Report: Wade Phillips Will Be Back

Head Coach Wade Phillips

Chris Mortensen of ESPN on Monday claimed to have inside information that Jerry Jones will not fire head coach Wade Phillips.  Mortensen says it is because the “economic climate” is not favorable to hiring a new head coach.  The fact is Wade Phillips is a good coach.  I’m not sure at all that Jason Garrett, the presumed head-coach-in-waiting, could have been as effective in the last two years.  He was a quarterback and a quarterbacks coach.  He doesn’t know defenses nearly as well as Phillips.  With Phillips recently inserting his nose squarely in the defense’s business, they have been playing very well on the defensive side of the ball.  It is the offense that is not clicking, and that is Garrett’s domain.  If anyone should be fired, it should be Jason Garrett.

Look at it this way, Wade Phillips was hired with the knowledge that he was a good defensive coach.  Jason Garrett was hired to run the offense.  The two roles mesh well when both are doing a good job.  Phillips let Defensive Coordinator Brian Stewart run the defense and call the defensive plays for most ot the year, but when it became apparent that he wasn’t getting the job done Phillips stepped in and took over the play calling on the defense.  He also took a more active role in the defense’s practices and training.  When he did this, he proved his worth as a head coach.  He saw where he was most needed and he filled that hole, and he did it well.  It was a blow to Stewart’s credibility, though, and so it wasn’t something he did lightly.

Garrett, on the other hand, has ruled over a fracturing offense that is being brought down from within by bickering and infighting.  At least that is the impression we get from the press.  Admittedly, it probably isn’t that bad, and by all accounts T.O. is most likely the innocent party.  But this is where Garrett is needed.  He was hired to run the offense, and they need his leadership to pull back together.  Can Wade step in and do it himself?  Sure.  Should Wade step in?  No.  It has been made clear that Garrett is being primed for the head-coaching job.  This is where Jason Garrett needs to step up and show that he has what it takes to be an NFL head coach.  If Phillips steps in, it would be a blow to Garrett’s credibility as a coach, and his career at Dallas might not recover.

Brian Stewart needs to be let go so that the Cowboys can find a defensive-minded coordinator that can do the job properly without papa Wade stepping in to lend a hand.  It is my opinion that if Jason Garrett can’t get control of his offense, then he needs to go as well.  Wade Phillips did his job and he did it well, stepping in and correcting mistakes himself when it became apparent that his defensive staff couldn’t do it themselves.  For that, he deserves to come back.

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