Sports Then and Now

After a disappointing 1-7 start, Wade Phillips and the Cowboys are left to wonder what happened to the promise of 2010.

Finally having seen enough as the 2010 season continues to be a nightmare for his Dallas Cowboys, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones has done the inevitable and dismissed beleaguered head coach Wade Phillips.

Jones had tried to resist the temptation to make a coaching change during the middle of the season, but an embarrassing 45-7 loss on Sunday Night Football to the Green Bay Packers was more than the proud owner could absorb.

So, the Cowboys will finish the 2010 season under the leadership of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

It was just a couple years ago that Garrett was the hot young coaching prospect. When he became the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys in 2007 many thought it was just a matter of time before he would replace Phillips as the coach of the Cowboys.

Now, Garrett will have his chance, but it certainly isn’t in the situation originally envisioned.

With a 1-7 record and having been outscored 121-59 the last three weeks, Dallas is on pace for their worst season since their first season under Jones’ ownership in 1989.

During that season, Dallas started 0-8 and posted only one victory over the 16 game schedule.

However, the biggest difference between the Cowboys in 1989 and 2010 is that while the 1989 squad had no expectations and were biding time as Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson started building the team into eventual three-time Super Bowl champions, the 2010 Cowboys had visions of the Super Bowl dancing in their heads before the season.

With the Super Bowl being played in the new Cowboys Stadium in February 2011, Jones had dreams of seeing his Cowboys become the first team to host the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

Jason Garrett will get eight games to prove he can have success that Phillips couldn't achieve in Dallas.

That, of course, will not happen and instead Jones is left with eight games to deduce just how many changes need to be made on the field as the Cowboys look for a rebound season in 2011.

You can bet that how the team performs over the final eight games will determine whether Garrett’s stint as coach of the Cowboys is a long one or just a brief footnote in team history.