Saturday, December 27, 2008

Jerry Jones: Cowboys' coaches to remain

Associated Press

IRVING, Texas -- Wade Phillips will be back as coach of the Dallas Cowboys next season, and Jason Garrett will remain in charge of the offense, regardless of whether the team makes the playoffs, club owner Jerry Jones said Friday.

And he said it vehemently.

"The coaches are in place. I've said that. How can I be any clearer?" Jones said. "Look, I've said that our coaching staff, as far as I'm concerned, is in place. I just want to make the statement rather than answer questions, because your questions imply certain things that I don't want to imply.

"I'm saying that when I look at where we are coaching staff-wise and when I look at where we are personnel-wise, I see a team that is in place to compete for several years."

Still, the questions continued because this team that went 13-3 last season and owned the No. 1 seed in the NFC is now 9-6 and trying to grab the last available wild card into this season's playoffs.

The Cowboys will get it with a win Sunday in Philadelphia. If they lose, there's been speculation that Jones would fire Phillips.

There's long been speculation that Phillips might be pushed aside and Garrett promoted from offensive coordinator next season as Dallas moves into a new $1.1 billion, 100,000-seat stadium.

"I'd like to go in that new stadium with a Super Bowl win," Jones said.

But what if they don't make the playoffs? Could things change then?

"Look, can y'all not understand statements?" Jones said. "What the [expletive] is going on here? Really. I really don't understand what is going on. The coaching staff is in place. The coaching staff is in place. The building is here. You want to ask the question, what if it blows down?"