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Jerry Jones calls Jason Garrett a young coach who’s still evolving

Jason Garrett, Jerry Jones

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, left, watches as owner Jerry Jones answers a question during a news conference at NFL football training camp, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in Oxnard, Calif. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

AP

Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones says coach Jason Garrett has learned on the job and changed his approach to offense.

According to Jones, Garrett is still young enough and flexible enough that he can make significant changes to the way he game plans. Jones said on his radio show on KRLD 105.3 FM that Garrett is fundamentally different from a coach like Ernie Zampese, the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 1994 to 1997 and offensive consultant in 2000 and 2001, who installed his own offense everywhere he went. Jones says Garrett can change on the fly.

“He’s a young coach, and one of the things you’ve got to remember, that you should remember, is that, as a young coach, your system should be evolving,” Jones said, via the Star-Telegram. “There shouldn’t be a system that you’ve hung on for years and years and years. Ernie Zampese, for instance. Jason’s fresh in his evolving, as far as scheme is concerned.”

For the record, Garrett isn’t all that young: He’s been around the NFL as a player or a coach for a quarter of a century, and at age 47 he’s older than Rob Chudzinski, Jim Schwartz, Gus Bradley, Dennis Allen, Mike Tomlin, Mike McCoy and Greg Schiano. But Jones praised Garrett for his willingness to adjust to new offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, and to the increased game-planning role for quarterback Tony Romo.

“Plus we’ve added a Romo emphasis in it. That’s changed, too. We’ve had some dramatic change with the Cowboys since last year,” Jones said.

So far, Jones likes the results of those dramatic changes.