Our mistake - firing Wade Phillips

[LittleBoyBlue]

This thread is proof of the collective insanity caused by the perpetual misery of mediocrity...

That quote belongs with Yates, Nietzsche and Freud. Lol

 

[ISUFan22]

No. Dallas mistake on defense was letting Zimmer leave - never should have let him outta Dallas.

 

[khiladi]

Lol... Jason Garrett's offense had 19 TOs during Wade's last season. Wade had no control over that offense. Two of the games they lost, the Dallas defense held the Vikings under 200 yards and the Commanders to like 210. Wade had tried to bring in Dan Reeves to consult in the running game to actually cut the TOs down. Wade's defense, trying to control this incompetent clown was playing so e major bend-don't-break defense, cause our offense was either turning the ball over or going 3 and out. The majority of our scoring actually was in hurry up and two minute offense, similar to last year when JG had us worst in scoring in first half of football, proceeded by tops in last half, cause Dallas abandoned the scheme essentially and went hurry-up and no-huddle.

Funny thing is, after Wade was fired, golden boy then ran a lot of 2 TE sets and ran a lot more, but we still sucked. Kitna had 12INTs and 6 fumbles. Our defense on the other hand, cause Jerry blew up and the team was already out the playoffs and people were playing for their jobs, and they could afford to take risks got 27 TOs. There is a reason why people in Dallas speculate that JG sabotaged Wade, though we clearly see even in total control JG can't call plays worth anything.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Our biggest mistake was not firing Wade Phillips, but hiring him in the first place. Wade was hired for two reasons, IMO. First, he's a good defensive coach and, second, he was the polar opposite of Bill Parcells' style. Beyond the personnel failures, hiring Wade Phillips had probably the biggest impact that started the organization's demise from it's very foundation. Just my opinion.....

Hiring Garrett was worst. He was given the reigns to power without even proper training has a head coach. At least Wade had experience and was a proven Def. Coordinator. Garrett was nothing more than an average QB coach. Wade made our defense better. Garrett made our offense worst. Despite what you think of Wade, he got us in the playoffs even though he was was a softie. I will take that over what Garrett has accomplished so far.

 

[khiladi]

Dodger mentioned Wade being hired because he was a good 34 coach and because he was soft... I'd say it was because he was a good defensive coach and he'd accept an incredibly green Garrett being given free rein over the offense. Basically none of the other candidates in 2007 fit that one crucial Jerry criterion.

This is Wade's major downfall, his soft personality. He doesn't seem to be too demanding. As a football mind and evaluator of talent, he's either good or excellent.

 

[khiladi]

As a coach, so you can never let a team quit on you. That's a very basic fundamental of coaching.

With all the flaws Jason Garrett has, he at least has that ability.

If Romo wasn't here, JG coached team would be the epitome of the definition of quit. When you have Romo playing bad, this team gets blown out like it did against the Bears and Saints. If Romo didn't play phenomenal, no thanks to Jason, last year in that November-December stretch, collapse and quit was seen many times in the teams eyes.

 

[khiladi]

The difference between Wade and Switzer is that Switzer's teams, though one of them did win a SB, were never as good as the ones he inherited.

Wade's teams, on the other hand, accomplished more and played better than Parcells' did. People talk about how Parcells left a Ferrari or whatever, but the fact is, that Ferrari never won 10 games and never won a playoff game.

Now yes, of course Parcells is a better head coach than Wade. Parcells is a HOFer and a legend. Hiring him was the best thing Jerry ever did aside from hiring Jimmy. But some hated Wade so much they refused to give him any credit at all because they thought it somehow diminished Parcells, or because they spent so much time arguing he was a bum they refused to open their minds, or whatever. But if you think you just inherit a Parcells team and it goes on autopilot and wins by itself, go Google the name Ray Handley, who was a handpicked Parcells Guy.

Or Tony Sparano in Miami...

 

[KJJ]

Wade didn't know how to prepare a team for the playoffs. Never heard of a HC allowing players especially their starting QB to head to Cabo a week before a playoff game.

 

[khiladi]

The problem with Wade is he wants a HC job so bad, he tolerates a lot of stuff, including JG. He gets passive, and sometimes it reflects in his coaching where he plays bend-don't-break. That's why he will never be a great HC, though he has the football mind to do it.

 

[Dodger12]

Hiring Garrett was worst. He was given the reigns to power without even proper training has a head coach. At least Wade had experience and was a proven Def. Coordinator. Garrett was nothing more than an average QB coach. Wade made our defense better. Garrett made our offense worst. Despite what you think of Wade, he got us in the playoffs even though he was was a softie. I will take that over what Garrett has accomplished so far.

Wade wasn't only a proven DC, but also a proven head coach and not a very good one. Wade's tenure in Dallas went no different than his previous stops. He just wasn't a good head coaching candidate. The team was soft and the D ended up failing and the team just gave up. Hind sight with Garrett is he was a bad hire. But we had Wade's previous head coaching history and looked past it because he fit Jerry's comfort zone.

 

[khiladi]

Jerry was against starting Romo at first-

Jones hinted Tuesday he wanted to stick with the veteran. He explained Thursday that he actually was clinging to his preseason belief that Bledsoe would lead Dallas to the playoffs.

"I'm disappointed at the reason we're having to make this change," Jones said.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2639551

PR... Of course Jerry is going to say he didn't want Bledsoe benched. This is the same guy that was clam print for Henson to play.

Drew Bledsoe was BP boy, just like Testaverde and multiple other veterans he brought in. Parcells stuck with Testaverde when the playoffs were out of reach and the game time could have provided experience. Excuses were surrounding not benching Bledsoe, defending his play as OL. The implication is, Parcells didn't want to bench him and many fans were saying he needs to be benched. He got to the SB with him. It was that INT right before half that sealed the deal. I remember people blasting Romo because of two picks he threw that half, and saying we are doomed on this board.

The fact that the very next week, NY Giant players had to fly down to Carolina and support Bill shows just how much he believed in Romo. Romo saved everybody, including Parcells, in this franchise giving them hope.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Wade wasn't only a proven DC, but also a proven head coach and not a very good one. Wade's tenure in Dallas went no different than his previous stops. He just wasn't a good head coaching candidate. The team was soft and the D ended up failing and the team just gave up. Hind sight with Garrett is he was a bad hire. But we had Wade's previous head coaching history and looked past it because he fit Jerry's comfort zone.

Garrett is also similar to Wade because Jerry is comfortable with him minus the ability to really coach. Wade was soft but still got us into the playoffs and improved our D. Our D and even our offense has significantly diminished with Garrett. Garrett is stubborn and won't change things to improve. Yet Jerry likes him because he is nothing more than a lap dog. Garrett has brought back mediocrity to Dallas and its going to stick for a very long time. By then Romo will be gone as well with the core of the team. Jerry is sabotaging the future of this team in order to team Garrett how to coach. Because of that will be mediocre for many more years to come.

 

[khiladi]

And people talking about Payton respecting Payton.. He abused Parcells 3-4 defense making it look like a hot mess and that set the blueprint for the trouncing Dallas defense then started to take. There was a reason Jerry also went Wade, because Jerry invested a lot of money in it. Payton never let the gas pedal down and totally embarrassed his former coach on live TV. We couldn't stop a basic screen to save our lives. He also exposed our slow MLB Bradie James and Ayodele in the passing game. Wade did a decent job of bandaging that hot mess.

 

[khiladi]

Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett are pretty similar - They're both exceedingly nice people and it negatively reflects on how their players perform. They know that with Wade and Jason there won't be any tongue lashing or ramifications, they know they probably won't be benched for poor performance. They know they won't be held accountable.

That's why Wade needed to go and that's why Jason needs to go as well.

No, Wade is actually nice.. JG is the epitome of a politician that gives a nice demeanor, but throws everybody under the bus.

 

[khiladi]

If anybody should have quit, for JJ meddling, it was Wade... JG should forever be grateful for JJ meddling.

 

[Picksix]

The Texans had a poor defense this year according to the Aikman Efficiency Ratings:

http://www.aikman.com/AikmanEfficie.../62/Aikman-Efficiency-Ratings-2013-Final.aspx

Is there somewhere on that website where it shows how they get the results they do?

 

[khiladi]

A lot of what you see regarding JJ moves is reactionary to those years. JJ spent a lot in corners, cause we had Anthony Henry and Jacque Reeves giving up crucial plays to blow games. We were playing our corners like 10 feet off WRs to compensate. Plus, our MLBs couldn't cover and Wade was stuck with Bradie James and Ayodele, the latter he got rid of who then went to Miami. He was "afforded Bobbie Carpenter" who was our nickel Lb. Wade drafted Sean Lee finally. It would have been nice to see him in Wade's scheme, cause of his intelligence. I think Wade's defense needs some major intelligence, otherwise it blows.

During Wade's years, when we had Grantham was coaching DL, we looked better. Grantham was a HUGE loss. We still had Bowles as well. Then 2010 came, with PP promoted and Dave Campo brought in. Major blow to our defense. Jerry looked at our CBs from the previous years and thought that was the major problem still, not his down coaches.

 

[khiladi]

Is there somewhere on that website where it shows how they get the results they do?

In this case, when your QB is throwing pick sixes on a record rate, it explains why your defense will play soft. Defense adjust according to the offense. They aren't going to play risky if they know your offense can't compensate. People don't win by stats, stats show trends after the fact.

 

[khiladi]

BTW, Ratliff would have never sniffed NT if not for Wade. I think Ratliff resented how Wade was treated, because he absolutely loved him and it was his first year in Wade's defense and Wade's gushing about him got Jerry to extend him around game four or five.

 

[Dodger12]

Garrett is also similar to Wade because Jerry is comfortable with him minus the ability to really coach. Wade was soft but still got us into the playoffs and improved our D. Our D and even our offense has significantly diminished with Garrett. Garrett is stubborn and won't change things to improve. Yet Jerry likes him because he is nothing more than a lap dog. Garrett has brought back mediocrity to Dallas and its going to stick for a very long time. By then Romo will be gone as well with the core of the team. Jerry is sabotaging the future of this team in order to team Garrett how to coach. Because of that will be mediocre for many more years to come.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything you're saying. We're talking Garrett vs Wade at HC here. We're just picking our poison. The best D Wade mustered here was in 2009 when he was 2nd in points and 9th in yards. By 2010 we were 31st in points and 23rd in yards. Prior to 2009, we had some improvement on D but it was not enough to justify Wade or add to his status as defensive guru. Just my opinion, but Wade's inability to lead as a HC affected his ability to run the D. I just don't think we got the full benefits of Wade as a DC and we could have done much better.