Jason Garrett is turning his attention to podcasting.
Garrett and the Chicago-based agency Intersport launched Coach 2 Coach on Wednesday, a weekly series in which Garrett interviews head coaches and executives about leadership. The debut episode features former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, while the second episode features UCLA head women’s basketball coach Cori Close.
“The best leaders that I’ve been around have a way of interacting with people and creating an environment where everyone can thrive and simply be their best,” the former Dallas Cowboys head coach said in a statement. “What I’ve learned from them is that, while some of their leadership skills come naturally, they’ve also had to cultivate and build those skills by embracing lessons from their peers, mentors, and past experiences. Some are former teammates. Some are coaches I played for or coached with. Some are coaches I played or coached against. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that, regardless of your field, you can learn from these men and women to develop the skills and qualities that all the best leaders embody.”
Future guests include Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Dan Campbell, former World Series-winning managers Joe Maddon and Joe Girardi, Northwestern lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, and Duke and USA Basketball’s Kara Lawson.
“This has been a true passion project for Jason,” added Intersport executive producer John Paquet. “These conversations remind us that there isn’t one blueprint for great leadership. While many successful people share similar qualities, each has a different story about how those qualities were shaped through experience, adversity, and the people who influenced them along the way.”
Garrett joined NBC in 2022 after a short stint as the New York Giants’ offensive coordinator ended in the middle of the 2021 season. His first assignment was calling the USFL, and he replaced Drew Brees as Notre Dame’s color commentator later that year before joining Football Night in America. He was initially paired with Jac Collinsworth in the Notre Dame booth, but NBC swapped in Dan Hicks as play-by-play announcer in 2024, and Garrett now calls games alongside Hicks. He also occasionally fills in on NFL broadcasts when lead analyst Cris Collinsworth is off.
Garrett is one of the few holdovers from NBC’s overhaul of its NFL studio show, which has seen its roster reshaped twice over in the past several months. Dungy, who will serve as Garrett’s first guest on the newly-formed podcast, was informed in March that he wouldn’t be back after 17 seasons at NBC, while Awful Announcing reported in February that Rodney Harrison and Jac Collinsworth were also unlikely to return. Garrett has kept his seat throughout, and NBC’s revamped set now pairs him with Maria Taylor, Mike Tomlin, and Devin McCourty, with Mike Florio contributing on his own schedule as the show goes on location every week this season.
Garrett had been mentioned as a potential candidate for college jobs at Stanford and Duke over the years, but hadn’t pursued an NFL opening until this January, when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Titans were considering him for their vacancy. It wasn’t clear at the time whether Garrett was a serious contender or one of several names in the mix; Tennessee ultimately hired Robert Saleh, and Garrett stayed at NBC.
Garrett has remained at NBC since, with no further reported interest in a return to coaching, just a new podcast about it instead.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.