ESPN.com is reporting that the Cowboys will officially hire Jason Garrett to be their next head coach.

Terms of the deal were not available, but Garrett had one year remaining on his contract as the assistant head coach that paid him $3.5 million annually.

Considered the favorite all along, Garrett is the eighth coach in franchise history and owner/general manager Jerry Jones did not feel the need for an exhaustive search. He interviewed wide receivers coach Ray Sherman to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which states a team must talk with at least one minority coach during the process.

Jones wanted to finalize the deal quickly because he didn’t want other teams with vacancies getting their hands on Garrett.

It’s a matter of opinion as to whether or not this was the right hire for the Cowboys. But there’s no doubt that this was the right hire for Jerry Jones. He handpicked Garrett himself when he made him offensive coordinator in 2007. Making Garrett the full-time head coach was Jones’ plan all along and now it’s come to fruition.

The fact that he went 5-3 with Jon Kitna as his quarterback proved that Garrett’s offense can succeed. But he and Jones better pick a decent defensive coordinator because the Cowboys took a major step backwards on that side of the ball this year.

It’ll also be interesting to see if this group of players will work hard for Garrett now that he’s the full-time guy. One would think they will, seeing as how they finished 5-3 under his guidance. But these were the same players who openly said how much they loved Wade Phillips only to mail it in when his job was on the line.

We’ll just have to wait and see.