It was a good day for you Sunday, Mr. Cowboy Fan. Your team notched its second straight shutout, won the division title, and now rightfully carry the mantle of chic NFC Super Bowl pick.
But your day was nothing compared to the day Mr. Wade Phillips had. Thanks to the Cowboys recent three-game tear, it’s time to call of the Wade Phillips Death Watch. Our man is here to stay, now and forever, or at least one more year.
Jones has yet to exercise the option year on Phillips’ contract, preferring to wait until the outcome of the team’s rematch with Philly next week. And why not? It’s not as if Phillips has any leverage here. What’s he gonna do, go coach the Bills? And bench Doug Flutie, again? I THINK NOT!
There’s still the matter of Phillips’ winless record in the postseason, but I have a sneaking suspicion that even a playoff loss to Philly won’t be enough to persuade the Double J to dump Wade after next week. Phillips secured Jones the home playoff game he so desperately wanted for his new stadium, and this year’s 11-5 squad has enough young talent to challenge in the NFC for at least a few more years before turning over again. Publicly, Jones is fawning over Phillips, like a child made good. From the Dallas Morning News:
Jerry Jones still refuses to say Wade Phillips will be his coach next season, but he gave strong indications yet again that he intends to exercise a clause in Phillips contract that will have him return for the 2010 season.
Asked after Sunday's win over Philadelphia why he won't just come out and say Phillips will return, Jones said, "I don't want to discuss contracts. But we have one. It's there.''
This came after Jones gushed about how Phillips has shown him more these last four weeks than at any time during his tenure.
"He has shown me this year more than any how tough he is,'' Jones said. "He is a thick-skinned man. He is very resilient. There is nothing that he hasn't seen.
"What I have seen in him is a more comfortable feeling in his role as coach over the last quarter of this year than I've seen at any time over the last three years. He got more comfortable, from my perspective, really as we started December."
So if you were someone who spent this year trying to reconcile your desire for the Cowboys to succeed with wanting Wade to fail (and who wasn’t?), you’re just going to have to prepare yourself for at least another year of Wade doing what Wade does. Come Super Bowl Sunday, that might not be such a terrible prospect.
