Source: Phillips is Cowboys' coach
By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News
cwatkins@dallasnews.com
The Cowboys have selected Wade Phillips as their next head coach, according to a source.
An official announcement could occur today.
Phillips, the San Diego Chargers' defensive coordinator, didn't return repeated phone calls Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones could not be reached for comment.
Wednesday evening, Phillips' agent, Gary O'Hagan, said he had not heard from the Cowboys.
Jones who interviewed Phillips on Jan. 26, decided to go with a defensive-minded coach over Norv Turner, San Francisco's offensive coordinator, who was considered a finalist for the position.
The move is a surprise because of Turner's close connections to the Cowboys. He was the Cowboys' offensive coordinator from 1991-93 and helped form Troy Aikman's Hall-of-Fame career. He was perceived as someone who could develop quarterback Tony Romo.
In addition to Phillips and Turner, the Cowboys interviewed Jason Garrett, whom sources have said is expected to be named offensive coordinator, New Orleans defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs, San Francisco assistant head coach/defense Mike Singletary, Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, Indianapolis assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, who met with the Cowboys on Wednesday, and three members of Parcells' staff: Tony Sparano, Todd Bowles and Todd Haley.
In choosing Phillips over Turner, Jones decided between coaches with extensive experience in the Cowboys' two areas of focus: quarterback and defense.
Turner is noted as an excellent offensive coach who also gets credit for the development of San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith. 49ers coach Mike Nolan said he doesn't want to lose Turner because of how he has improved Smith's game.
Last week in Miami, Turner - and Garrett - celebrated with Jones when former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But Turner's head coaching record is not a glossy one: he's 59-83-1, including playoffs, with Washington and Oakland.
Phillips was the first candidate interviewed not to have a tie to the Cowboys. This will be Phillips' third full-time head coaching job and the first since leaving Buffalo in 2000.
In three years with the Bills, Phillips had a 29-19 record and made the playoffs twice but did not win a playoff game. Buffalo has had just one winning record and has not made the playoffs since Phillips was fired following the 2000 season. He was 16-16 from 1993-94 with Denver, making the playoffs once. He held interim head coaching jobs with New Orleans (1985, 1-3) and Atlanta (2003, 2-1).
Under Parcells, the Cowboys were 34-30 in the regular season and failed to win a playoff game.
The Cowboys were drawn initially to Phillips because of his work with the 3-4 defense. Over the last two seasons, the Cowboys drafted and signed players for the 3-4, like nose tackle Jason Ferguson and bigger linebackers, like DeMarcus Ware and Bobby Carpenter.
But Phillips' version of the 3-4 attacks more than the one the Cowboys have used. Linebacker Shawne Merriman led the NFL with 17 sacks in 2006 and has been named to the Pro Bowl the last two years. In 2005, San Diego had the top-ranked run defense, and in 2006 the Chargers led the NFL with 61 sacks.
"I feel, defensively, he was one of the things we needed to come in," said Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware from Hawaii, the site of Saturday's Pro Bowl. "We have so many guys that can do good things. And Wade just has an aura about him of what to do with those guys. I feel he can come in here and teach us something."
Ware also said he talked with Merriman about how Phillips gets a defense going. Ware said he was impressed with how Wade used his personnel, especially on blitzes.
Born in Orange, Texas, Phillips went to Port Neches-Groves High School and was a linebacker at the University of Houston. He joined the NFL in 1976 under his father, Bum, as a linebackers coach with the Houston Oilers.
After meeting with the Cowboys, Phillips said, "I'm going to go on my record. Usually, when you're gone as a head coach, it's because you haven't won enough games. I've won as a head coach, been in the playoffs three of the five years that I've been a head coach. And, overall in my career, I've been lucky to be with a lot of great teams that won a lot of games."
cwatkins@dallasnews.com
The Cowboys have selected Wade Phillips as their next head coach, according to a source.
An official announcement could occur today.
Phillips, the San Diego Chargers' defensive coordinator, didn't return repeated phone calls Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones could not be reached for comment.
Wednesday evening, Phillips' agent, Gary O'Hagan, said he had not heard from the Cowboys.
Jones who interviewed Phillips on Jan. 26, decided to go with a defensive-minded coach over Norv Turner, San Francisco's offensive coordinator, who was considered a finalist for the position.
The move is a surprise because of Turner's close connections to the Cowboys. He was the Cowboys' offensive coordinator from 1991-93 and helped form Troy Aikman's Hall-of-Fame career. He was perceived as someone who could develop quarterback Tony Romo.
In addition to Phillips and Turner, the Cowboys interviewed Jason Garrett, whom sources have said is expected to be named offensive coordinator, New Orleans defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs, San Francisco assistant head coach/defense Mike Singletary, Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, Indianapolis assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, who met with the Cowboys on Wednesday, and three members of Parcells' staff: Tony Sparano, Todd Bowles and Todd Haley.
In choosing Phillips over Turner, Jones decided between coaches with extensive experience in the Cowboys' two areas of focus: quarterback and defense.
Turner is noted as an excellent offensive coach who also gets credit for the development of San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith. 49ers coach Mike Nolan said he doesn't want to lose Turner because of how he has improved Smith's game.
Last week in Miami, Turner - and Garrett - celebrated with Jones when former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But Turner's head coaching record is not a glossy one: he's 59-83-1, including playoffs, with Washington and Oakland.
Phillips was the first candidate interviewed not to have a tie to the Cowboys. This will be Phillips' third full-time head coaching job and the first since leaving Buffalo in 2000.
In three years with the Bills, Phillips had a 29-19 record and made the playoffs twice but did not win a playoff game. Buffalo has had just one winning record and has not made the playoffs since Phillips was fired following the 2000 season. He was 16-16 from 1993-94 with Denver, making the playoffs once. He held interim head coaching jobs with New Orleans (1985, 1-3) and Atlanta (2003, 2-1).
Under Parcells, the Cowboys were 34-30 in the regular season and failed to win a playoff game.
The Cowboys were drawn initially to Phillips because of his work with the 3-4 defense. Over the last two seasons, the Cowboys drafted and signed players for the 3-4, like nose tackle Jason Ferguson and bigger linebackers, like DeMarcus Ware and Bobby Carpenter.
But Phillips' version of the 3-4 attacks more than the one the Cowboys have used. Linebacker Shawne Merriman led the NFL with 17 sacks in 2006 and has been named to the Pro Bowl the last two years. In 2005, San Diego had the top-ranked run defense, and in 2006 the Chargers led the NFL with 61 sacks.
"I feel, defensively, he was one of the things we needed to come in," said Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware from Hawaii, the site of Saturday's Pro Bowl. "We have so many guys that can do good things. And Wade just has an aura about him of what to do with those guys. I feel he can come in here and teach us something."
Ware also said he talked with Merriman about how Phillips gets a defense going. Ware said he was impressed with how Wade used his personnel, especially on blitzes.
Born in Orange, Texas, Phillips went to Port Neches-Groves High School and was a linebacker at the University of Houston. He joined the NFL in 1976 under his father, Bum, as a linebackers coach with the Houston Oilers.
After meeting with the Cowboys, Phillips said, "I'm going to go on my record. Usually, when you're gone as a head coach, it's because you haven't won enough games. I've won as a head coach, been in the playoffs three of the five years that I've been a head coach. And, overall in my career, I've been lucky to be with a lot of great teams that won a lot of games."
posted by The Gryphon at 7:35 AM
<< Home