Wade Phillips' Comfort Level Grows Thanks To Team's 2009 Success
Dallas Morning News

Irving, TX. Saturday, July 17, 2010. Maybe it's looking too deep into one answer from a June news conference.

Maybe it was just a string of words that Wade Phillips chose to answer a question from an organized team activity, and that's all. Maybe there was no deeper meaning to what he said when he talked about some offensive struggles in a two-minute drill.

"We need to clean some things up," Phillips said, "but this is the first day of it and we'll do it again tomorrow and we'll do it until we do it right."

With some other coaches, like Phillips' predecessor, Bill Parcells, these words would not have even registered.

For Phillips, it was as close to a public flogging as he had given his team since taking over in 2007. A coach viewed – rightly or wrongly – as being too easy on his players was castigating the practice performance. The Cowboys wouldn't be playing a regular-season game for another three-plus months, but he wanted the players to know that what he saw on this day was not good enough.

In the past, Phillips mostly would voice his displeasure in a team meeting or on the practice field, which is why his statement was out of the norm.

It spoke to Phillips' comfort level as the Cowboys' coach and the confidence he has in his way of preparing a team to win.

"You can just sense it, talking to him," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "He's so comfortable in himself. ... He exudes that to me when I'm with him. You feel that feeling he feels about this team. I sense that and I hear it in his voice."

As Phillips begins his 34th year in professional football, he is experiencing something he has never had before as a head coach: stability.

It can be argued that no NFL coach entered 2009 with more to lose than Phillips, despite the regular-season success he had in his first two years with the Cowboys. Most of the positives from a 13-3 finish in 2007 were viewed as mere window dressing because of the divisional-round loss to the New York Giants. In 2008, the Cowboys missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record thanks to a late-season implosion on and off the field.

Even with the Cowboys 8-3 entering last December, Phillips' future was a constant topic, and the talk intensified after two straight December losses. But then the Cowboys won at New Orleans, a stunning upset given the team's fragile state of mind entering the game. The Cowboys didn't allow a point in their final two regular-season games against Washington and Philadelphia to win their second NFC East title in Phillips' three seasons.

"I think Wade has been the same guy from day one to what he is now," quarterback Tony Romo said. "His approach has never changed. I think that's been great for the team during the high moments and the low. He's kept us even keel, which I think you need from that position. The guys need to know one game is not more important than another; they're all important no matter what time of year it is."

But the questions did not end there. Phillips had never won a playoff game as a head coach in four tries. The Cowboys hadn't won a playoff game since 1996.

On Jan. 9, that changed. The Cowboys trampled Philadelphia for the second time in as many weeks, 34-14. On the sideline late in the game linebacker Keith Brooking, who was with Phillips for two years in Atlanta, pried the figurative monkey off Phillips' back. As the coach walked toward the locker room, he spotted his wife, Laurie, in a suite and blew her a kiss. As he jogged off the field, he pumped his fist to the adoring cheers.

Ten days after the playoff win, Phillips had a two-year extension in hand from Jones. Fired after two seasons in Denver (16-16 record) and three seasons in Buffalo (29-19), Phillips had finally earned a level of comfort.

"Here in Dallas, certainly at this time of my career, yes," Phillips said. "We feel good about what we're doing and we feel good about the personnel we have."

Despite a crushing 34-3 loss at Minnesota in the divisional round, the Cowboys are a popular pick as NFC favorites in 2010. Jones has made no secret of his desire to reach Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium to become the first team to play a title game on its home field.

Phillips knows, however, that comfort can last only so long. While only Bill Belichick (37-11) has won more regular-season games than Phillips (33-15) since 2007, his 1-5 postseason record is a yeah-but reminder on his résumé.

Which is why his answer to a June question might not seem so innocuous after all.

"He's more comfortable in his players and he's more comfortable in what he's doing," linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "Getting that playoff wins says, 'I've got that team's confidence, now let's go do it again.' "
 

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