IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones always wanted Jason Garrett to be his Tom Landry.
According to league sources saying Garrett and the Cowboys have a five-year deal, that appears to be happening.
No, Garrett is not likely to last 29 seasons like Landry, who won 250 games and two Super Bowls with the Cowboys.
But since no coach has lasted more than five years since Jones took over as owner and general manager in 1989, this deal through 2019 could be as close as it gets. Jimmy Johnson lasted from 1989 to 1993, won two Super Bowls and then he and Jones parted ways.
Barry Switzer and Bill Parcells lasted four seasons. Wade Phillips was fired eight games into his fourth season. Garrett just completed his fourth full season as head coach and finally made the playoffs. He is second to Johnson (80) in regular-season games coached (72).
Garrett's process has taken time, but it finally came through with results in 2014. The Cowboys went 12-4 and won the NFC East. They won a playoff game for the first time since 2009. They came within an overturned Dez Bryant catch of possibly making the NFC Championship Game with a win against the Green Bay Packers.
"We're proud of the team that we've assembled, the staff we've assembled, the players that we brought in here," Garrett said Tuesday before Mortensen's report. "I think we're building it the right way. I think we played the right way this year. There's a lot to be proud of about this football team this year but having said that we didn't accomplish our goals and that sticks with everybody."
Garrett consistently talks about having the right kinds of guys on the team. The Cowboys' drafts have improved. Their philosophy has been more defined. They have an image now.
In three of Garrett's first four years the Cowboys drafted offensive linemen in the first round, from Tyron Smith to Travis Frederick to Zack Martin. DeMarco Murray is the fourth Pro Bowler drafted since Garrett took over.
It's not just the Pro Bowl success stories. The Cowboys have hit on picks such as Tyrone Crawford, Terrance Williams, J.J. Wilcox, Anthony Hitchens, Dwayne Harris and James Hanna in the middle to late rounds. They found undrafted success stories in Cole Beasley, Ronald Leary, Lance Dunbar and Tyler Patmon.
The holdovers have played their best, too. Bryant reached his potential under Garrett. Sean Lee, when healthy, has been a game-changing linebacker.
Tony Romo and Jason Witten continue to shine in their 12th years.
Garrett has helped change the culture with the Cowboys, but the process hasn't stopped.
"It's a daily grind," Garrett said. "Culture is something you have to work on every minute of every day. Mentality and mindset is something you have to work on every minute of every day. You never have it. If anybody thinks they have it down, 'Hey, we have that part of it down,' you're not there to think in the wrong way. It's a daily thing for us as coaches to try to instill that in ourselves, in our football team, individually and collectively and that's one of the great things about coaching is to make sure that those things happen and make sure we live those things on a daily basis."
Many moons ago Clint Murchison showed patience with Landry and gave him a 10-year contract, and that patience was eventually rewarded.
Jones was patient with Garrett and hopes his patience is about to be rewarded.
