Report: Jason Garrett is the 'frontrunner' for Duke head coach position

Two weeks ago, Jason Garrett was fired as New York Giants offensive coordinator. Now, the former Dallas Cowboys coach is reportedly in the running for a college coaching position.

ESPN’s Suzy Kolber reported Friday that Garrett is the “frontrunner” for Duke’s open head coach position. Garrett emerged as a candidate earlier this week.

Hearing Jason Garrett is frontrunner for Duke HC job. Having witnessed Jason behind the scenes speaking to/teaching young men-incredibly powerful and truly inspirational! A great fit! Hope this happens! #Duke

— Suzy Kolber (@SuzyKolber) December 10, 2021

Garrett has never coached at the college level. After wrapping up his playing career in 2004, he joined the Miami Dolphins as quarterbacks coach. He stayed there until 2006, when Dallas called him to become offensive coordinator.

The Cowboys promoted him to assistant head coach in 2008 and he became interim head coach in 2010 after they fired Wade Phillips. He became full-time coach in 2011 and stayed there until his firing in 2019. New York brought him aboard in 2020 as offensive coordinator but fired him Nov. 23.

Duke and former coach David Cutliffe mutually agreed to part ways last month after 13 seasons. He had a 77-97 record over that time, including a 3-9 record this year.

Other Duke candidates

Garrett isn’t the only one in the running for Duke’s opening. The Durham Herald-Sun’s report also reaffirms previous reports that Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko remain the top candidates for the position. Other potential names include sitting head coaches Jeff Monken (Army) and Troy Calhoun (Air Force) who run the triple-option offense at service academies.

Elliott and Elko rank as two of the highest paid assistants in the country, both making more than $2 million per year. Records obtained by the Durham Herald-Sun show that former head coach David Cutcliffe made $2,848,237 annually, just surpassing their salaries in lower positions at their respective schools.

Elliott began his coaching career in 2006, where he was a wide receivers coach at South Carolina State until 2007. He then held the same position from 2008-2010 at Furman before becoming Clemson’s running backs coach from 2011-2014. In 2015, Elliott became a co-offensive coordinator for Clemson, and he held that role until last season. He then received a promotion as the Tigers’ full-time offensive coordinator. Now, Elliott is the Tigers’ offensive coordinator as well as assistant head coach.

Elko has been in College Station since the start of the Jimbo Fisher era, steadily improving the Aggies defense into one of the better units in the SEC. After finishing seventh and eighth in the SEC in total defense during Fisher’s first two seasons, Texas A&M has been ranked in the top 20 nationally in total defense in the past two years.