Wade Phillips - A Soothing Epilogue

I remember very clearly the week leading up to the Cowboys hiring of Wade Phillips in 2007. The Bill Parcells era had just come to a somewhat disappointing close. Don't get me wrong ... I was very happy that the Tuna led the Cowboys out of the dreadful Dave Campo/Chan Gailey era, but I felt like the team needed a different voice to take it to the next level. Jason Garrett's stock at the time was through the roof, so much so that he was signed to a contract in an undefined capacity as the Cowboys continued to search for a head coach.

Enter Wade Phillips. Fresh off a 14-2 season as the defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, he brought to the table a brilliant defensive mind and a "player's coach" reputation that was a change from the icy, crass demeanor of Bill Parcells. Jerry Jones made it no secret at his introductory press conference why Wade was the choice:

"We needed to get it right," Jerry Jones said, pausing as tears welled up in his eyes. "In my mind, we got it right."

.......................................................................NOT!

Phillips tasted success early in Dallas, going 13-3 in his first season, and running away with the NFC East. The defense flew around the field to the tune of  46 sacks (3rd most in the NFL). On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys boasted the 2nd ranked offense in the NFL. Tony Romo, who had emerged as a young star during the last 10 games of 2006, blossomed into a Pro Bowl player under the watch of Jason Garrett.

Everything changed on January 13th of that year. The Cowboys had finished 3 games ahead of the New York Giants in the NFC East. Hosting the divisional playoffs as the NFC's top seed, the Cowboys fell 21-17 on a late Brandon Jacobs touchdown run.

The questions swirled....questions from which Wade Phillips would seemingly never recover:

• How long would the playoff win drought continue? (last playoff win in 1996)
• Could Tony Romo play well in a big spot? (fumbled as holder on last play of wild card game at Seattle in 2006)
• Did Wade simply achieve this succcess with Bill Parcells' team?
• Did the Cowboys miss the "presence" of a coach with "presence" come playoff time?

 The next two and a half years were plagued by good, yet unspectacular football. Flashes of greatness broke through the clouds at times, but would always be washed away by other things that were going on.

• Flozell Adams leading the league in holding penalties.
• Terrell Owens walking around the locker room with his "gasoline can" in hand.
• Roy E. Williams costing us first day draft picks for his "potential".
• "Pacman" Jones & "Tank" Williams - stupid nicknames, stupider people
• Mike Jenkins poor tackling & effort.
• Atrocious kicking game (Shaun Suisham, Nick Folk, Graham Gano...and Buehler...Buehler...Buehler)
• Costly turnovers and dumb penalties cost the 'boys games at the worst times.

Cowboys fans such as myself began to yearn for a more disciplined culture, the exact type of culture that was vacated in 2007 when Bill Parcells stepped down. Wade was on his way out in 2009, when the Cowboys made a late season run to make the playoffs, then won their first playoff game since '96 with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles. This was enough to save his job, even with a 34-3 defeat to the Vikings in the divisional round.

The 2010 season was a perfect storm for the Cowboys. In many ways, the opening game in Washington set the tone for the beginning of the end for Wade Phillips in Dallas. A Tashard Choice fumble (in a kneel down situation) before halftime was scooped up for a Redskins touchdown. Penalties plagued both sides of the football, the running game was nonexistent.

Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes....culminating in the game winning touchdown being nullified on a holding penalty that will probably make the NFL Referee Training Video as a textbook case of a hold. The season spiraled out of control, and the Cowboys were outscored 80-24 by the Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers in Weeks 8 & 9.

Prior to Week 10, both the fans and Wade were put out of their misery, as Phillips was fired and replaced by Jason Garrett, who had grown into a source of blame by many Cowboys fans over the course of the Phillips era. It is now up to Garrett to steer the ship in the right direction.

When people look back statistically at Wade Phillips, they will see credentials that indicate a stellar run in Dallas:

• 2 NFC East titles
• NFC top seed 2007 playoffs
• .614 winning pct. (higher than Jimmy Johnson)

 But the fans who suffered through the Wade era know the true tail of the tape. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes, and underachievement.

Good defensive coordinator......good man.....but good riddance!