By the time both Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett sat down for Thursday afternoon's press conference, the news had long been delivered.
As expected, the Cowboys officially announced a five-year contract for Garrett to remain the head coach of America's Team.
"There's never been a question in my mind that given the opportunity to get in the game (and) be the head coach that he'd evolve into one of the really top coaches in the NFL," Jones said. "I believe that to be the case. So that's a very significant thing for our team and for the future to get to not only build on where we are but to think about decisions that I get to be a part of and should be a part of on the long term."
Garrett, who is the only former Cowboys player to be head coach of the organization, expressed his appreciation for the new deal, but also stressed of the work that remains.
"I just feel really privileged and fortunate to be able to do what I do in the National Football League for this organization, for the Jones family, for the players, coaches and our fans," Garrett said. "We started something four years ago when I became the head coach. It's a word I think about really each and every day when I wake up and throughout the day, it's build. We want to build a football team that everyone who is associated with our football team is proud of. I feel like we've done that. The work is not done. That word build stays in my mind throughout each and every day in every decision we make."
Jones and Garrett also announced the Cowboys have retained two coordinators – defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and Scott Linehan, who will now become the team's offensive coordinator.
Linehan replaces Bill Callahan, whose contract expired after the season. Callahan will join the Redskins as the team's offensive line coach, a position he also held in Dallas. O-line assistant coach Frank Pollack has now been moved up to coach the offensive line for the Cowboys.
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Garrett said the Cowboys are "in a process of finalizing" other coaching contracts on the staff and those announcements should be made sooner than later. The staff will be coaching in Arizona next for the 2015 Pro Bowl.
Linehan and Marinelli both signed three-year contracts, while Garrett's deal is for five years, worth $30 million. The $6 million average is among the 10 highest paid coaches annually in the NFL.
Garrett took over for Wade Phillips in the middle of the 2010 season and went 5-3 as the interim head coach. Once he was named head coach officially, Garrett's team went 8-8 for three straight years, missing the playoffs in the final week of the season all three years.
But after a 12-4 record in 2014 that saw the Cowboys win the NFC East and win a playoff game for the first time in five years, Garrett has the Cowboys' arrow pointing up.
When asked if there was a "sigh of relief" that the contract talks are now. Garrett dismissed the quote and said the urgency-level remains high.
"We don't live in the world of sighs of relief, just certainly the idea of getting some of the business taken care of, I think is important and allows us to focus on the task at hand," Garrett said. "But again, there's a sense of urgency. I think everyone in our organization had a chance to taste some success this year, and I think that's driving everybody even just the few days since we've played our last football game. Having some of this stuff in place is certainly important. It allows us to think the right way about the decisions we make going forward, but the sense of urgency is high."
