Phillips Interviews For Head Coaching Job

[Horry For 3!]

http://dallascowboys.com/news.cfm?id...A734CBE7E662FA

IRVING, Texas - When the business week began here at Valley Ranch on Monday morning, Bill Parcells was still the head coach.

But that changed rather quickly as Parcells announced his retirement before noon that day. And as the week came to an end here Friday afternoon, the Cowboys have now interviewed five candidates for the head coaching job, most recently Wade Phillips, who is clearly the most experienced candidate to interview so far.

Phillips, 60, arrived at Valley Ranch early Friday morning and said he met mostly with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones, but did talk with Parcells and Jason Garrett, who was hired to the coaching staff Thursday and remains a candidate for the head coaching job.

The Cowboys are also expected to interview Saints defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs on Saturday. 49ers offensive coordinator Norv Turner is expected to interview as well, possibly as early as Sunday. Turner has been in Mobile, Ala., this week at the Senior Bowl with the 49ers' staff coaching the South team.

The Cowboys already interviewed Todd Bowles, Tony Sparano and Todd Haley earlier in the week. However, Haley has since left for Arizona to become the Cardinals' offensive coordinator. Former Cowboys running backs coach Anthony Lynn, whose contract expired after the season, has been hired by the Browns to coach the running backs in Cleveland.

But Friday's news centered on Phillips' interview, and the veteran coach seemed more than appreciative of the opportunity.

"It was a good meeting. I enjoyed being here," Phillips said. "I want to thank Jerry Jones for having me in, first of all. We had a very encompassing talk. I think he knows what I'm about, as far as trying to get over the things that I can do. I'll just say it was a good meeting and we'll go from there."

Phillips, the defensive coordinator in San Diego the last three years, has also been a head coach four other times, albeit twice as an interim coach in New Orleans and Atlanta.

But Phillips sounded like he doesn't mind being judged by his five years as a head coach in Denver and Buffalo, where he led those teams to the playoffs three times.

"I'm going to go on my record," said Phillips, who has a 48-39 career mark as a head coach. "There aren't many successful head coaches that come out of there. Usually, when you're gone as a head coach, it's because you haven't won enough games. I've won as a head coach, been to the playoffs three of the five years that I've been a head coach. Overall in my career, I've been lucky to be with a lot of great teams that have won a lot of games.

"And I have a lot of experience. I've got 30 years in the league - 25 as either a head coach or a coordinator. So that figures out about 400 games that I've made decisions in the game that I think impacted the outcome of the games."

Phillips also knows a thing or two about defense, having held a defensive coordinator le for six different NFL teams, including the Chargers, who ranked ninth in total defense last year but led the league with 61 sacks, thanks mostly to Shawne Merriman's league-high 17 sacks.

If hired, Phillips should have no problem implementing his 3-4 scheme with the Cowboys, who switched from a 4-3 to a 3-4 two seasons ago.

However, Phillips pointed out that teams run different variations of the 3-4, stating his defense is unique to others around the league.

"Obviously, I like the 3-4. I've been coaching it a long time. I think it gives you a lot of things, especially pass rush," Phillips said. "Pittsburgh is different than we are. Bill Parcells is different as far as how they run it. And I think (Bill) Belichick has changed from what Bill did before. All of them have their ways of doing things. I think ours has been pretty successful. I think it'll do well wherever it is."

Garrett brings a unique dynamic to this entire coaching search. The former Dolphins quarterbacks coach interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday, and the Cowboys hired him to the coaching staff in an unidentified role. Garrett's responsibilities and le won't be determined until after the Cowboys complete their head coaching search, and he remains a candidate for the job.

However, Phillips said he has no problems with Garrett's hiring and even said he agreed with the Cowboys' decision.

"Actually, in this day and time, and with this situation, to get good coaches, sometimes you have to put the cart before the horse," Phillips said. "And in this situation, a lot of times you want to keep them. And they're going to be gone if you don't latch onto them. So I can see why they would go in that direction.

"I know Jason, I haven't worked with him yet. But I know him pretty well. I think he's a bright young mind who is going to do well in this league. He's one of those rising stars."

But Phillips certainly thinks he's got a few years left in him, and hopes Dallas will be his next stop, especially with a team he said doesn't need much work.

"Well, they had a good team. Bill Parcells was here, and put together a solid team," he said. "That's pretty important already. They were in the playoffs last year. That's a good start for any head coach.

"But this organization, Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys, America's Team, those are all true. This is one of the premier jobs in the league, in my opinion. And it always has been. They've kept it that way here."

Now Phillips will just have to wait and see if he will get the chance to be a part of it.

[Pugglekicker_21]

boy if the cowboys hire him then san diego has some work to do....losing off. and def. coordinators in one season?...boggles the mind.

[mardigan]

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