Well the inevitable has happened today, and Wade Phillips has been fired as the Head Coach of the 1-7 Dallas Cowboys. I do enjoy the fact that this all comes 1 week after GM/Owner Jerry Jones said Wade Phillips would finish the season as Coach. Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett will be taking over as interim coach for the rest of the season, but now the talk will turn to who will be the next to coach the Cowboys.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to Jerry Jones and his preference of coaches. He had great success with Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, as they had personnel power, but soon after they built a great team Jerry decided to bring in a puppet who he could control. The big question is, "Will Jerry hand over the team to an established coach or will he pick a new toy?". Secondly, "If Jerry hires a leader, will he let them stay around after the new regime is established?".
I think that Jerry pleases the fans and goes with a proven winner. The obvious choices are John Gruden, Bill Cowher, and John Fox (who will undoubtedly be leaving Carolina in the offseason). The best choice for the Cowboys would probably be Cowher based on his experience with the 3-4, and his commitment to the run game. There are, however, rumors that Cowher is just waiting for the Panthers job to open so he can take it and stay close to his family. I think what ends up happening is John Gruden comes out of his role in the broadcast booth for this star studded job. He is a proven winner, and more important in Dallas, he's a character. It would be a match made in JerryWorld heaven. So you may not have heard it here first, but you did hear it here before it happened... Gruden will be the next Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys!
This actually makes no sense to fire Wade now. Garrett will not be able to show what he can do as a coach with the players there now anyway. This season is a wash anyway. Let Wade stay, hire a better coach\personel guy in the off season and draft better players. Get rid of the dead weight (yes I mean you Roy Williams) and move on. They need an offensive line and better DB's.
ReplyDeleteAndy
Thanks for reading Andy! I agree that Garrett really stands no chance of retaining the job after the season, but if he is smart he'll treat the rest of the time as an audition for future jobs. He has the players' respect, now he just needs to make the right moves and see what happens. I absolutely agree that their OL is the weakness, but their DB's are pretty good if they can stay healthy and not cause penalties.
ReplyDeleteStephen