My first reaction to the announcement of Wade Phillips as the 7th head coach of the Dallas Cowboys was a subdued negativism. I was hoping that they would decide on Mike Singletary but knew that was a long shot. I would have been fine with Mike as head coach, Commander Cody as QB coach, Wilbert as RB coach, Dennis Gentry as WR coach and our own Scott Smith as ST coach (the anti-Avezzano).

From the way it played out, I was thinking that the timing was weird due to (1) Jerry deciding to take his time; (2) Jerry wavering on his decision; or (3) the media totally mismanaging our expectations. I’m sure that all three possibilities played a role. As it was developing, I had a feeling that Jerry would announce Norv as the head coach with Ron Rivera as the DC and the combination of Jason and Tony Sparano as the OCs. I would have been satisfied with that structure, knowing that we would probably be losing at least one of the coordinators in the next year or so, had it worked.

But alas, it came down that they were naming Wade. I see the logic in it. The offense played fairly well this year and should improve with Romo taking over. Apparently, they are high on Sparano as an assistant and also coveted Jason. Clearly, this tandem does not have much of a track record, but they appear to be bright prospects.

The defense on the other hand was broken – despite the bulk of their personnel resources (with the glorious exception of TO) allocated to that side of the ball and the Tuna’s supposed expertise. They never seemed to be on the attack, and as the 2006 season progressed, OCs increasingly enjoyed isolating certain players in unfavorable situations – specifically the ILBs and Safeties.

Thus, Jerry’s mindset might have been that he needed to address the defense from a coaching perspective. Had he been able to land Rivera as a DC, then I think we would have Norvin. He likely felt that he had to hire someone with NFL head coaching experience - with an emphasis on D given - the young assistants on the staff and the fact that this is a talented playoff team. Taking a chance on a rookie HC is much easier to swallow coming off of a 3-13 season. But coming off an underachieving season punctuated by a disapointing playoff loss, this team's arrow should be pointing up and pushing deep into the playoffs for the next few years.

So the obvious choice is Wade. This is not a sexy pick in any manner. As I thought about the logic and listened to our new HC, I started to become intriguied. Although he runs a 3-4, he is very different from the Tuna. He is nice, unassuming, soft spoken and surprisingly witty. He moves players around, is aggressive and tries to take advantage of their strngths, as opposed to just telling guys to line up and beat the guy in front of you. When he mentioned Terrell, he made it clear that he would refer to #81 by name, an tact that was beneath the Glorified Gym Teacher from NJ. His offensive approach is to get the playmakers in a position to make plays and to get them the ball. I think we can all agree that there is genius in his simplicity.

Wade’s defensive resume is supposedly impressive. The Chargers are certainly explosive on that side of the ball (although we all know that LT probably ripped them for numerous bonus TDs during scrimmages, but that’s not a knock on anyone). Merriman has flourished under Wade (and who knows what chemical supplements), which would seem to bode well for DeMarcus.

Of course, with all of the talk of his defensive success, the anal part of my analytical background kicked in, and I did what I always do – I ran some numbers. Unfortunately, the data seems to indicate that Wade’s defenses have been resoundingly average. I looked at his team’s ranks in points and yards allowed. This data, which dates to his days as the DC for NO in 1981, includes when he was a HC and a DC.

Overall, he averaged a rank of 14.5 and 14.8 for points and yards, respectively. I’m not sure what to expect, but those numbers strike me as middle of the pack. If we consider just his DC positions, the ranks are 14.6 and 15.6. If we look at his teams since 2000, he sits at average ranks of 14.5 and 16.5. If we take it back to 95, he improves to 13.2 and 13.2. I guess my conclusion is that he is somewhat above average. Generally, the defenses improved in their ranks from the years immediately before he coached there, but they tend to fluctuate while he’s on staff.

I do think his work at SD has been impressive, taking a team that ranked 31 and 27 in 2003 to 11-18 in 2004, 13-13 in 2005 and 7-10 in 2006. The Chargers have averaged a very respectable 10.3-13.7 under his guidance.

In addition, I don’t put too much emphasis on his head coaching record, especially with regard to the post season. He seems to win at an above-average rate but has had no success in the playoffs. His regular season record is admirable, and I think his lack of success in the playoffs is circumstancial. Consider that his Buffalo teams were lead by Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson at QB and Antowain Smith and Shawn Bryson at RB. Eric Moulds seemed to emerge during his Wade’s tenure there. At Denver, he did have Elway, but his top RBs were ROD BERNSTEIN and LEONARD RUSSEL for pete’s sake. Shannon Sharpe flourished, but the primary outside weapons were Glyn Milburn and Derek Russell.

The key I think is that we need someone to get him talent, which we should all acknowledge as a universal truth. Also, you have to have a soft spot for Bum.

Extracurricular note: (per IMDB) Tracy Phillips is the daughter of NFL head coach Wade Phillips. She is an actress and burlesque dancer living in Southern California. Her most famous work yet was playing Helena in My Chemical Romance's "Helena" music video. Other artists whose music videos she has appeared in include No Doubt, the Goo Goo Dolls, Ricky Martin, and The Offspring. She is one of the four dancers wearing black in Evanescence's "Call Me When You're Sober" music video. Tracey has also done commercials for Pepsi and GAP. She has appeared in such films as What Women Want, Clerks 2, and Jackass Number Two.