all last week, because Garrett is represented by Athletes First, as are a bunch of the potential candidates to replace him, including McCarthy. And now we know it even more openly.

#Cowboys Ties That Bind: Guess What Coaches Garrett, Urban, Riley, Rhule & McDaniels Have In Common? https://t.co/Q6C4FhB2Xm pic.twitter.com/zJF3sy9w3s
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 3, 2020

Stephen Jones told the media, when asked about "The Long Goodbye,'' that it was mostly Garrett who was creating the extended timeline. (And, we can surmise, it was the Joneses' affection for him that was amenable to it.)

“He knew,'' Stephen said of Garrett, "we were moving down the road with other coaches.”