Nothing Personal: Phillips Not Letting Bills History Become Distraction
Nick Eatman - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
October 7, 2007 6:03 PM
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - If Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has any hard feelings towards the Buffalo Bills organization, he doesn't express them publicly.
In his first year as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Phillips doesn't seem too worried about any of his prior coaching stops, especially now, when he's roaming the sidelines for a 4-0 team.
But as he prepares his team for Monday night's game against the Bills, Phillips will make his first return trip to Buffalo as a head coach.
And don't think for a second Phillips has completely forgotten about the incidents that led to the Bills firing him after the 2000 season.
Usually, coaches won't belabor old subjects for too long during the week before getting back on track and focusing on the current game. But Phillips didn't seem to mind the media trying to resurface his coaching days with the Bills.
Whether he says it or not, it appears Phillips feels he was wrongly fired by Bills owner Ralph Wilson, who still leads the organization today.
In fact, there was even a question as to whether Phillips was fired, or he resigned, as Wilson originally stated back in 2000 and reiterated to Buffalo reporters this week.
"I hadn't quit anything in my life," Phillips said this week. "That's the way he saw it. I don't know why he saw it that way, but that's the way he saw it. We actually went to arbitration and they did rule they had to pay me because I didn't quit.
"But if he didn't fire me, I wish he would've told me sooner. I might still be there."
Now that last line was more of a joke, and it seems clear that coaching the Cowboys is the only thing that matters to Phillips these days.
Growing up in Texas and playing high school and college football in the state, Phillips has often said he is living a dream by coaching the Cowboys.
But while he has a lot of love for this state, he also has personal pride. And it's that same pride that still has him somewhat bothered by being let go in Buffalo, despite helping turn around a franchise that struggled before he arrived, and has struggled since.
"I know we were 29-19 in the three years I was there," said Phillips, who replaced longtime Bills coach Marv Levy, who had led the team to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early 90's. "It is tough going in after a legend. I followed Dan Reeves (in Denver) and they expected a whole lot. I followed Marv Levy. He's a great coach and had a great run. But his years after the four Super Bowls were pretty even. I come in and go 10 games over .500 and they look back at the four Super Bowls and say that's not good enough. Now, they may be looking back now and say that might be pretty good."
Since Phillips was fired, the Bills have gone 39-61 and are on their third head coach. They have just one winning season, going 9-7 in 2004, and have failed to make the playoffs since 1999.
Ironically enough, that year actually started not only the Bills' downward spiral, but Phillips' ousting as head coach.
The Bills went 10-6 in the regular season but entered the AFC wild-card game against the Titans with some controversy. The Bills started often-injured Rob Johnson at quarterback over the more popular and effective Doug Flutie.
Phillips denied the notion this week that he was told by Wilson to start Johnson over Flutie.
"I'm not going there," he said this week.
But even with Johnson at quarterback, the Bills managed to lead 16-15 with 16 seconds remaining and looked on their way to an upset over the Titans, who were 13-3 that season.
But then it happened.
They call it a miracle in Tennessee. Phillips still calls it a mistake.
But we've all seen the replay hundreds of times by now.
The Titans took the ensuing kickoff and tight end Frank Wychek threw the ball back across the field to wide receiver Kevin Dyson, who then used a wall of blockers to scamper 75 yards for what proved to be the go-ahead score.
To this day, Phillips still claims Wychek illegally threw the ball forward, though it was ruled as a lateral after a lengthy review from instant replay.
"It was a forward lateral," Phillips said. "The Music City Mistake."
Phillips said his first thoughts as he watched Dyson run into the end zone were more relief that the play would be overturned.
"I thought, this is why we have instant replay," Phillips said. "Because it happened right in front of me. I knew he threw it forward."
Phillips said looking back now, the play was closer than he first thought, but still believes it was a forward pass.
While the Titans won the game and eventually advanced to Super Bowl XXXIV and lost to the Rams, the effects of the loss lingered in Buffalo.
Phillips was forced to fire Bruce DeHaven, a longtime special teams coach with the Bills, who went to San Francisco and then later to Dallas, where coached the kicking units from 2003-2006.
But it was DeHaven's replacement that might have caused the biggest stir up in Buffalo.
Phillips hired Ronnie Jones, who had little coaching experience. But the two had become friends after working on the same staff in Philadelphia.
And Jones' inexperience showed, as the Bills had one of the worst special teams units in 2000 and missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
"I will say I made a mistake by bringing him in as special teams coach," Phillips said of Jones, who lives in nearby Arlington, Texas, and remains friends with the Cowboys coach. "He didn't have any experience."
But it was Phillips' refusal to fire Jones at Wilson's demand that ultimately cost him his own job as the head coach.
While there was a debate whether or not Phillips quit or was fired, he eventually won the $750,000 arbitration case.
But through all of that, it's hard for Phillips to be that upset about things.
He landed on his feet. He served as defensive coordinator in Atlanta, where he became interim head coach in 2004. He then went to San Diego and helped resurrect a defense that became one of the NFL's best.
So here he is, back with another head coaching job. And not just any job, but one of the most prestigious in all of sports.
Sure, Phillips might have a few hard feelings about the way things were handled in Buffalo. But as he returns for Monday's game, he'll do his best to keep the water under the bridge.
"I have great memories from Buffalo, and I enjoyed being there," Phillips said. "I worked hard, did the best I could do. And I still have great friends there, and a lot of people on the staff.
"I don't really think of - it's not revenge, that kind of thing. I'm not that kind of person. It's not about me. It really isn't. It's about these guys. I want them to do to well. But it's really just another game and important game for us."
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
October 7, 2007 6:03 PM
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - If Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has any hard feelings towards the Buffalo Bills organization, he doesn't express them publicly.
In his first year as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Phillips doesn't seem too worried about any of his prior coaching stops, especially now, when he's roaming the sidelines for a 4-0 team.
But as he prepares his team for Monday night's game against the Bills, Phillips will make his first return trip to Buffalo as a head coach.
And don't think for a second Phillips has completely forgotten about the incidents that led to the Bills firing him after the 2000 season.
Usually, coaches won't belabor old subjects for too long during the week before getting back on track and focusing on the current game. But Phillips didn't seem to mind the media trying to resurface his coaching days with the Bills.
Whether he says it or not, it appears Phillips feels he was wrongly fired by Bills owner Ralph Wilson, who still leads the organization today.
In fact, there was even a question as to whether Phillips was fired, or he resigned, as Wilson originally stated back in 2000 and reiterated to Buffalo reporters this week.
"I hadn't quit anything in my life," Phillips said this week. "That's the way he saw it. I don't know why he saw it that way, but that's the way he saw it. We actually went to arbitration and they did rule they had to pay me because I didn't quit.
"But if he didn't fire me, I wish he would've told me sooner. I might still be there."
Now that last line was more of a joke, and it seems clear that coaching the Cowboys is the only thing that matters to Phillips these days.
Growing up in Texas and playing high school and college football in the state, Phillips has often said he is living a dream by coaching the Cowboys.
But while he has a lot of love for this state, he also has personal pride. And it's that same pride that still has him somewhat bothered by being let go in Buffalo, despite helping turn around a franchise that struggled before he arrived, and has struggled since.
"I know we were 29-19 in the three years I was there," said Phillips, who replaced longtime Bills coach Marv Levy, who had led the team to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early 90's. "It is tough going in after a legend. I followed Dan Reeves (in Denver) and they expected a whole lot. I followed Marv Levy. He's a great coach and had a great run. But his years after the four Super Bowls were pretty even. I come in and go 10 games over .500 and they look back at the four Super Bowls and say that's not good enough. Now, they may be looking back now and say that might be pretty good."
Since Phillips was fired, the Bills have gone 39-61 and are on their third head coach. They have just one winning season, going 9-7 in 2004, and have failed to make the playoffs since 1999.
Ironically enough, that year actually started not only the Bills' downward spiral, but Phillips' ousting as head coach.
The Bills went 10-6 in the regular season but entered the AFC wild-card game against the Titans with some controversy. The Bills started often-injured Rob Johnson at quarterback over the more popular and effective Doug Flutie.
Phillips denied the notion this week that he was told by Wilson to start Johnson over Flutie.
"I'm not going there," he said this week.
But even with Johnson at quarterback, the Bills managed to lead 16-15 with 16 seconds remaining and looked on their way to an upset over the Titans, who were 13-3 that season.
But then it happened.
They call it a miracle in Tennessee. Phillips still calls it a mistake.
But we've all seen the replay hundreds of times by now.
The Titans took the ensuing kickoff and tight end Frank Wychek threw the ball back across the field to wide receiver Kevin Dyson, who then used a wall of blockers to scamper 75 yards for what proved to be the go-ahead score.
To this day, Phillips still claims Wychek illegally threw the ball forward, though it was ruled as a lateral after a lengthy review from instant replay.
"It was a forward lateral," Phillips said. "The Music City Mistake."
Phillips said his first thoughts as he watched Dyson run into the end zone were more relief that the play would be overturned.
"I thought, this is why we have instant replay," Phillips said. "Because it happened right in front of me. I knew he threw it forward."
Phillips said looking back now, the play was closer than he first thought, but still believes it was a forward pass.
While the Titans won the game and eventually advanced to Super Bowl XXXIV and lost to the Rams, the effects of the loss lingered in Buffalo.
Phillips was forced to fire Bruce DeHaven, a longtime special teams coach with the Bills, who went to San Francisco and then later to Dallas, where coached the kicking units from 2003-2006.
But it was DeHaven's replacement that might have caused the biggest stir up in Buffalo.
Phillips hired Ronnie Jones, who had little coaching experience. But the two had become friends after working on the same staff in Philadelphia.
And Jones' inexperience showed, as the Bills had one of the worst special teams units in 2000 and missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
"I will say I made a mistake by bringing him in as special teams coach," Phillips said of Jones, who lives in nearby Arlington, Texas, and remains friends with the Cowboys coach. "He didn't have any experience."
But it was Phillips' refusal to fire Jones at Wilson's demand that ultimately cost him his own job as the head coach.
While there was a debate whether or not Phillips quit or was fired, he eventually won the $750,000 arbitration case.
But through all of that, it's hard for Phillips to be that upset about things.
He landed on his feet. He served as defensive coordinator in Atlanta, where he became interim head coach in 2004. He then went to San Diego and helped resurrect a defense that became one of the NFL's best.
So here he is, back with another head coaching job. And not just any job, but one of the most prestigious in all of sports.
Sure, Phillips might have a few hard feelings about the way things were handled in Buffalo. But as he returns for Monday's game, he'll do his best to keep the water under the bridge.
"I have great memories from Buffalo, and I enjoyed being there," Phillips said. "I worked hard, did the best I could do. And I still have great friends there, and a lot of people on the staff.
"I don't really think of - it's not revenge, that kind of thing. I'm not that kind of person. It's not about me. It really isn't. It's about these guys. I want them to do to well. But it's really just another game and important game for us."
posted by The Gryphon at 8:17 AM
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