Still kind of an asshole ... even if he is unemployed It's been a pretty sweet 18 hours. Judging by the news coverage, you'd think Jerry Jones had smothered a litter of puppies and clubbed some seals on a pentagram.
I think we must take Jason Garrett out of this equation for a moment. I'm not certain that he's the answer long term for the Cowboys. Time will tell and he'll have at least eight games to prove himself.
However, the idea that Phillips should not have been fired because it "doesn't do any good" is ridiculous. What good is going 1-7? It can't get any worse making a change just as it probably could not have gotten worse had Phillips not been fired.
The Cowboys sucked balls with Phillips. If they continue sucking balls, what's the difference. It took Jones three weeks (or two years) too long, but he made a change.
And let's not fool ourselves. Phillips was fired because the defense sucked. Had the Cowboys been 1-7 and yet the defense was holding teams to 200 yards and 10 points a game, Phillips is still here. Then again, had the Cowboys' defense done that, they're probably not 1-7.
Phillips was brought in to improve the defense, make it dynamic. The best in the league. This along with superstar offensive coordinator Garrett would put the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Instead, it resulted in one playoff win and a bag full of excuses.
I have not kept it a secret how much I dislike Phillips. As Bill Parcells once said, "You are what you are."
So, how can Phillips be a miserable, patronizing, self-important, egotistical, neurotic and bumbling turd in almost every single press conference and yet be a good person everywhere else.
Nightly newscasts had pictures of Phillips slapping players on the ass, kiss babies, showing up for charity bullshit, smiling, laughing, running, pumping his fist and acting like the general nincompoop that he was.
How Phillips went from being a giant asshole in press conferences to the biggest sympathetic character in Dallas sports is beyond me.
I thought The Ticket had some wonderful coverage of the firing. They called in a number of their hosts and had a 4-hour long roundtable. Craig Miller has been a vehement opponent to Phillips, especially over the past six or so weeks.
He had a great analogy: Phillips was given a brand-new, pristine sports car. Over four years, he washed and waxed it. Cleaned the tires. Kept the windows sufficiently clean. He liked to show it off.
Problems started. It labored going up hills. It started to run rough. Still, it got you where you wanted to go. Still, more problems arose. The tires wore thin. The windshield wipers became frayed.
The engine began to get clogged up with old oil and the transmission didn't go from first to second to third to overdrive like it used to. Finally, in his fifth year, the engine fell out. A couple of tires blew out as they speed toward their biggest destination.
Yes, the problems didn't come to a head until his fifth year, but Phillips had every opportunity to prevent and fix these problems before. A schedule maintenance. Going ahead and getting the tires replaced. Being proactive. Keeping the car up to snuff outside and in.
Phillips wasn't into that. He liked his players and his players liked him, I'm sure. But in 15 years, I dare you to ask Jason Witten off the record whether or not his four years with Phillips was the best years of his career. Ask Bradie James, DeMarcus Ware, Tony Romo, Roy Williams or Jay Ratliff. Ask if Phillips got everything out of them that there was to get.
Ask them who had the most impact on their football careers and find out where Phillips ranked.
Phillips came to Dallas and made friends. He defended his players and shielded them from any and all blame and accountability. Those players, in the end, didn't have Phillips' back the last eight games.
You think Mike Jenkins was thinking of Phillips when he dodged that tackle on James Jones Sunday night?
I will not miss Phillips because I really don't think he's a good person. He's an angry and jaded person. Someone that demands some kind of respect from reporters and fans that he hasn't deserved and thinks respect from players means you have to placate and massage their egos.
This is why Phillips is unemployed today.
