But on my first day on the job, I actually found out that there was a secret cadre of Cowboys fans up here. In fact, at work, there are a few of them. And while there are some Eagles' fans, there's a nice mix of football fans.
Considering the Cowboys' struggles, though, there wasn't much to argue about. I just kept my mouth shut for the most part, only joining in neutral topics (such as fantasy football).
But, today, the Cowboys' fans were all excited. Because, today, Wade Phillips was fired.
I'm torn between feelings of hatred and pity for the former coach of the Cowboys. On one hand, I think he's done a terrible job with a lot of talent - that a lot of his wins were mostly due to a simple talent advantage over most teams. And, despite that, the Cowboys only had one playoff win under the Phillips' regime.
On the other hand, I feel bad for Wade. Not because he got fired...but simply because of the way he was forced to carry himself. Wade Phillips seems like a genuinely nice man who really cares for his players. So much so that he defends players for inexcusable errors - when things went wrong, he preferred people blame him instead of the player. It's admirable, but these days, people want the players held accountable.
But it's not just that - Wade Phillips was reduced to a company man. He was Jerry Jones' puppet from day one, and it really immasculated poor Mr. Phillips...who never truly had any power. Wade was unable to criticize anyone or punish anyone anyway, which probably added to his "blame me, not the player" attitude.
And while it takes a certain man to get bossed around as much as Wade did, you have to feel sorry for him. Because this was the job of a lifetime - to coach the Dallas Cowboys - and it's probably Wade's last head coaching job. If someone offered you your dream job as a last-ditch hope, would you take it...even if it meant living completely by someone else's rules? Would you take it if it meant allowing yourself to be castrated, in a sense?
Wade decided that it was worth it. And I'm sure he did his best.
But, at the end of the day, it wasn't good enough. And, I'm afraid, Wade was never the right man for the job. I wasn't excited about his hiring a few years ago, and I wasn't excited about him...even when the Cowboys were winning the division. I knew that, for the Cowboys to get to the top, they needed someone of a different pedigree.
So, today, the Jason Garrett era begins. I was excited about Garrett a few years ago, but his offense has fallen on its face more than once in his tenure. It gets a lot of yards, but it finds a way to leave a lot of points on the field. Garrett's offense is great for fantasy players, but it's not great for wins. Especially with all the weapons he has.
But maybe Garrett is a better head coach than he is a coordinator. Maybe he has the right stuff, in terms motivating the team. Maybe he's the right guy.
And I'm sure he'll get plenty of time to test. With a work stoppage potentially looming in the future, Jerry might be forced to keep Jason Garrett for the 2011 season. And I look forward to seeing if the team performs any differently under the new interim coach. Because this season is lost...it's time to start looking forward to next year.
But I know one thing - Wade wasn't entirely to blame. The players aren't playing either. A lot of them have already quit on the season and will have to be replaced. A lot of the players have simply aged too much and will have to be replaced. The offensive gameplan is often flawed and will have to be changed.
So the Jason Garrett era begins. Time will only tell if it will improve over the Wade Phillips era.
No comments:
Post a Comment