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With Jason Garrett in place as the Dallas Cowboys head coach, the team has shifted focus to building the rest of its staff, with the most recent addition reportedly Rob Ryan, their new defensive coordinator.
Less than two weeks after officially becoming the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jason Garrett is beginning to build his staff. According to an AP report, which quotes "two people with direct knowledge," Rob Ryan is set to takeover as the new defensive coordinator in Dallas. Wade Phillips previously handled the defensive duties for the Cowboys.
Ryan, son of buddy and brother to Rex, served in the same position with the Cleveland Browns for the past two seasons but his future there was uncertain after the firing of Eric Mangini (Ryan also interviewed for the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers). Before Cleveland, Ryan was the defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders from 2004-08.
The Browns defense finished 13th in scoring defense, 18th in pass defense and 27th rush defense in 2010 under Ryan.
While there is still no official word from the team, it's seemingly a done deal, allowing our Cowboys blog, Blogging The Boys, to expand on what this means for Dallas:
Regardless of what you think of Buddy and his boys' bravado, they do share some admirable values: they have high expectations; they run hard, efficient practices for which players must prepare and during which they must be focused if they are to survive and to succeed. In that, Garrett and Ryan are more alike than most people think. With the hiring of Ryan, the Cowboys now have three coordinators who will run training camp, in-season practices, film reviews, etc., with an intensity and focus that will enable the players to be great every day.
Just like Garrett wants it.
The Dallas Cowboys turned much of the power of their franchise into the hands of Jason Garrett on Thursday as they removed the interim tag and announced him as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. SB Nation's Blogging The Boys has the run down on a few of the Cowboys announcements during the Jason Garrett press conference:
The Cowboys inked Jason to a four-year deal, and said that Garrett will have the final say on any coaching changes, and will have approval of any players on the team. Also making news was Jason Garrett's emphatic answer of "Yes" when asked about a dual role of head coach and offensive coordinator.
It's fitting that the same day Wade Phillips is announced as the newest defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, Garrett is officially announced as the Cowboys head coach.
The Cowboys performed better (but still not great) in the second half of the season with Garrett after Phillips was fired. The good thing for Garrett is that the Cowboys are ready to win now if he can put the talent together and avoid a repeat of 2010.
Check out Blogging The Boys to see what Cowboys fans are saying about the move.
The Dallas Cowboys have yet to officially remove the interim tag from Jason Garrett as their next head coach but they've called a press conference for Thursday afternoon and it's expected that's where Jerry Jones will make the official announement.
Garrett took over as interim head coach after Wade Phillips was fired this year and saw them improve in the second half of the season. Garrett was long considered the man who would be the next Cowboys head coach (at least he was being paid like it) so the news doesn't come as much of a surprise.
There won't be a whole that changes with the Cowboys moving forward and that consistency is one of the advantages Garrett brings. The Cowboys are already a very talented team that grossly underachieved in 2010. There's no reason to blow the whole thing up when the Cowboys have the talent to once again be considered Super Bowl contenders.
Check out Blogging The Boys for more on the Cowboys press conference.
After Wade Phillips was fired, the Cowboys were 1-7 and in far worse spirits than that record would indicate. Since interim head coach Jason Garrett took over, the Cowboys are 4-3. That's apparently enough of an audition for Jerry Jones to give him the full-time gig.
The NFL Network's Mike Lombardi is reporting that Garrett has been promoted to Cowboys head coach. Cowboys wide receivers coach Ray Sherman was interviewed to comply with the NFL's Rooney Rule, according to the NFL Network, but ESPN reports that Sherman had not been interviewed as of Sunday morning.
Garrett's 4-3 record has been just part of the turnaround he's engineered. The Cowboys have been more consistent on the field, beating both the Giants and Colts on the road and dropping their three losses by a combined seven points.
And it should be noted that all of this came with Tony Romo out due to injury. Garrett's 4-3 record is a bit more remarkable when it's considered that Jon Kitna and Stephen McGee have been his quarterbacks.
Careful what you wish for, Jason Garrett. After watching his predecessor get shuffled loose for a terrible 1-7 start to the season, Garrett is the new head man in Dallas. When asked if it was a decision he considered with trepidation, Garrett said not at all.
“He didn’t have to persuade me at all,’’ said Garrett when asked if he had be convinced to take the job with no guarantees beyond this season. “Being the head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys is a great job, it’s a great opportunity.”
Garrett also spoke about the season so far and how he turns around a 1-7 squad:
“I think anybody involved in this organization, really from the top down, is disappointed with our season so far and how we got here,” Garrett said. "Having said that, we’re all excited about what we’re going to do going forward. This is about going forward.
“We have to put the first eight games of the season behind us, we have to learn from them and we need to go forward. One of the things that I talk to the players about all the time is embracing the moment, embracing the day, being great today. That’s what I’m going to ask the coaching staff to do, that’s what I’m going to ask the players to do, and everyone involved in this organization to do. Be great today. Be great going forward.”
In a move that surprises no one, Dallas D-line coach Paul Pasqualoni will take over as defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. He will serve under new head coach Jason Garrett.
Pasqualoni is a natural choice as the only coach on the staff with experience managing the 3-4 defense that Dallas employs. He’s most well-known for being the head coach at Syracuse for fourteen seasons. He previously worked for the Cowboys before leaving to take over the Dolphins defense where he found success:
In 2008, the Dolphins allowed 19.8 points per game, which was ninth best in the league and had 11 games in which they allowed 20 points or less while creating 30 turnovers. In 2009, the Cowboys had the fourth-best third-down defense (34.9 percent) but allowed 24.4 points per game (25th in the league) and had only four games in which they allowed 20 points or less.
He returned to coach for the Cowboys this past January.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a press conference Monday that he was in disbelief over how poorly his team was performing prior to watching the Cowboys get thrashed 45-7 to the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field on Sunday night.
In his comments to the media from the Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters, Jones expressed disappointment at the current state of the team, but maintained that firing coach Wade Phillips was not a tacit admission of resignation and that he expects the team to continue trying to win through the remainder of the season.
"Obviously this is a very difficult decision for me, our team, our organization. We're clearly not where we want to be. That's an understatement. We also share the responsibility in that, all of us. An in-season coaching change is something that I have not done before, something that I was reluctant to consider as late as ... Saturday night. ... There was a lot of me in denial. ... But at this time, what's in the best interest of the organization and the fans is a coaching change.
"I recently addressed the team. I told them that they should not think for even a second that this is in any way an admission of defeat or finality for this season ... that the evaluation process will begin with finding the guys that play the hardest. I told 'em we were looking for players that want to win the most. ... We are not recognizing the need to play in a winning way."
Jones praised new interim head coach Jason Garrett for his potential to effect a cultural change in the Dallas organization, something the outgoing Phillips was never able to do.
"I do believe that Jason has the disposition ... to affect [sic] a culture change. His style is one that I think can be real effective. Culture change does work. I think this gives us a chance to do it from within. If we do outstanding as a team and have very visible, very tangible success then that's certainly doing your job in a crisis situation. That kind of action goes beyond a resume. Jason has some qualities of leadership, some qualities of organization. He's very smart. He's got some qualities that can get us where we want to go."
The Dallas Cowboys did what most of the football world expected them to do on Monday as they fired Wade Phillips, according to multiple reports. The Cowboys were 1-7 under Phillips this season and asking when, not if, the Cowboys would fire Philips was the most popular question in Dallas.
Phililps went to Cowboys headquarters on Monday morning and believed he was safe, according to Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com. Glazer reports Phillips was visibly upset as he told others in the organization that he had been fired. It's been reported Jason Garrett will replace him.
Unfortunately for Phillips his firing was no surprise. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said last week that Phillips would remain the head coach for the rest of the season. That was hard to believe at the time considering the Cowboys had just one win this season.
Jones went on to say Sunday night that there would be people in the organization who would suffer the consequences of failing to meet expectations this year. Many took that as a hint that Phillips' firing was coming and apparently that was correct.
Phillips now heads to the unemployment line. He'll likely have opportunities as a defensive coordinator in the next round of coaching hires.
Around 2:00 p.m. CBS-11 reported that Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips had been fired. It was an hour before the usual suspects, like ESPN, confirmed the CBS-11 report. Now Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports via Twitter that Phillips is telling people within the Cowboys organization that he has been fired.
Phillips' final numbers with the Cowboys come in at 34-22 in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs. What ultimately did him in was the 1-7 record the Cowboys are currently sporting. SB Nation's Blogging The Boys has been waiting for Jerry Jones to make a decision on Phillips.
But it all came crashing down in 2010. The team has gone 1-7, and has lost all competitiveness; they were the walking dead. Jerry Jones finally came to his senses and realized this was the only move he could make.
The CBS-11 report said that it would Jason Garrett who gets the nod as head coach replacing Phillips and ESPN reports that's the case. Now that the news is circulating the Cowboys will likely be confirming the reports. Garrett came to the Cowboys as offensive coordinator in 2007 and has been among the NFL's highest paid assistants. Many figured it would be Garrett getting the job was Phillips was fired.
Garrett now gets a Cowboys that has its starting QB done possibly for the season and faces the task of trying to salvage a 1-7 season.
Check out Blogging The Boys to see what Cowboys fans are saying about Wade Phillips getting fired.
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The Dallas Cowboys have reportedly done this week what everyone expected them to do: Fire Wade Phillips. Bill Jones of CBS-11 in Dallas reports the Cowboys head coach was fired on Monday after his team suffered a humiliating 45-7 loss to the Packers on Sunday Night Football.
This move was expected by many as multiple reports surfaced following the game that Phillips was unlikely to make it through the week. Phillips' certainly deserved this fate after the Cowboys started the season 1-7.
Last week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Phillips would remain on as head coach for the rest of the season but I'm not sure if others, Jones included, actually believed that at the time. Jones said after the Packers game that there would be people in the organization who suffered the consequences of failing so badly on expectations this year.
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett will take his spot, according to the CBS-11 report. Garrett has been a head coaching candidate at multiple points in his career, including interviews with the Broncos and Rams over the last two years. Garrett, though, is one of the NFL's highest paid assistants and plenty of people expected him to be the next Cowboys head coach.
Phillips ends his Cowboys career with a 34-22 in the regular season record as head coach. This is by far his most disappointing season as he won 13, 9 and 11 games in his first three seasons. He also walks away from Dallas with a 1-2 playoff record with the Cowboys.
Check out SB Nation's Blogging The Boys to see what Cowboys fans are saying about Wade Phillips being fired.
Follow @sbnation on Twitter, and Like SBNation.com on Facebook.
Dallas Cowboys fans at Blogging The Boys have asked Jerry Jones to do something about Wade Phillips and the situation at head coach. There hasn't been a move yet but Jones hinted on Sunday at "consequences" coming for those in the Cowboys organization.
"There are a lot of people here who are certainly going to suffer and suffer consequences," Jones said. "I'm talking about within the team -- players, coaches who have got careers. This is certainly a setback. I know firsthand what it is to have high expectations. I think unquestionably that our expectations were thinking we're something we were not, possibly looking at what might be relative to a Super Bowl. All of those things have certainly contributed early."
Jones said last week Phillips would remain the head coach for the rest of the season but that seems unlikely at this point. Jones' likely knows his words above would contribute to the "Fire Wade Phillips" bandwagon that's been created in Dallas.
Jones tells Tim McMahon of ESPN that he plans to talk to the team on Monday. The Cowboys still have Phillips' weekly press conference scheduled for Monday afternoon so at this point it doesn't appear there have been any definitive decisions on Phillips' future.
One thing's for sure and that's that we haven't heard the last of the question: Will Wade Phillips be fired?
The Dallas Cowboys are in the midst of one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory. A preseason Super Bowl contender, the Cowboys are now 1-7 and officially out of any playoff conversation following an embarrassing 45-7 blowout against the Packers. After offseason discussions of Wade Phillips future as head coach, it's clear as day to anyone that he will not be the head coach next year.
So will owner Jerry Jones fire him? Or, perhaps more accurately, when will Jerry Jones fire him? Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reported that Jones considered firing Phillips after the Jacksonville loss and predicts this is the week they make a move.
SB Nation's Blogging The Boys is frustrated, confused and feeling helpless, writing, "Please Jerry Jones do something."
Maybe we're overreacting, maybe we're spoiled. There are plenty of teams that have been this bad for much longer than what we're experiencing. So if you want to call us out on that, feel free to do it, you'd be right. But that also doesn't change how most of us are feeling right now, and that is there's no reason for Wade to continue coaching this team.
Andrew Sharp of SBNation.com writes that the 1-7 start can't all be blamed on Phillips, but he needs to go either way.
Say what you want about him, but he's a good coach who's done his best in a difficult situation the past few years in Dallas. He deserves the courtesy of being sent on his way before things devolve further and the humiliation gets even more spectacular.
Jones said last week that Phillips would be the head coach for the rest of the season but it's hard to envision a scenario where that happens. The Cowboys aren't doing Phillips any favors keeping him around and clearly the Cowboys don't need Phillips at this point.
Rob Ryan Introduced As Dallas Cowboys Defensive Coordinator
Rob Ryan has been announced as the new Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator by DallasCowboys.com’s Nick Eatman. The former Cleveland Browns DC, Ryan was hired to the Cowboys job at some point Wednesday. No word yet on contract details at this point.
Eatman:
Reports of Ryan taking the job have been circulating for a while. Eatman points out that though Ryan was the third coach the Cowboys interviewed for the job, that doesn’t necessarily mean he was Jerry Jones’ third choice. Ryan wasn’t able to interview until Pat Shurmur was hired as Cleveland’s coach.
Former NFL players Jerome Henderson and Bryan Cox are also mentioned as potential assistants. Blogging The Boys mentions Don Martindale as another potential hire.
For more on the Cowboys, visit Blogging The Boys.
Jan 19 8:24p by Jason Kirk - 0 comments