Dallas should hire Phillips by process of elimination

By Andy Targovnik  |   Friday, February 02, 2007  |  Comments( 19 )

Dallas Cowboys
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When Bill Parcells retired, he left the Dallas Cowboys handcuffed. Despite there being slim pickings on the head coaching market, Dallas has to pick one. It's a decision that's so far taken owner Jerry Jones a good deal of time to decide.

There's no proven winner available. Dallas has two categories of candidates to choose from: recycled, older candidate or an up-and-coming assistant coach.

Thanks to the success of Eric Mangini in New York, handing the reins to a young, bright assistant has become the trendy thing to do. Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh, Lane Kiffin in Oakland, Cam Cameron in Miami and Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona all fit directly into this grouping.

But it's important to note that all of the aforementioned teams are in rebuilding situations, which allows their respective head coaches to go through growing pains with the rest of the squad. And when those clubs finally get into a position to win it all, their coaches will have experience under their belts.

So although Mike Singletary, Jason Garrett and Ron Rivera may be outstanding head coaches someday, because the Cowboys are a "now" team, they simply can't afford to have anybody learn on the job.

That brings us to the head coach recycling bin, more specifically Norv Turner and Wade Phillips.

Turner has Cowboy roots and is an excellent offensive coordinator, but that's where it ends. In nine years as the head coach of the Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders, Turner (now the 49ers' O-coordinator) not only had a reputation of being too lax, but he compiled a miserable 58-82 regular-season record and only made the playoffs once.

Other than Turner, there's the 60-year-old Phillips.

Not counting his seven games as an interim coach with the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons earlier in his career, Phillips compiled a solid 45-35 record in five years at the helm of the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills.

True, Phillips was 0-3 in the playoffs, but his Bills lost two wild games that could have gone either way. In 1998, they lost, 24-17, to the Miami Dolphins in a game that came down to the last play. And in 1999, Buffalo actually had the Tennessee Titans -- the eventual AFC Super Bowl representative -- beat, but the infamous "Music City Miracle" sent the Bills home.

The Titans ended up being a Kevin Dyson outstretched arm away from taking the St. Louis Rams into overtime in the big game, so who knows how far the Bills could have gone?

It's important to remember that many Super Bowl-winning coaches had to endure failure before triumph Just ask Bill Cowher, Dick Vermeil or Jon Gruden. As coach of the Raiders, Gruden was burned by the Tom Brady "tuck rule" play, which knocked Oakland out of the playoffs in January '02, before he finally won it all with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002-2003.

And there's always the Terrell Owens factor. Unlike the spoiled receiver's previous head coaches, Phillips is not a control freak. Perhaps Phillips' laid-back approach can keep T.O.'s outbursts to a minimum.

Is Phillips the perfect candidate? Far from it. Sure, it would be great for the Cowboys if Gruden, Cowher or Jeff Fisher were available, but they're not. It means Phillips is the lesser of all evils. And when you think about it, a 45-35 career record isn't really evil at all.

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CommentsComments: 19  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
fr8ttrain		11:07 AM
02/02/2007
I think you are about dead on, Phillips, by process of elimination seems the best fit for the Cowboys situation. I just wonder...
No.2
bruce		12:27 PM
02/02/2007
i would sign bums son phillips before norv but we need some new blood in there such as singletary or now ron rivera has been...
No.3
abarca		12:29 PM
02/02/2007
norv turner sux at being a head coach, he's proven that he's a better x's and o's type of guy than anything else just look at...
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