ARLINGTON, Texas — About 10 minutes into his tenure as coach of the Cowboys, Jason Garrett had to step aside. Team owner Jerry Jones had something to say.
Garrett had been asked how much authority he would have over choosing his coaching staff, and Jones wanted to be the one who answered. It seemed like business as usual for the Cowboys.
Only, it wasn’t.
“Jason will have the final say on any person that leaves the coaching staff or comes to the coaching staff,” Jones said Thursday. “There won’t be a player on this team that Jason does not want on the team. . . . That’s the way we’re going to operate.”
So Jones ceded power and declared the start of a new era, one that could last for a while — maybe not 29 years like Tom Landry’s tenure, but something along those lines.
Garrett, who received a four-year contract, already has made one executive decision: He will remain the offensive coordinator. Garrett, 44, becomes the eighth coach in club history and the first to also have played for the Cowboys.
New OT rules are in play
NEW YORK — When the playoffs begin this weekend, they will feature a new rule for overtime. That field goal to win the game on the opening series of the extra session? Forget it.
If a team wins the coin toss and receives the overtime kickoff, it does not automatically win the game if it kicks a field goal. The team that kicked off then gets a possession.
If the trailing team also kicks a field goal, the game continues. If it scores a touchdown, it wins. And if it does not get any points, it loses.
“There are certain situations where you have to make a pretty big decision, particularly if the other team is up by a field goal and you’re in that second possession there; your first possession, but the second possession of the overtime,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “You start getting inside that 10-yard line, there are some big-time decisions that you have to kind of digest.”
Chiefs coming clean
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cleanliness is the watchword in Kansas City as players are being told to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and hot water to keep anyone from getting sick.
Left guard Brian Waters missed a second straight practice, and Pro Bowl receiver Dwayne Bowe was back after being out sick Wednesday as the Chiefs prepared to host the Ravens on Sunday.
“We’ve had a re-emphasis lesson, kindergarten rules, wash your hands in warm water, two minutes,” coach Todd Haley said.
Footnotes.
Matt Hasselbeck, who missed Sunday’s playoff- clinching victory over the Rams because of a hip injury, will be the starting quarterback Saturday when the Seahawks host the Saints.
• Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will interview today with the Browns for their coaching position.
