Wade Phillips has just received another vote of confidence from Jerry Jones.
I myself have my doubts; I guess I am old school I believe you need discipline to win a Super Bowl. I am like a lot of others I have great respect for his defensive coaching abilities.
So let’s take a look at Phillips history.
Wade Phillips the head coach for the Dallas Cowboys. He is also a former head coach of the New Orleans Saints, where his record was 1-3, the Denver Broncos, where his record was 16-17, the Buffalo Bills, where he was 29-21 and led the Bills to the playoffs in two of three seasons, and the Atlanta Falcons where he posted a 2-1 mark. His career winning percentage as a head coach is .596. Phillips has won 22 games over the last two years as the Head Coach in Dallas.
It should be known that Dallas is the only team where Phillips was originally hired as the Head Coach. All the other places he was the Head Coach, he was made the in-term Coach after someone else left.
It should also be known that in each of those case’s Phillips had top 5 Defense’s.
Head coaching record:
- New Orleans Saints – 1 WIN 3 LOSES .250 record
- Denver Broncos – 16 wins 16 loses .500 record
- Buffalo Bills – 29 wins 19 loses .604 record
- Atlanta Falcons – 2 wins 1 lose .666 record
- Dallas Cowboys – 22 wins 10 loses .688 record
- Total – 70 wins 49 loses .588 record
Know this my friend, no one can dispute his defensive abilities. And in my mind as for the X’s and O’s he is one hell of a Coach. However the doubt I have is, will the lack of Discipline prevent him from leading the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl?
I personally would prefer a more disciplinarian myself but I realize that not every approach works for every player/team. No doubt the Cowboys benefited from Phillips’ laid back style in 2007 with a 13-3 record. The playoff loss was just that, a loss to the hotest team in the league at that time. The loss was not Phillips fault any more than it was Belichick’s fault the Patriots lost. The Giants were the hotter team…
Perhaps the Cowboys played beyond their talent in 2007 and 2008 was a more accurate reflection of how good they actually are. Hard to say, but 2009 is do or die for the team and coach Phillips. Phillips is not the only coach to struggle early on in his career as the head man. Landry is a perfect example. His first 5 seasons in Dallas were mediocre at best and many fans/media were screaming for his job but Murchison stuck with him and we know how that turned out. I know its unrealistic to think any coach in today’s game would get 5 years to turn a team around but it would be nice to see a team stick with a guy for longer than a season or two.
I personally do not think Phillips has been given a fair shake at any of his head coaching jobs and if the Cowboys stumble in 2009 I expect that trend to continue. Fingers crossed Phillips and the Cowboys can turn things around and find some of the magic they had in 2007…
LMFAO! Only thing Fatboy will ever lead the cCowboys to is the buffett…