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Cowlishaw: Why Wade Phillips might not get fired today
09:53 AM CST on Monday, November 8, 2010
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News
When you get down to it, the only difference between this Monday and last Monday is that more people are saying the same thing: "Jerry Jones has to fire Wade Phillips today, he just has to."
And, of course, being the owner, Jerry Jones doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to. So it's entirely possible that after another one-sided loss to the Giants, the chorus will grow even louder next Monday.
This column may become obsolete in a matter of hours, even minutes. Jones could fire Wade at any time. But if he doesn't do it today, here are my five reasons that Wade Phillips remains in charge (so to speak).
1. MONEY -- I don't think this is a big reason. Money itself is always a big reason to Jones and every owner in sports. But if you let Phillips go, you pay him for the rest of the season. If you keep him, you pay him for the rest of the season. It's too late to bring in an outsider so in all likelihood, all you're going to do is elevate someone from the coaching staff -- presumably Jason Garrett but who knows, it could be Paul Pasqualoni or Dave Campo or Joe DeCamillis -- and you don't really have to add much of anything to their paychecks for eight weeks.
2. GARRETT DOESN'T DESERVE IT -- Jones could certainly feel that way from watching this offense perform this season. Even before Tony Romo was injured, the unit was moving the ball but not producing points. And the Cowboys are the only team that apparently has to just completely give up all hope once they lose their quarterback.
Look around the NFL. The Steelers, the Titans, the Eagles, the Raiders -- these are alll teams that have had to use more than one quarterback this season for different reasons. These are teams with winning records. These are clubs whose fans are thinking playoffs, maybe even in one case or two, Super Bowl.
The Cowboys' offense is a mess and elevating Garrett would hardly quiet the masses right now.
3. GARRETT DESERVES BETTER -- Jerry may still view Garrett, despite this awful season, as a guy with a real future as head coach. To promote him at this time, well, we all pretty much know what's going to happen. The Cowboys may play harder than they did under Phillips -- they can't go the other direction at this point -- but they're still going to lose games and Jon Kitna is still going to get beat up behind one of the NFL's worst offensive lines.
So evaluating Garrett under these circumstances really is a bit unfair. Nobody is going to coach this team to great success the final eight weeks.
4. LOUSY OPTIONS IN GENERAL -- When you make a change at the top in any business, you want to get your fans, shareholders, whoever to focus on the future. You don't want to dwell on "We're Getting Rid of Wade." You want to be able to shout "We're Hiring (Insert Exciting Name Here)!"
Whether that person that excites the Cowboys' fan base is Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden or a college coach or somebody else, those people really aren't available right now and it wouldn't do any good to bring them into this midseason mess even if they were.
When Jerry makes a change, he wants to be fired up about sitting next to the new head coach at a news conference. If all he can do right now is promote from within, he knows that doesn't exactly energize the fan base.
5. BIGGER CHANGES COMING -- This is the one everybody wants. This is the one all of us who write columns or talk about the Cowboys on TV or radio hear most often. Jerry needs to turn over the GM position to somebody else.
Jones has articulated many times his philosophy on why he feels differently. But he's 67. This is the most disastrous Cowboys season in his 21-year tenure, far worse than the 1-15 of 1989 when the Cowboys were already the worst team in the league before he and Jimmy Johnson arrived.
Sometimes life changes are in order. I can't read Jerry's mind, but in 2002 he knew that the Cowboys in going 5-11 a third straight year were at a crossroads. So he was talked into Bill Parcells.
Maybe he realizes things are as bad as they are, even if he likes to remain the optimist in public. Maybe he knows that even if his philosophy on being a risk-taking GM who can't get fired has some merit (and it does) that it's not working right now and needs a real fix.
Maybe, just maybe, real change is coming for 2011.
09:53 AM CST on Monday, November 8, 2010
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News
When you get down to it, the only difference between this Monday and last Monday is that more people are saying the same thing: "Jerry Jones has to fire Wade Phillips today, he just has to."
And, of course, being the owner, Jerry Jones doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to. So it's entirely possible that after another one-sided loss to the Giants, the chorus will grow even louder next Monday.
This column may become obsolete in a matter of hours, even minutes. Jones could fire Wade at any time. But if he doesn't do it today, here are my five reasons that Wade Phillips remains in charge (so to speak).
1. MONEY -- I don't think this is a big reason. Money itself is always a big reason to Jones and every owner in sports. But if you let Phillips go, you pay him for the rest of the season. If you keep him, you pay him for the rest of the season. It's too late to bring in an outsider so in all likelihood, all you're going to do is elevate someone from the coaching staff -- presumably Jason Garrett but who knows, it could be Paul Pasqualoni or Dave Campo or Joe DeCamillis -- and you don't really have to add much of anything to their paychecks for eight weeks.
2. GARRETT DOESN'T DESERVE IT -- Jones could certainly feel that way from watching this offense perform this season. Even before Tony Romo was injured, the unit was moving the ball but not producing points. And the Cowboys are the only team that apparently has to just completely give up all hope once they lose their quarterback.
Look around the NFL. The Steelers, the Titans, the Eagles, the Raiders -- these are alll teams that have had to use more than one quarterback this season for different reasons. These are teams with winning records. These are clubs whose fans are thinking playoffs, maybe even in one case or two, Super Bowl.
The Cowboys' offense is a mess and elevating Garrett would hardly quiet the masses right now.
3. GARRETT DESERVES BETTER -- Jerry may still view Garrett, despite this awful season, as a guy with a real future as head coach. To promote him at this time, well, we all pretty much know what's going to happen. The Cowboys may play harder than they did under Phillips -- they can't go the other direction at this point -- but they're still going to lose games and Jon Kitna is still going to get beat up behind one of the NFL's worst offensive lines.
So evaluating Garrett under these circumstances really is a bit unfair. Nobody is going to coach this team to great success the final eight weeks.
4. LOUSY OPTIONS IN GENERAL -- When you make a change at the top in any business, you want to get your fans, shareholders, whoever to focus on the future. You don't want to dwell on "We're Getting Rid of Wade." You want to be able to shout "We're Hiring (Insert Exciting Name Here)!"
Whether that person that excites the Cowboys' fan base is Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden or a college coach or somebody else, those people really aren't available right now and it wouldn't do any good to bring them into this midseason mess even if they were.
When Jerry makes a change, he wants to be fired up about sitting next to the new head coach at a news conference. If all he can do right now is promote from within, he knows that doesn't exactly energize the fan base.
5. BIGGER CHANGES COMING -- This is the one everybody wants. This is the one all of us who write columns or talk about the Cowboys on TV or radio hear most often. Jerry needs to turn over the GM position to somebody else.
Jones has articulated many times his philosophy on why he feels differently. But he's 67. This is the most disastrous Cowboys season in his 21-year tenure, far worse than the 1-15 of 1989 when the Cowboys were already the worst team in the league before he and Jimmy Johnson arrived.
Sometimes life changes are in order. I can't read Jerry's mind, but in 2002 he knew that the Cowboys in going 5-11 a third straight year were at a crossroads. So he was talked into Bill Parcells.
Maybe he realizes things are as bad as they are, even if he likes to remain the optimist in public. Maybe he knows that even if his philosophy on being a risk-taking GM who can't get fired has some merit (and it does) that it's not working right now and needs a real fix.
Maybe, just maybe, real change is coming for 2011.
