IRVING, Texas — Less than 10 months after he was given a two-year contract extension, Wade Phillips is no longer the Dallas Cowboys head coach, according to sources.
For the first time in team history, the Cowboys have made an in-season coaching change with owner and general manager Jerry Jones handing the interim job to their assistant head coach Jason Garrett.
Phillips’ job security has been a consistent question even after winning two NFC East titles in three seasons but the Cowboys’ 1-7 start forced Jones to do something he has never done before and consistently said this season he would not do.
The last straw was the 45-7 loss Sunday night to the Green Bay Packers, in which the Cowboys rushed for 39 total yards, allowed 28 second-quarter points and turned the ball over four times. The Cowboys lost 35-17 to Jacksonville the week before at Cowboys Stadium. Phillips’ defense allowed Jaguars quarterback David Garrard to throw four touchdown passes, Maurice Jones-Drew to rush for 135 yards and wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker to gain 153 receiving yards.
The Cowboys entered 2010 with the hopes of being the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its own stadium only to see dreams of a spot in Super Bowl XLV crash. The only team with a worse record than the Cowboys is winless Buffalo.
Phillips finished with a 34-22 record, but his time will be remembered more for what the Cowboys were unable to accomplish.
In 2007, the Cowboys finished with an NFC-best 13-3 record but were knocked out of the divisional round of the playoffs by the New York Giants, 21-17, at Texas Stadium. The Giants ended up winning the Super Bowl. In 2008, the Cowboys missed the playoffs altogether with a 9-7 mark that culminated with a 44-6 embarrassment at Philadelphia to close the regular season.
Last year the Cowboys rallied to finish 11-5 and ended their playoff-win drought with a 34-14 win against Philadelphia in the wild-card round, but they were crushed the following week by Minnesota, 34-3.
The Cowboys hired Phillips on Feb. 8, 2007 after an exhaustive search to replace Bill Parcells, who went 34-30 in his four years as coach. Phillips’ easy-going manner and success in running the 3-4 defense was viewed as the perfect antidote to Parcells’ strict regime.
It worked at first with the 13-3 start, but the Cowboys were among the most penalized team in the league during his tenure and could not create enough turnovers defensively. The Cowboys marked Phillips’ third full-time head coaching stops (Denver , Buffalo) and including two interim jobs (New Orleans, Atlanta), he has an 82-60 record but went just 1-5 in the postseason.
