So after last night's debacle Wade Phillips stepped to the mic today. I've already stated that I'm unhappy with the job Wade Phillips is doing as coach, but that's hardly the point because Big Jerry has stated that Big Wade is here to stay. It is what it is. So while I was so busy today I didn't have time to tune into Wade's presser live, I did go back and watch the archive. Here's my take on Wade's PC mixed in with some news of the day.
Wade is putting together a plan but he's not ready to share it yet. I wonder if he had a plan for the Philly game and didn't share that with anyone either? I kid! Why so serious? Anyway, Wade says things will need to change and that starts with himself. Uh, I don't know but somehow I'm not reassured. He'll analyze everything including the way they run practices, training camp, etc. and Wade might just have to get tougher and more demanding. He will transform himself from the cuddly Pillsbury Dough Boy into the much-feared Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man. I'm not bitter, really. I expressed skepticism that he could make the transformation at this stage in his career today on the DCFanatic Show and wondered if he did how some of the players might take to the new approach. Enter Bradie James.
"If you know a person to be a certain way and then all of a sudden you have an extreme change, I don't know how well that's going to be taken," James said. "I don't know what he means by that. Like I said, he didn't address us, so I don't know."
Granted James did say that Wade already can be tough and that he would be a team-player no matter what Wade's new approach is, but it underlines the point that a sudden change in personality could cause some static in the locker room.
Whatever, we'll see what happens when the time comes.
There's much more after the jump.
Now where Wade started to get to the core of the problems was when he discussed turnovers. Yup, that I can wholeheartedly endorse. A few guys need to figure that one out. Marion Barber has put the ball on the turf an awful lot compared to his previous years. But, of course, there was no mistaking who this part of the presser was referring to - Tony Romo. Nothing stirs up a debate like a ...uh, debate...over Tony Romo. Here's my quick pitch on TR, he's got the skills to get it done but he absolutely has to learn that ball security is issue number one for a QB. I know some fans will blame the line, and yes, they deserve blame, but tuck the ball and take the sack every once in a while. Or throw it away. I don't need Romo trying to be Superman all the time, trust in your teammates, punt the ball away and live another day. Just stay within the flow of the game and for goodness sakes, just run with the ball if you have to, every play doesn't have to be a pass 30-yards downfield. I love ya' Romo, but if you just dialed your game back a notch, you would probably elevate your game.
Jerry Jones is fired up and plans to take everyone to the woodshed. No need for that Jerry, the Eagles already took the honor. Wade wouldn't let us in on whether his woodshed session already took place. Wade even brought up Camp Cupcake and thought it was a misconception. I don't know, I was at camp and while Shango and I never got the mythical cupcakes, things were pretty easy-going. Wade plans to talk some of the former coaches he's worked with to get some ideas on changes like Marv Levy, Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Reeves. All good coaches with a lot of respect but all missing one thing, a Super Bowl ring as a head coach. I'm just saying.
When pressed on personnel changes, Wade quietly demurred, saying that it could happen but he wouldn't be discussing anything like that today. Fair enough, it's a little soon for that kind of thing. He did mention that he needs to get some of the players back to the level they were playing two years ago. What's this, Wade actually calling out the players, maybe the tough Wade is already here. OK, so he really didn't call anybody out, but I got to hope for something.
When pressed on assistant coaches, he said both Jason Garrett and Brian Stewart would be back. That is, of course, if Garrett doesn't get scooped up by the Detroit Lions. I don't want Garrett to leave even though I think his offense and play-calling grew stale this year. He's a young coach and I think his best days are in the future and I would like them to be in Dallas. While I dump on Wade it's because I don't think his ways will truly change. He's been in the game too long for that. But Garrett has a chance to evolve and grow and I think this year will be a learning experience for him. When asked about special teams, Wade was non-committal. I take that as a good sign Bruce Read will be gone.
When discussing player personnel decisions Wade thought he had plenty of say in the decisions and didn't want anymore. Just for kicks, I wish he would have said "Yeah, I need more power in the personnel decisions, the GM here is too over-bearing." Man that would have been great but no such luck. When asked about Garrett, Romo, Jason Witten and T.O. all being able to co-exist he said for sure and that he knows things we don't. How cryptic was that? Also, he didn't have much to say on chemistry issues in general. But the Cowboys players did the talking for him. Tank Johnson let loose on the sidelines at the game and other players argued in the huddle. Then Cricket and Flozell got in a fight on the team charter home although they quickly made up today. The Cowboys players aren't keeping their fights inside the locker room though, Bradie James decided to mix it up with a fan outside Valley Ranch today. I think the fan came out the winner because he got some new Oakleys and got to meet with James and other officials inside the Ranch. Book my ticket to Dallas, I finally figured out how to get inside the facility!
All in all, it's just another day in the life of the Dallas Cowboys.