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Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan will not return to the Dallas Cowboys for the 2019 season, head coach Jason Garrett announced in a statement on Friday.
“This was not an easy decision because of how highly we regard Scott Linehan as a football coach and as a person. He and I had some really positive, substantive and open discussions which took place in the latter part of this week, and we ultimately agreed that it would be in the best interest of all of the parties involved if we were to make a change at this position. This was very much a mutual decision,” Garrett’s statement said, in part.
Linehan’s future had been a subject of debate throughout the week in Dallas.

On Monday, two days after the Cowboys‘ season ended in a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Garrett told 105.3 FM in Dallas that he expected no changes to his coaching staff, including Linehan.
Hours later on the same station, vice president Stephen Jones said, “I think it’s a little early to be speculating about players, coaches, anything like that other than I really do think our group overall did a nice job. I know overall it was a good season, but we also know that we’ve had some good teams around here that haven’t taken the next step. We’ve got to figure out what that is. We’re obviously going to be doing a lot of work … to see how we can take that next step.”
Then, Monday afternoon, Garrett seemed to take a step back from his commitment to Linehan at the Cowboys’ season-ending press conference.
“We haven’t had any substantive conversations,” Garrett said. “Scott did an excellent job for us this year. Again, I don’t know how I answered that question this morning. Nothing has changed.”
Linehan was the focus of fan criticism, especially when the team was 3-5 at the halfway point of the season. Dallas was No. 22 in total offense and scoring offense in 2018.
Still, Garrett was a staunch defender of Linehan throughout the season. After a loss to Seattle on Sept. 23, when the Cowboys scored just 13 points, Garrett was asked if he would start calling plays himself. At the time, the Cowboys were 1-2 and averaging 13.7 points per game.
“We’re not going to go down that road right now,” Garrett said then. “I have a lot of confidence in Scott Linehan. He has been an outstanding coordinator in this league for a long time. He’s been an outstanding coordinator for us.”
Linehan joined the Cowboys in 2014 as the passing game coordinator and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2015. He was head coach of the St. Louis Rams from 2006-08.
The Cowboys scored 339 points this season, their fewest since 2015, when they finished 4-12 and used a revolving door of quarterbacks when injury limited Tony Romo to four games. It was the second-lowest total since 2005.
–Field Level Media