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IRVING, Texas - Before this season ever began, it was quite clear the Cowboys would only be judged based on what takes place in the month of January.
Here we are in late December, and the season is already over.
Safe to say, the Cowboys have underachieved this season. And regardless of whose projections we're going off of, even the players and coaches themselves expected more than a 9-7 season that ended with a historic thud Sunday in Philadelphia, losing by 38 points, the largest margin of defeat to the Eagles in nearly 50 years.
So the first big question was answered after the game, when owner Jerry Jones said there would not be a change at the head coaching position.
For now, it appears Wade Phillips will indeed remain the coach next season. As for his coaching staff, Phillips said that will be addressed in the near future.
And with several players locked up to long contracts, don't expect many personnel changes either.
But the Cowboys figured to compete for a Super Bowl this year. They didn't even make the playoffs.
If the coach isn't changing, the majority of the staff is staying put and the key players will probably all return as well, then something has to change.
Phillips agreed, spending most of his Monday press conference saying just that.
"We have to (make) changes as far as overall the team," Phillips said. "But there are other things, including off-seasons, mini-camps and practices that I have to look at and alter some things and modify some things. But to get to the standard we want and our fans want, I don't see any other way."
That sounds simple enough. But Phillips wouldn't go into further detail on the specific changes, saying he barely had time to recover from Sunday's 44-6 loss to the Eagles that not only ended the Cowboys' season, but sent arch-rival Philadelphia to the playoffs with a 9-6-1 record.
Phillips knows the perception from media and fans is that he's more of a laid-back coach that lacks emotion. While he said he doesn't expect to make any personality changes, he might have to alter his approach in dealing with the players.
"Certainly if it means being more demanding, more whatever I have to get it done. That's what I am going to approach. I am going to get a plan together," Phillips said. "Obviously, I haven't had a lot of time. I have thought about it, certainly after the game. Didn't get much sleep and been thinking about it, so this is the process we need to start as quickly as possible, starting with evaluations of ourselves, first coaching staff-wise, and players and where we want to go from here.
"Like I said, I'm still disappointed, one of the worst losses I've been around. I don't have an explanation for it except we just didn't play well enough and coach well enough in that ball game."
Whatever Phillips' plan will be, he certainly didn't relay that to the players. In fact, a scheduled team meeting on Monday was canceled, surprising some of the team leaders, including linebacker Bradie James, who was asked by reporters if he wanted to hear from his head coach, especially considering so many recent reports speculated that Phillips' future was in jeopardy.
"Of course. Who wouldn't?" James asked back. "I don't want to just end this thing and be in the dark. I'm finding out information from you guys. That's not my decision either. That's just how it is."
Now James had quite a Monday afternoon as well, getting into an altercation with a protesting fan just outside the team's facility at Valley Ranch. Wearing a two-sided sign over his chest that questioned the team's heart and Phillips' position as head coach, the fan stood in between James and the exit to the complex.
James said he got out of his car to confront the fan and ended up ripping the cardboard sign, jolting the fan, who suffered broken glasses in the process.
"So I went and gift-wrapped some Oakleys, and he got something out of the deal," said James, who said no charges were filed and there was not a police report. "I told him, 'I share your frustrations. But where we differ is I wouldn't go to anybody's job, especially not up here with 300-pound guys, trying to tell them what they didn't do right.'"
Clearly, despite the incident, James was still frustrated with the outcome and season being over.
When asked about Phillips' so-called changes, especially in his dealings with the players, James wondered out loud how that would work.
"If you know a person to be a certain way and then all of a sudden you have an extreme change, I don't know how well that's going to be taken," James said. "I don't know what he means by that. Like I said, he didn't address us, so I don't know.
"Wade is Wade. He has his ways. He is tough. I think some of the softness comments get to him. Whatever he comes up with, I'm all in. I'm nothing but a team player. Whatever needs to be done, I'm all for it."
One of the biggest aspects that Phillips said he hopes to change next year is the turnover margin. The Cowboys ranked 30th in the NFL with a minus-11 margin. To make matters worse, the Dolphins, led by former Cowboys assistant Tony Sparano, who took over as a first-year head coach in Miami, not only led the NFL with a plus-17 margin, but set an NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season with 13.
"Obviously our turnover situation hurt us throughout the year and we have to get that changed. There were only two teams (Atlanta, Minnesota) that made the playoffs with a minus turnover ratio and we were second in the NFL in turnovers ourselves," Phillips said. "I think the turnovers are the real key. The turnover and the turnover ratio is a bigger indicator in winning and losing. I think we're going to address that even more so.
"Things aren't going to change unless you change something. If we don't change anything, we're going to pretty much get the same thing."
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Nick Eatman - 
