‘Wasn’t Fair To Wade’: Jerry Jones Explains Regret Over Dallas Cowboys’ 2010 Wade Phillips Firing
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday that firing Wade Phillips in the middle of the 2010 season wasn’t fair to Phillips. Jones explained the regret on 105.3 The Fan’s “Shan & RJ”, two days after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals dropped Dallas to 3-5.
The Cowboys fired Phillips on Nov. 8, 2010, after a 1-7 start. Jason Garrett went 5-3 the rest of the way as interim coach and stayed through 2019. Jones said the regret was about Phillips himself.
“Basically, as it pertains to Wade. Wasn’t fair to Wade. He had more skins on the wall. He had more successes,” Jones said. “He went over to Denver, and as the first time in my memory, as the defensive coordinator, he went over to Denver and won a Super Bowl. And I’ve never seen so much credit for a Super Bowl given a defensive coordinator as it was Wade.”
Wade Phillips Won Super Bowl 50 With Denver Broncos
Phillips went 13-3 in his first season in Dallas in 2007 and won the NFC East twice. As the Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator, he helped Denver beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season. Jones recalled what Phillips told him when they parted ways.
“And when we parted ways, Wade said, ‘Well, you know, I need to find me a defensive coordinator. And the best one I know is sitting right on the other side of the desk from me.’ And I thought, ‘Well, Wade, I thought we’d had him all along,’” Jones explained. “But the point is that certainly he wanted another opportunity to do it differently. I regretted it.”
“No one that I’ve ever been a partner with or worked with do I think any more of than I do Wade,” Jones continued. “And it was not a good time for both of us at that time.”
Stephen Jones Pointed To Jason Garrett On Staff In 2010
Jerry Jones said after Sunday’s game that he doesn’t see a midseason change now. Cowboys COO and executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday on the station’s “K&C Masterpiece” that the 2010 move made sense because Garrett was on the staff.
“I know we made the change with Wade the one year because we did have … Jason, who was on the staff, and I really thought that he was going to … might be our next head coach, so it made a lot of sense,” Stephen Jones said.
Dallas is 10-14-1 under Brian Schottenheimer. The Cowboys visit the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.
