Twitter Warrior

Wade Phillips tweaks Jerry Jones on Cowboys Stadium money grab, expresses Dallas honky tonk regrets

ARLINGTON — Wade Phillips isn't the type of guy who carries a public grudge. The Houston Texans defensive coordinator has touched almost as many hands on his return to the Dallas area as Rick Perry at a Texas A&M Yell Leader reunion.

But that doesn't mean the Dallas Cowboys — the team that hasn't made the playoffs since Jerry Jones fired Phillips — are going to escape the coach's biting wit.

Phillips unleashed quite the little tweet on his return to Jerry World. And it was almost underground enough for everyone to miss it.

Heading for Cowboy\AT$T stadium. Can't wait to see how young guys play tonight.

— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum)

August 29, 2013

Notice how Phillips replaced the & sign in AT&T Stadium with a $. Think that wasn't intentional?

Of course, Jerry Jones — after crowing about the stadium being called Cowboys Stadium for years — infamously sold out for the corporate giant's mega cash earlier this summer. Leave it to Wade, whose SonOfBum is one of the most quietly brilliant Twitter accounts in all of sports, to have some fun with that as only he can.

You know Phillips doesn't mean anything malicious by it. He's just being Wade. He also tweeted about missing out on getting back to Billy Bob's in Fort Worth — which only bills itself as the world's largest honky tonk. (Everyone knows Wade Phillips can dance.)

Besides, Jerry Jones has a lot more reasons to harbor regrets than Phillips.

His Cowboys haven't even finished above .500 since firing Phillips. The Curse of The Son of Bum?

If Jones hadn't panicked and jettisoned Wade midway through the 2010 season, you have to believe that things would be a whole lot different for both the Cowboys and the Texans these days. Phillips' teams make the postseason. He won two NFC East titles in his three and a half seasons as the Cowboys head coach. His .607 winning percentage is behind only the Jimmy Johnson-coattail-riding Barry Switzer's .625 in Cowboys history.

Sure, it's a much smaller sample size, but Phillips is even ahead of the legendary hat man himself Tom Landry's .605 Dallas winning percentage. And the Texans are two for two in playoff appearances since he joined Gary Kubiak.

Why wouldn't he enjoy his return to the $ Stadium's sidelines?

Wade Phillips was back coaching a game in the land formerly known as Cowboys Stadium for the first time since Jerry Jones fired him.

Photo by © Michelle Watson CatchLightGroup.com

Wade Phillips was back coaching a game in the land formerly known as Cowboys Stadium for the first time since Jerry Jones fired him.

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O'Brien Talks Tough

Tough new sheriff: Bill O'Brien sounds like the anti Kubiak, vows to be hard on Texans players

Photo by Rob Carr Getty Images

Bill O'Brien admits he missed the NFL.

Bill O'Brien certainly hasn't walked timidly into his new job as the head coach/franchise savior of the Houston Texans.

With large posters of J.J. Watt and Andre Johnson flanking him on either side of an elaborate press conference stage, O'Brien didn't pay homage as much as he demanded a new standard.

"To me it's about accountability," O'Brien said. "It's about demanding. It's about putting together a fast, physical football team."

In other words, Mr. Nice Guy went out the window with former Texans coach Gary Kubiak. O'Brien mentioned "accountability" and "demanding" several times in his introductory press conference Friday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. And you can bet the chorus sounded like sweet music to Texans owner Bob McNair.

CultureMap was the first news outlet anywhere to report that O'Brien was the Texans' top choice to be the team's new coach way back on Dec. 18. This was a McNair driven pick from the beginning and it is the 44-year-old O'Brien's toughness that drew the owner to the former Penn State coach and Bill Belichick assistant.

"To me it's about accountability. It's about demanding."

And McNair himself certainly talked tough on introduction day.

"I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door," McNair said. "Not acceptable. Not what we're going to do in the future."

McNair went on to talk about O'Brien having shown he's willing to make the hard decisions — something he clearly felt was lacking as the Texans spiraled from Super Bowl schemers into a 2-14 death march in 2013.

"Some coaches who have been players still think of themselves as players rather than the head of an organization," McNair said. "And have trouble making difficult decisions."

Kubiak, of course, played quarterback for the Denver Broncos. As for an inability to make tough calls? Just look at how long Kubiak stuck with a flat-lined Matt Schaub and how he kept trying to go back to Schaub even after the Case Keenum call was made.

O'Brien noted that "there are a lot of good football players on this team." He also declined to take any pressure off himself and describe this makeover of a team with the worst record in the NFL as a rebuilding job.

"There are a lot of pieces in place here," he said. "It's all about hard work . . . Quick turnaround, rebuilding are labels. I'm not into all that."

Tom Brady Tough?

All in all, it's an impressive opening performance for a first-time NFL head coach. O'Brien knows how to command the stage. Texans general manager Rick Smith talked about the new coach's "charisma."

O'Brien even makes sure to work in the obligatory Texas joke about the cowboy life.

"Right after this, I'm going to go out and buy my first pair of cowboy boots," he said.

It's already becoming clear there will be one cowboy in charge of these Texans. One who happens to be a hard-nosed Northeast guy who's probably still most famous for getting into a sideline screaming match with New England Patriots golden boy quarterback Tom Brady.

"I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door."

O'Brien downplayed the incident, but it's clearly helped burnish his taskmaster image.

"You know it's a competitive sports," O'Brien said. "Tom Brady's a great friend. These things happen. The thing that people don't understand is that 30 seconds after it was over, we were sitting together and going over pictures (of game action)."

The Texans players are clearly intrigued by O'Brien. Veteran center Chris Myers sat amongst the press at the stadium and listened to the new head man.

There will be a lot more change coming to the stadium. Smith hinted at as much when he noted how the Texans needed a coach who can guide young players.

It's hard to imagine O'Brien tip toeing around that change. He plans to meet with all the remaining Texans coaches Saturday (as with any head coaching change, it's unlikely many of the current assistants will be kept by O'Brien). He'll tackle the quarterback question later, though it's clear Keenum is still in the picture.

Almost every new NFL head coach sounds good on introduction day. Especially when the team brings out a marching band for the occasion. But O'Brien sounds tough and no nonsense.

Just what Bob McNair wanted. This is his call. His makeover. His tough guy.

Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.

Photo by Scott Halleran Getty Images

Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.

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