Garrett was recently fired as the offensive coordinator of the Giants, and has spent his entire coaching career in the NFL.
As the college football coaching carousel spins on, the speculation around who will fill the numerous Power 5 head coaching positions continues to swirl. With Duke in the market for a new coach for the first time in 14 years, several big names have been mentioned to fill former coach David Cutcliffe's shoes.
Perhaps the biggest among them? Jason Garrett.
Garrett's name has reportedly surfaced as a potential target in Durham, according to Steve Wiseman of The News & Observer. Garrett was recently fired as the offensive coordinator of the Giants on Nov. 23 in just his second season with the team.
Wiseman reports that Garrett is among a small handful of final candidates, and the school's goal is to finalize a hire by the end of the week. Garrett played at Princeton and then professionally for 15 years before immediately beginning his NFL coaching career, most notably spending nine years as head coach of the Cowboys. He has never coached at the college level.
Other candidates reportedly in the running include Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko. Neither have been head coaches before, and Elliott's hire would make him the first person of color to serve as Duke’s head football coach.
A trio of head coaches at the Group of Five level—East Carolina's Mike Houston, Army's Jeff Monken and Air Force's Troy Calhoun—were also mentioned.
Duke went 3–9 in 2021, and has a 10–25 record over the past three seasons. Before that, however, they reached bowl games in five of six seasons.
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