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Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 - 11:34 a.m. ET
When Wade Phillips declared his intention to toughen up at the end of last year's Cowboy meltdown, he drew snickers and scoffs.
Then came training camp. And you'd have a tough time to finding any players laughing anymore.
The Cowboys returned to Dallas last Wednesday 21 days after they opened camp in San Antonio. In that time, the team held 11 sets of a two-a-days, a total of 30 practices, a trip to play an exhibition on the West Coast and, according to the guys on the team, zero days off.
The local media dubbed Phillips' first camp, in 2007, "Camp Cupcake." Last year's proceedings were less cozy than circus-like. And this one made Phillips' previous two look like a round of golf.
"There's no comparison, none at all," linebacker Bradie James told Sporting News. "We've been practicing every day, we've had no days off. We had the most two-a-days since I've been playing football. It's definitely been different.
"The focus is on football. There are no major distractions, guys have been positive. Wade challenged us. We don't have time for excuses. He doesn't want to hear complaining. We know what we have to do."
Perhaps the most visible example of Phillips' increased control, and sense of urgency, is his appointment as defensive coordinator.
Phillips fired Brian Stewart -- with whom he shared a father-son relationship -- at the end of last season, after seizing play-calling in midseason. Rather than find a replacement, he took the job himself, which means, among other things, the buck's going to stop with him in a year during which most believe his job is on the line.
But beyond just that, he's also streamlining communication, an area that spiraled out of control as the team fell apart last year.
"There's no questions about what wants, or what we should do, or what we think he should do," cornerback Terence Newman told SNT. "He's a head coach. When the defense comes from him, we play. And there's no question about it. He knows this game of football. He's been coaching for 30-something years."
The sharpest contrast comes in atmosphere.
Camp in 2008 was held in Oxnard, Calif., filmed and broadcast by HBO, and chock full of colorful, controversial characters like Terrell Owens, Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson. Predictably, a big-top atmosphere emerged, and players will admit now that all of the hoopla didn't help the team achieve its primary goal – pursuing the club's first World title in 13 years.
"I was never OK with it. Never," James said, when it was asserted that the players were fine with the extravaganza that 2008 camp became. "You had characters. We play football. This is not soap-opera central. Training camp's important and when you have people still worried about being individuals, you never come together.
"That's what the cameras did, we became part of the show. This year, we've been able to focus on football. It's been nothing but football. Every day's Groundhog Day."
Indeed, training camp in San Antonio was held in a sterile environment, inside the Alamodome, and football wasn't just some sort of backdrop, as it seemed to become 12 months earlier in California.
And a bit of a roster cleansing has allowed 20-somethings like James, Tony Romo, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware to move into even greater roles of leadership. The idea is that those guys emphasize work, and teammates follow.
"When I ask them to do things, they've responded," Phillips told the Dallas media just before the club left San Antonio. "I think that's the it ought to be coaching-wise and player-wise. I feel good about our players and our camp."
The goal, as Newman put it, is to "be on the same page and work on the same goal. But as far as identities (changing), we're the Cowboys. We gotta start playing football."
And therein is where the Cowboys hope the most significant change will result from.
After going 13-3 in 2007, last year's Dallas team believed, in some ways, it could flip a switch and just start winning when the games started counting. This year's club knows that the business of winning games is already well underway before the season starts.
"We've put the work in, and now it needs to show," said James. "We put in our investment. Guys have been there, committed. Last year, if they tried to run these kinds of practices, there's no way they could've done it.
"We had too many personalities, and I feel like they would've tried to rebel. Wade challenged us this time. And we've stepped up."
Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/art...t-lights-cowboys-no-longer-soap-opera-central
When Wade Phillips declared his intention to toughen up at the end of last year's Cowboy meltdown, he drew snickers and scoffs.
Then came training camp. And you'd have a tough time to finding any players laughing anymore.
The Cowboys returned to Dallas last Wednesday 21 days after they opened camp in San Antonio. In that time, the team held 11 sets of a two-a-days, a total of 30 practices, a trip to play an exhibition on the West Coast and, according to the guys on the team, zero days off.
The local media dubbed Phillips' first camp, in 2007, "Camp Cupcake." Last year's proceedings were less cozy than circus-like. And this one made Phillips' previous two look like a round of golf.
"There's no comparison, none at all," linebacker Bradie James told Sporting News. "We've been practicing every day, we've had no days off. We had the most two-a-days since I've been playing football. It's definitely been different.
"The focus is on football. There are no major distractions, guys have been positive. Wade challenged us. We don't have time for excuses. He doesn't want to hear complaining. We know what we have to do."
Perhaps the most visible example of Phillips' increased control, and sense of urgency, is his appointment as defensive coordinator.
Phillips fired Brian Stewart -- with whom he shared a father-son relationship -- at the end of last season, after seizing play-calling in midseason. Rather than find a replacement, he took the job himself, which means, among other things, the buck's going to stop with him in a year during which most believe his job is on the line.
But beyond just that, he's also streamlining communication, an area that spiraled out of control as the team fell apart last year.
"There's no questions about what wants, or what we should do, or what we think he should do," cornerback Terence Newman told SNT. "He's a head coach. When the defense comes from him, we play. And there's no question about it. He knows this game of football. He's been coaching for 30-something years."
The sharpest contrast comes in atmosphere.
Camp in 2008 was held in Oxnard, Calif., filmed and broadcast by HBO, and chock full of colorful, controversial characters like Terrell Owens, Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson. Predictably, a big-top atmosphere emerged, and players will admit now that all of the hoopla didn't help the team achieve its primary goal – pursuing the club's first World title in 13 years.
"I was never OK with it. Never," James said, when it was asserted that the players were fine with the extravaganza that 2008 camp became. "You had characters. We play football. This is not soap-opera central. Training camp's important and when you have people still worried about being individuals, you never come together.
"That's what the cameras did, we became part of the show. This year, we've been able to focus on football. It's been nothing but football. Every day's Groundhog Day."
Indeed, training camp in San Antonio was held in a sterile environment, inside the Alamodome, and football wasn't just some sort of backdrop, as it seemed to become 12 months earlier in California.
And a bit of a roster cleansing has allowed 20-somethings like James, Tony Romo, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware to move into even greater roles of leadership. The idea is that those guys emphasize work, and teammates follow.
"When I ask them to do things, they've responded," Phillips told the Dallas media just before the club left San Antonio. "I think that's the it ought to be coaching-wise and player-wise. I feel good about our players and our camp."
The goal, as Newman put it, is to "be on the same page and work on the same goal. But as far as identities (changing), we're the Cowboys. We gotta start playing football."
And therein is where the Cowboys hope the most significant change will result from.
After going 13-3 in 2007, last year's Dallas team believed, in some ways, it could flip a switch and just start winning when the games started counting. This year's club knows that the business of winning games is already well underway before the season starts.
"We've put the work in, and now it needs to show," said James. "We put in our investment. Guys have been there, committed. Last year, if they tried to run these kinds of practices, there's no way they could've done it.
"We had too many personalities, and I feel like they would've tried to rebel. Wade challenged us this time. And we've stepped up."
Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/art...t-lights-cowboys-no-longer-soap-opera-central
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