It’s pretty hard to go 13-3, get the top seed in your conference playoffs, and still get fired after the year. Then again, you can go 14-2, get the top seed, and still get fired if your name is Marty Schottenheimer. But getting back to the point, it’s quite possible that Wade Phillips could be out of Dallas despite having a fantastic season. If you remember correctly, Jerry Jones signed Jason Garrett on to be the offensive coordinator in Dallas before the head coach was named — quite a caveat for a coach trying to set up his staff. Clearly Jones was committed to Garrett. After seeing the Cowboys offense explode for most of the season only to tank in the first round of the playoffs, the question must be asked: will Wade Phillips be retained or blown out to make room for Garrett?
The Baltimore Ravens are apparently hot on the case for Garrett, having supposedly interviewed him a second time. Garrett could be a year or so away from being completely ready to assume a head coaching position but he might be tempted to take a job now. Much like Pete Carroll, Garrett is a commodity in demand so I would suggest he choose carefully and act picky. He has a tremendous amount of leverage and could probably be a head coach in the league by next year if he wanted to. That puts Jerry Jones in a difficult spot — fire the coach that just went 13-3 to make room for Garrett, let Garrett go, or try to talk Garrett into staying another year? My guess is Phillips could be a victim of circumstance, having sealed his fate by losing the playoff game. Jones won’t let Garrett get away — at least not over his dead body. This could be a huge shakeup in Dallas … stay tuned.
