IRVING, Texas -- Toward the end of a discussion with the team's beat writers, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was asked about Monday's coaching firings around the NFL.
Norv Turner, whom Garrett played for with the Cowboys back in the 1990s, was fired as the coach of the San Diego Chargers. Turner was a finalist for the Cowboys' job in 2007 before Jerry Jones decided on Wade Phillips. Garrett interviewed with Jones to become an offensive coach before Phillips was hired.
Turner and Garrett spoke daily before the interview.
With Turner out of the coaching profession for the moment, could he be someone Garrett might want to hire?
"Norv Turner is someone I respect a great deal," Garrett said. "He’s a great football coach, he’s a great friend of mine. But we’re just trying to focus on today here in Dallas."
The NFL is a tough business for a coach. Lovie Smith was fired by the Chicago Bears after a 10-win season. Andy Reid, the longest tenured coach in the NFL, was let go after his Philadelphia Eagles finished last in the NFC East. In total, seven NFL head coaches were fired on the day after the 2012 regular season ended.
"It’s a part of our job unfortunately and it’s a part of this profession," Garrett said. "A lot of those guys are really good football coaches and have done a good job with their programs over the years. It’s part of it. Nobody likes to see it. It affects human beings' lives and their families' lives and their staff’s families’ lives and all of that. We are very empathetic to all of those situations."