Thursday, February 08, 2007

The New Cowboys Coach

Wade Phillips is the new coach of my favorite football team, the Dallas Cowboys. Frankly, I am not super happy about this...but he is a good fit, I guess.

Here are the positives, as I see them:
  1. He has only one losing season in his five full seasons as a head coach.
  2. His overall record as a head coach is 48-42.
  3. He has extensive background as a defensive position coach and coordinator in the NFL.
  4. He likes the 3-4 defense, which Parcells had already implemented.
  5. He is known as a player's coach, which may help him deal with TO.
  6. He is a Texan, which is a good thing in Jerry Jones' book.
  7. His dad, Bum Phillips, was a head coach, thus Wade has had lots of learning opportunities.
  8. He has coached the Chargers defense over the last three seasons very well.
  9. He's taken over for big time coaches like Parcells before (Levy in Buffalo and Reeves in Denver).
  10. He is really excited about being the coach of "America's Team."
Here are the negatives, as I see them:
  1. He is a defensive coach and the Cowboys, in my opinion, need more help on offense than defense, specifically in grooming Romo and Barber.
  2. He seems to be a passive guy, which may lead to Jerry Jones having his thumb print on this team a la the Campo-Gailey era.
  3. He's not Ron Rivera, who is a guy that I like much better (though he isn't as good of a fit...though he could make a great defensive coordinator!).
  4. He won't be able to mentor Jason Garrett the way that someone like Norv Turner could have.
  5. He is 0-3 in the playoffs and the 'Boys haven't won a playoff game in some time!

In the end, he may be a good fit but he's not the exciting pick that many of us 'Boys fans were hoping for!

I do hope, however, that Jones signs Rivera as the defensive coordinator. Then after Phillips' contract is up there would be an interesting match-up between Garrett and Rivera for the head coaching job!

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