New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is “excited” for the chance to work with quarterback Daniel Jones.
Garrett has already spoken with Jones via phone. There is anticipation that a beautiful working relationship will blossom on the strength of their very first conversation.
Jones, the sixth overall pick in last April’s NFL Draft, received some sage grooming in his rookie season. Former head coach Pat Shurmur is renown in league circles as a quarterback guru. Jones’ rookie season was a success even though he has some areas he needs to work on entering Year 2.
Unlike his predecessor, Joe Judge plans to oversee all three phases of the team and not concentrate specifically on offense, defense, or (his specialty) special teams. Judge plans to work with Jones but not as closely as Garrett and quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski.
“Look, it’s a quarterback-driven league,” Judge said when asked how Garrett, a former NFL quarterback and head coach, can assist in Jones’ development. “So, someone who’s worked successfully with multiple quarterbacks and had developed them over time, who has vast knowledge himself as a player in this league in different systems under different coordinators and playing with other great players, that’s definitely something that’s going to add to this organization and this offense.”
Garrett, whose father was a Giants assistant coach in the 1970s, spent four seasons (2000-03) as the Giants’ backup. He was the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach for nine seasons before he was let go earlier this month. Garrett has friends and family in New Jersey from his days in college when he played at Princeton.
Garrett spent this past week evaluating talent at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. He was seen in a hotel lobby chatting it up with general manager Dave Gettleman. Garrett is well-liked by Gettleman and Giants ownership. However, the decision to bring in Garrett as offensive coordinator was on Judge. After all, Garrett has a track record of building productive relationships with quarterbacks as evidenced by his work with both Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.
Garrett admitted he didn’t know much about Judge before agreeing to become the Giants’ offensive coordinator. However, the two coaches share a common link: Nick Saban. Judge was a special teams assistant at Alabama while Garrett was a Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach when Saban was head coach.
“Coach (Saban) has always said such great things about Joe and so many other people that I’ve been around say the same thing,” Garrett said.
So, what made Garrett take the job?
“It just felt right to me,” Garrett said on the Giants’ in-house podcast. “Felt really comfortable to be around him. I think we have shared values as people and shared values as football coaches and what we want to build with the Giants. Just excited to be a part of it.”
One of Garrett’s main responsibilities will be getting the most of out of Jones. He said the Cowboys rated him highly entering the 2018 NFL Draft.
“We thought a lot of him coming out of college,” Garrett said. “I really liked how he played when we played against him and we saw him on film this year. He was tough, he was competitive, playing the game the right way. Not easy to do as a rookie quarterback in the NFL, but certainly excited to get to work with Daniel.”
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
