Future Coaching/Leadership for the Cowboys

Make no mistake about it, I think Wade Phillips should go…today. Wade is a nice guy and a heck of a defensive coordinator but he, like a host of others, is not a good head coach. The head coach needs to exude leadership in the face of adversity…I don’t think Wade does that. The times that Dallas has been behind in games, I haven’t seen anything from him that leads me to believe he is the “William Wallace” leader the team needs. He stands over there, looking like Elmer Fudd, showing little emotion and/or enthusiasm. With 7:43 seconds left in the 4th quarter of last Sunday’s game, Dallas was trailing 44-3 and was stopped from completing a 3rd down conversion. At that point, Wade knew (just like EVERONE else watching on tv and in the stadium) that Dallas had lost the game. So what does he do…he sends the field goal team out there to kick a field goal to make the score 44-6. What good was that? What’s the difference in 44-6 and 44-3, if they had missed picking up the 4th down conversion? The Cowboys weren’t going to win the game anyway. To me, that was a gutless call.

The head coach needs to make good decisions in regard to leading the team…I don’t think Wade does enough of that. In ’07, Wade sat a lot of the starters for the final game in Washington because the Cowboys had already secured the #1 overall seed in the playoffs and a loss to the Deadskins wouldn’t change that. As a result, Dallas got rolled 27-6. Now, compare that to how Tom Coughlin handled the Giants last game in ’07 and ’08. In ’07, the Giants had already secured their spot in the playoffs and a win or loss in their final game would do nothing to change their seeding. They were playing the mighty, undefeated Patriots at home and Coughlin played all the starters the full game. The Giants played toe to toe with New England but ended up losing in the last few minutes of the game however many Giants players said that game built tremendous confidence which ended up taking them to the Super Bowl where they met the same Patriot team and ultimately defeated them. This year, New York had secured the #1 overall seed and played their final game in Minnesota against a Vikings team that really needed to win to cement their playoff birth. The Giants played their starters a full half and the rest of the team played balls to the wall but ended up losing on a last second field goal to the Vikings. However, that result is vastly different that getting torched 27-6. Coughlin made a decision, both years, to play to win their final game and it showed in his team’s performance.

The head coach needs to call the shots on the sideline. In the game last week, Dallas came up on a 4th and 1. After Elmer Fudd waivered a bit, he finally sent the punting team out on the field. Romo, waived off the punting team, went for the 4th down and made it (which I thought they should have done anyway). When Romo waived off the punting team, Wade just stood there looking confused but didn’t send the punting team back out or call time out or anything. Basically, it looked like he let Romo take charge of the team and contradict what he had directed. Now I ask you, had that been Bill Parcells or Jimmy Johnson, would that have flown? Not in a million years. I’m not advocating trying to get Parcells back but rather just showing what a solid head coach would have done in that situation.

I, like A LOT of others, think Wade needs to go but I don't think he will. Jerry kind of painted himself into a corner when he came out BEFORE the Filthadelphia game and said that Wade would be the coach next year. I don't think Jerry thought they would lose that game, nor play that poorly. But even after that game, Jerry has come out and emphatically said that he won't be changing head coaches because he thinks the continuity provides Dallas with its best chance to win. That doesn't mean that Jerry can't change his mind but, with what he has said to this point about it, I would be surprised if he fires Wade. To date, the only coach I'm aware of being fired was the special teams coach (which really should have been fired after the Arizona game this year).

Jerry heads into the off season shaking his head that this collection of talent won only nine games, while Miami, who was 1-15 last year, went 11-5. To add salt to the wound, the Dolphins’ turnaround was orchestrated by former Dallas folks, namely Parcells and coach Tony Sparano, who was among the people passed over when Jones hired Phillips and made Jason Garrett the offensive coordinator in 2007. Dallas has as much, if not more, talent than any other team in the NFL. But just because they have collected an impressive roster of individual players does not mean they will gel together and become a team with a single minded purpose.

Here's an example. You may or may not remember this but I remember the '99 Redskins team with a new young, smug owner named Daniel Snyder. They signed a ton of high profile, high priced free agents that off season (Mark Carrier, Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders and Jeff George to name a few) and also just drafted LaVar Arrington, Chris Samuels and a few others. They were the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl before the season started. Sound familiar Cowboys fans? And their season ended EXACTLY like Dallas' did except I believe they finished 8-8 or even 7-9. The point is that chemistry counts for something and that generally treating a real team like a fantasy team doesn't necessarily work. That has been shown in baseball and basketball as well (except for the '95 Marlins who won the World Series).

There has to be changes no matter who is coaching though. Accountability is huge and not really present for the Cowboys. That is particularly evident in the fact that the Cowboys were the most penalized team in the NFL this year. Wade is big on saying that he is accountable for the penalties which to a certain extent is good because the players know their coach has their back and won’t throw them under the bus. But also, the players know Wade won’t throw them under the bus so they can commit stupid penalties and know they aren’t going to get publicly blasted their coach for them. So many players have gotten huge contracts where, if they stopped playing today, they would be set for life (provided they manage their money wisely). The team is being paid like a championship team without the championship pedigree...they haven't even won a playoff game in a dozen years now. No one fears the loss of their job and that makes for lackluster, uninspired play on the field which we saw in Filthadelphia. Both Jerry and Wade have said that they can, and are, going to each change in the way they approach and handle the team. Not sure what that means but hopefully more accountability will be part of that.