Wade Phillips Named Cowboys Coach

Jerry Jones decided to take everyone a little bit by surprise today and introduced former Chargers defensive coordinator and erstwhile Broncos and Bills head coach Wade Phillips as the new Dallas head coach.

In hindsight, this is probably the logical ending to an illogical search. After hiring Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator before the head coach was hired, it wouldn't have made sense to bring in Norv Turner to be the head coach, like most expected was going to happen. Norv's biggest strength as everyone knows, is his mind for offense. That's why he's always been a great offensive coordinator. But he's not exactly Bill Parcells when it comes to the intangibles of getting a team ready to play as a head coach. So why bring in Garrett if you'd just be better off having Turner call the plays? That would make Garrett a wasted hire, and from what everyone seems to be saying about him, he's a bright guy with quite a future ahead of him as a coach in the league. In the end, Jones wasn't going to leave the potential of his young star, Garrett, unfulfilled.

There are two camps that should be especially thrilled with the Phillips hiring. One is DeMarcus Ware. Under Phillips' direction, Shawne Merriman exploded as maybe the most feared player in the NFL over the last two years. Ware is another linebacker with just as much freakish skill as Merriman, and he could very well blow up this coming season with Phillips as his mentor.

The other player that should be relieved at the Phillips hire is actually a group of players - namely, the San Francisco 49ers offensive unit - in particular, QB Alex Smith and RB Frank Gore. With Phillips the man in Dallas, Turner stays on as the offensive coordinator in San Francisco, meaning that the 49ers' two young offensive cornerstones who made incredible strides this year, can take the next steps towards greatness under Turner's tutelage.

Finally, while Phillips got a three year deal to coach the Cowboys, in reality, he probably has two years to get Dallas into the Super Bowl. Dallas has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, and all signs point to the NFC being open for the taking next year, just as it was this year. Expectations are high, and if Phillips can't take the team to an NFC title at the least, I would think that Jones will be looking to his hotshot new assistant in Garrett or maybe even another big name that surfaces, like Bill Cowher. Enjoy the honeymoon now, Wade, because the expectations are enormous.

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