Cowboy Nation: Taking a closer look at Wade Phillips

By Cowboy Nation  |   Thursday, July 30, 2009  |  Comments( 8 )

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When Jerry introduced Wade Phillips as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys two years ago, I cringed. The Bill Parcells project had failed to provide a Super Bowl and Jerry was ready to move on. What I couldn't understand was jumping from one extreme to the other. If Bill was the disciplinarian, the drill sergeant, the bull dog of coaching, why would JJ go straight to a poodle? I'll never understand why JJ does the things he does, but Wade had just finished up an impressive run as Defensive Coordinator at San Diego, so what the hell was I worried about?

The man was a very good DC, studied under his father, Bum, and Buddy Ryan (Bum#2). The question was, can he lead a team as Head Coach? He has HC'd before, but did not produce satisfactory results.

Let's take a look at the last two seasons. The first season was phenomenal: 13-3. However, honesty is our policy here at Cowboy Nation, that 13-3 season was the house that Bill built. Sure he wasn't there to call the plays, and nobody expected the RHG (red headed genius) Jason Garrett to take the league by storm, but it was Bill who shaped those players. Let me be even more honest, if Bill was still coach that year, he would have pushed through that playoff game against the Giants. I can't promise a Super Bowl win against the Patriots, but he would have gotten us there. Year two was more realistic of Wade's head coaching abilities: 9-7. A chance to get into the playoffs with a win at home over Baltimore, the final game at Texas Stadium. All the former Cowboy stars had gathered, only to witness possibly the worst, most embarrassing loss in franchise history. Then the next week came. 44-6 in Philly. How can a Coach allow a defeat of such magnitude to follow a defeat of catastrophic proportions? Anybody remember the Music City Miracle? Yup, that was Wade, at the losing end coaching the Bills.

Cut to two years later, and now, after a dismal December, Wade has promised to butch up. He will become a disciplinarian, he will act as a drill sergeant, he will become....Bill Parcells. Fortunately, (or should I say unfortunately) Wade can't make that transition. Oh sure, he will be tougher. But a tough Wade Phillips is like an angry Barney Rubble. I ask you Nation, place a split screen in your mind, one side Wade, the other Barney Rubble. Get the picture? They look alike! Not so tough. Buy hey, Barney's tryin'. In addition to his toughness, Wade has added more practices to this year's camp, essentially removing the creamy filling from camp cupcake. And yes, moving the practices indoors to the Alamo Dome where there is air condition can seem twice as nice as an outdoor facility, but any NFL player worth his salt will tell you, artificial turf is murder on the knees. It's OK to play on, but to practice day after day, and twice a day is a potential Russian roulette of injury on any high dollar player. Another change on Wade's docket is fining. He will raise fines to the league maximum. Now we're talkin'. Nothing like fining millionaires. In one example, if any Cowboy shows up to camp overweight, Wade will fine him $453 per pound. Or if I were to give a real world example of the $ translation to the American working man, "20 pounds overweight Dave! That'll be eight dollars."

You get the idea. But hey, the man is trying. He's trying real hard to be the Shepperd. One thing I know for sure is that the players love him. He is a great boss to have, and he will stand by you. There's never been any question about that. When the practice facility collapsed in Dallas, a lot of our players became hero's, pulling teammates and in some cases the media out of that God forsaken structure. Wade was right there with them. And when I saw that large body run back and forth helping people, leading the way, I knew this season would be different. I knew Wade Phillips cared. I knew that the speech about change for the good of the Cowboys was not about a media sound bite, or a way to pacify the fans. He meant that. He is ready. Music City Miracle, Texas Stadium Farewell Debacle, and the Philly cheese chum-ping will all go away with that first playoff win, the first of his career. He will lead this team to the promise land just as he led his players out of that money saving, poor excuse for a Jerry Jones practice facility.

And when that day comes, I will be the first to remind you Nation, you heard it here. You hear it hear first! And if there is a DC City Miracle, I will calmly surf on over to eBay and buy myself a stuffed Barney Rubble and a box of long, sharp needles.



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Next on Cowboy Nation, Tony "No TO" Romo. What will this season be like with out Tony's biggest supporter, and biggest critic around? And how long will it be before TO destroys the credibility of another QB and another city. If history serves, this year it's another fake suicide.
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CommentsComments: 8  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
jroc73		03:40 PM
07/30/2009
I totally agree, Wade is alot like Barney. But i think more like the dinosaur than the bedrock boy. Either way, a tiger can't...
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No.2
Cowboy Nation		06:52 PM
07/30/2009
Jroc73 you Rock! Thanks for the comment. Yeah, i'm with you on that Arizona game. It was the game that doomed our season. I...
No.3
jroc73		07:38 PM
07/30/2009
You're right about the back to back blow outs to end the season. It was pathetic to close out Texas Stadium like that. How can...
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