Wade Phillips' name resurfacing in Cowboys search

Despite the perception that the Dallas Cowboys coaching search is moving away from Wade Phillips, league sources familiar with the process insist that the San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator remains on owner Jerry Jones' radar screen and retains a chance to land the job.

Phillips spent much of Tuesday contacting coaches he wants to hire as assistants if he gets the Dallas job, those sources said.

"It would be an overstatement to say he's putting together a staff," one source said. "But he was just touching base with his guys, updating them as to where he thinks things stand, and trying to hold [potential staffers] together. He is still in the hunt."

Wade Phillips was the first coach to interview with Jerry Jones without any ties to the Cowboys and it seems like he has been long since forgotten in the Cowboys' search.

He continues to be in the thoughts of Jerry Jones and has told people with the Chargers he remains in the mix.

Remember this: he has a 48-39 record in four spots and was 45-35 in his full-time gigs with Denver and Buffalo.

...the odds still strongly favor Norv Turner being tapped to fill the job that Bill Parcells vacated more than two weeks ago.

And the reasoning remains obvious: Jones has come around to the view that job one in Dallas is the continued development of quarterback Tony Romo, the Cowboys' best young talent at the game's glamour position since Troy Aikman arrived in 1989.

Aikman and another Hall of Fame Dallas quarterback, Roger Staubach, have weighed in with Jones on the importance of Romo's development. All of that counsel is a considerable plus for Turner, whose track record has always been to leave quarterbacks better off than he found them. When you throw in that Turner has familiarity with Jones and knows the hands-on style of the Cowboys owner/general manager, it's clear that the former Redskins and Raiders head coach is in a fairly commanding position.

The sticking point in regards to Rivera is his background in a 4-3 defense. The Cowboys have drafted 3-4 defenders under Parcells the past two years, and while both Jones and Rivera say they're flexible when it comes to scheme, Dallas might be faced with trying to insert some square pegs in a round hole. Will 3-4 linebacker DeMarcus Ware be able to play with his hand down at defensive end? Are Marcus Spears or Chris Canty 4-3 ends?