After more than 20 years with the franchise as a player and coach, Jason Garrett has moved on from the Dallas Cowboys. Following a disappointing season that saw the Cowboys finish second in the NFC East with an 8-8 record, despite having the best overall offense in the NFL, Jerry Jones chose to part ways with Garrett after missing the postseason for the second time in four years.

It didn’t take Jason Garrett long to find a new job as he became the new offensive coordinator for the New York Giants less than two weeks after his departure from the Cowboys. Garrett spent his final NFL season as a player with the Giants and is now in his first training camp with the team as a coach. Naturally, as the new season looms, he was asked about his departure from Dallas and had the perfect response.

Jason Garrett spent seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys as a player

Jason Garrett first came to the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent ahead of the 1992 NFL season, the same season in which the Cowboys won their first of three Super Bowl titles in a four-year span. He spent his first year with the franchise on the practice squad but was moved up to the main roster in 1993 as the third-string quarterback behind Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. Garrett appeared in five games that season, starting one of them, and completed nine of 19 passes for 61 yards.

Throughout his seven years with the Cowboys, Jason Garrett’s position on the depth chart fluctuated between second and third string but he relished the opportunity to learn the pro game from the sidelines as he prepared for a career in coaching. He appeared in 23 games for Dallas in those seven years, starting nine of them, and had a 6-3 record as a starter. He played his final NFL season for the New York Giants in 2000 and ended his career with 2,042 yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

He added an additional 13 seasons as a coach

With his playing days behind him, Jason Garrett turned his attention to coaching. He joined Nick Saban’s staff with the Miami Dolphins in 2005 as the quarterbacks coach before heading back to the Dallas Cowboys in 2007 as an offensive coordinator under Wade Phillips. Garrett was named the assistant head coach the following season and became the interim head coach when Phillips was fired in 2010 after the Cowboys began the season with a 1-7 record. Garrett led the team to a 5-3 record to close out the year and was made the full-time head coach ahead of the 2011 campaign.

The Dallas Cowboys went 8-8 in each of Garrett’s first three seasons as the head coach, leaving many to wonder if Jerry Jones had made a mistake. But he then led the team to the NFC East title in three of the next five seasons. However, in three postseason appearances, Garrett’s Cowboys won just two of five games and never made it past the divisional round. Following another 8-8 record in 2019, Jerry Jones made the decision to part ways with Garrett, which most were expecting.

Including the eight games he served as interim head coach, Jason Garrett left the Dallas Cowboys with an 85-67 record in the regular season and a 2-3 record in the playoffs.

Jason Garrett took the high road when discussing his departure from the Dallas Cowboys

Now in his first training camp with the New York Giants as Joe Judge’s offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett could certainly hold a little grudge against the Dallas Cowboys, as he was essentially in limbo while Jerry Jones looked for his replacement, but he took the high road in his first real public comments about the franchise that employed him for more than two decades. (h/t Jon Machota of The Athletic)

“This is the first time I’ve really officially spoken to the media since coming to the Giants from the Cowboys. I just want to acknowledge my time in Dallas and how grateful I am for that whole experience and everyone in the Cowboy organization for the opportunity and for the support and the lifelong friendships that I’ve made.

“To the players, the coaches, and the staff members who were with me and made my life way better, I am eternally grateful to them and really appreciative of having them in my life and for that experience. Awfully proud of the program that we built and the teams we had. We had a lot of great days there. So again, I’m very grateful for that experience and for the people who made that experience what it was.”

Jason Garrett

It’s a bit of a cookie-cutter answer but it was certainly the classy way to go. Assuming the NFL season starts on time, Jason Garrett will face his former team when the Giants visit the Cowboys in Dallas in Week 5 on October 11.