Friday, January 09, 2009

Dallas Cowboys Will Keep Coach Phillips

January 08, 2009 by Kevin Smith

Once the NFL regular season ends, the season to fire NFL coaches begins. Several teams have already made coaching changes. One coach whom many were expecting to be let go due to a promising, yet embarrassing season is Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips. Owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones has promised to bring coach Phillips back for next season. So, instead of changing coaches, the coach himself plans to change. "If it means being more demanding, more whatever, I have to get it done," Phillips said.

The Dallas Cowboys were highly favored to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the 2008 season, but they failed to even make the playoffs. All they had to do to make the playoffs was win their final game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys got crushed by the Eagles in a 44-6 loss to shatter their hopes of entering the playoffs, and ultimately ending their season. The Cowboys were 8-4 overall, before losing three of their final four games to end the season 9-7 overall. This was Wade Phillips' second season as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Both of the seasons that Phillips has coached the Dallas Cowboys have ended in a somewhat dramatic fashion. Last season the Cowboys were the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with a regular season record of 13-3. They faltered and lost their very first playoff game. This season wasn't as promising as last year due to the fact that Tony Romo was out with an injury for several weeks during the regular season. So what changes could Phillips possibly make?

Phillips hasn't exactly developed his plan yet, but has already made one small change in that he chose not to address the players on Monday. How the players will respond to all of this can really go both ways. Some players have already expressed the fact that they did not like that the team was not addressed by the coach on Monday. They feel as though they were being left in the dark, but recognize that some changes need to be made and whatever those changes may be they are all for it. Coach Phillips has already advised that he does expect for all of the players from this season to return next year, so a roster change is not in the plan.