Cowboys Officially Hire Rob Ryan As New Defensive Coordinator

Eatman:

Reports of Ryan taking the job have been circulating for a while. Eatman points out that though Ryan was the third coach the Cowboys interviewed for the job, that doesn’t necessarily mean he was Jerry Jones’ third choice. Ryan wasn’t able to interview until Pat Shurmur was hired as Cleveland’s coach.

Less than two weeks after officially becoming the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jason Garrett is beginning to build his staff. According to an AP report, which quotes “two people with direct knowledge,” Rob Ryan is set to takeover as the new defensive coordinator in Dallas. Wade Phillips previously handled the defensive duties for the Cowboys.

Ryan, son of buddy and brother to Rex, served in the same position with the Cleveland Browns for the past two seasons but his future there was uncertain after the firing of Eric Mangini (Ryan also interviewed for the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers). Before Cleveland, Ryan was the defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders from 2004-08.

The Dallas Cowboys turned much of the power of their franchise into the hands of Jason Garrett on Thursday as they removed the interim tag and announced him as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. SB Nation’s Blogging The Boys has the run down on a few of the Cowboys announcements during the Jason Garrett press conference:

It’s fitting that the same day Wade Phillips is announced as the newest defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, Garrett is officially announced as the Cowboys head coach.

The Dallas Cowboys have yet to officially remove the interim tag from Jason Garrett as their next head coach but they’ve called a press conference for Thursday afternoon and it’s expected that’s where Jerry Jones will make the official announement.

Garrett took over as interim head coach after Wade Phillips was fired this year and saw them improve in the second half of the season. Garrett was long considered the man who would be the next Cowboys head coach (at least he was being paid like it) so the news doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

After Wade Phillips was fired, the Cowboys were 1-7 and in far worse spirits than that record would indicate. Since interim head coach Jason Garrett took over, the Cowboys are 4-3. That’s apparently enough of an audition for Jerry Jones to give him the full-time gig.

The NFL Network’s Mike Lombardi is reporting that Garrett has been promoted to Cowboys head coach. Cowboys wide receivers coach Ray Sherman was interviewed to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule, according to the NFL Network, but ESPN reports that Sherman had not been interviewed as of Sunday morning.

Careful what you wish for, Jason Garrett. After watching his predecessor get shuffled loose for a terrible 1-7 start to the season, Garrett is the new head man in Dallas. When asked if it was a decision he considered with trepidation, Garrett said not at all.

Garrett also spoke about the season so far and how he turns around a 1-7 squad:

Pasqualoni is a natural choice as the only coach on the staff with experience managing the 3-4 defense that Dallas employs. He’s most well-known for being the head coach at Syracuse for fourteen seasons. He previously worked for the Cowboys before leaving to take over the Dolphins defense where he found success:

He returned to coach for the Cowboys this past January.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a press conference Monday that he was in disbelief over how poorly his team was performing prior to watching the Cowboys get thrashed 45-7 to the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field on Sunday night.

In his comments to the media from the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch headquarters, Jones expressed disappointment at the current state of the team, but maintained that firing coach Wade Phillips was not a tacit admission of resignation and that he expects the team to continue trying to win through the remainder of the season.

Phililps went to Cowboys headquarters on Monday morning and believed he was safe, according to Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com. Glazer reports Phillips was visibly upset as he told others in the organization that he had been fired. It’s been reported Jason Garrett will replace him.

Unfortunately for Phillips his firing was no surprise. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said last week that Phillips would remain the head coach for the rest of the season. That was hard to believe at the time considering the Cowboys had just one win this season.

Phillips’ final numbers with the Cowboys come in at 34-22 in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs. What ultimately did him in was the 1-7 record the Cowboys are currently sporting. SB Nation’s Blogging The Boys has been waiting for Jerry Jones to make a decision on Phillips.

The CBS-11 report said that it would Jason Garrett who gets the nod as head coach replacing Phillips and ESPN reports that’s the case. Now that the news is circulating the Cowboys will likely be confirming the reports. Garrett came to the Cowboys as offensive coordinator in 2007 and has been among the NFL’s highest paid assistants. Many figured it would be Garrett getting the job was Phillips was fired.

This move was expected by many as multiple reports surfaced following the game that Phillips was unlikely to make it through the week. Phillips’ certainly deserved this fate after the Cowboys started the season 1-7.

Last week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Phillips would remain on as head coach for the rest of the season but I’m not sure if others, Jones included, actually believed that at the time. Jones said after the Packers game that there would be people in the organization who suffered the consequences of failing so badly on expectations this year.

Jones said last week Phillips would remain the head coach for the rest of the season but that seems unlikely at this point. Jones’ likely knows his words above would contribute to the “Fire Wade Phillips” bandwagon that’s been created in Dallas.

Jones tells Tim McMahon of ESPN that he plans to talk to the team on Monday. The Cowboys still have Phillips’ weekly press conference scheduled for Monday afternoon so at this point it doesn’t appear there have been any definitive decisions on Phillips’ future.