Wade Phillips Fired by the Dallas Cowboys

Wade Phillips has been fired as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys by owner Jerry Jones. Jason Garrett will replace Wade Phillips and be the interim coach of the Cowboys. After the Dallas Cowboys have won only one game in 2010 Jerry Jones has fired Wade Phillips.

According to profootballtalk.com Phillips thought his job was safe until he was fired today, and was visibly upset. Wade Phillips also served as the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys and Paul Pasqualoni has taken over that job. Pasqualoni was the defensive line coach and I predicted his possible hiring here, before Phillips was fired.

Jerry Jones has a history of not firing coaches well and alienated lots of fans (including me) with the way that Tom Landry was fired, when Jones bought the team. Wade Phillips was liked and respected (as a defensive coach at least) around the NFL and Jones handled the firing badly.

Now that Wade Phillips has been fired, Jason Garrett has taken over on an interim basis. The Cowboys will have to follow the "Rooney Rule" and interview at least one minority candidate before naming Garrett or anyone else as a full time replacement head coach.

Jason Garrett was considered to be the coach in waiting for when Wade Phillips got fired or retired. However Garrett has been under fire for the poor performance of the Dallas Cowboys offense and has lost some of his luster. Garrett turned down head coaching jobs in Atlanta and Baltimore to be the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator. I am sure fans in those cities are glad he did and are happy with their current coaches.

Wade Phillips was considered to be the perfect coach for Jerry Jones. Phillips is a laid back "yes man" type of guy. The problem was that he couldn't control a very talented team and make them win. Wade Phillips leaves Dallas with a 34-22regular season record and a 1-3 playoff record. Phillips's career totals are 82 wins, 61 losses and a 1-5 playoff record. Phillips is thought to be a great defensive coach but was running a Dallas defense that seldom showed up to play this year.

Jerry Jones had his best success with strong willed coaches Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcels. Barry Switzer did win a Super Bowl in Dallas but he did it with Jimmy Johnson's players. Jones has an ego the size of Texas and wants all the credit for winning and wants a low key coach who will step out of the limelight.

The firing of Wade Phillips will probably be followed by a cleaning of house of players and the rest of the staff. But until Jones puts his ego aside and hires a good coach the Cowboys will continue to struggle.