KTA
08-06-2007, 10:01 PM
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
There's a little of Bill Parcells in Wade Phillips after all.
In a move that ran counter to his image as a laid-back coach, Phillips on Saturday publicly berated the Dallas Cowboys for the first time at training camp.
The scolding, which included profanity and a passionate speech about personal accountability, came after several players arrived late for special-teams drills at the start of the afternoon workout.
Phillips was visibly animated while standing in the middle of the Alamodome field with the players surrounding him. At one point, he made a swift punching motion while his eyes darted from player to player.
His anger didn't end there. After practice, he made the offenders stand in front of the team and explain their tardiness.
Rookie fullback Deon Anderson was among the offenders.
"I didn't realize when practices were starting, and coaches were flipping out," Anderson said. "I'm like, '(expletive).' Now coach is pissed off at the whole team because of what I did."
Anderson said he thought Phillips, who replaced the retired Parcells, was going to hit him.
"Then he took a step back and regrouped," Anderson said. "He said, 'This stuff can't happen. You guys have to be accountable for your actions.'"
Phillips, whose soft-spoken demeanor stands in sharp contrast to his predecessor's tough-guy style, has been criticized for running what some observers have labeled "Camp Cupcake."
If the tongue-lashing Phillips delivered was designed to squelch such talk, he accomplished his goal, players said.
"It wasn't the message, it was the principle — quit taking advantage of the situation," Kevin Burnett said.
Bradie James suggested Phillips is tired of hearing all the talk about him being soft.
"Camp has been tough," James said. "We have had more practices this year than before. But coach has been getting criticized, and for those guys to be late, he took it personal. It was disrespectful."
Several key players, including Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Tony Romo, addressed the team after practice about the need to be accountable.
"He will treat you like a man until you don't treat him like one by doing things like being late," Romo said of Phillips. "He will tell you about it. And if it happens a second time, he will cut the guy."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/football/nfl/cowboys/stories/MYSA080507.10C.NZ.State.10CCowboysSider0805.en.321 362e.html
Express-News Staff Writer
There's a little of Bill Parcells in Wade Phillips after all.
In a move that ran counter to his image as a laid-back coach, Phillips on Saturday publicly berated the Dallas Cowboys for the first time at training camp.
The scolding, which included profanity and a passionate speech about personal accountability, came after several players arrived late for special-teams drills at the start of the afternoon workout.
Phillips was visibly animated while standing in the middle of the Alamodome field with the players surrounding him. At one point, he made a swift punching motion while his eyes darted from player to player.
His anger didn't end there. After practice, he made the offenders stand in front of the team and explain their tardiness.
Rookie fullback Deon Anderson was among the offenders.
"I didn't realize when practices were starting, and coaches were flipping out," Anderson said. "I'm like, '(expletive).' Now coach is pissed off at the whole team because of what I did."
Anderson said he thought Phillips, who replaced the retired Parcells, was going to hit him.
"Then he took a step back and regrouped," Anderson said. "He said, 'This stuff can't happen. You guys have to be accountable for your actions.'"
Phillips, whose soft-spoken demeanor stands in sharp contrast to his predecessor's tough-guy style, has been criticized for running what some observers have labeled "Camp Cupcake."
If the tongue-lashing Phillips delivered was designed to squelch such talk, he accomplished his goal, players said.
"It wasn't the message, it was the principle — quit taking advantage of the situation," Kevin Burnett said.
Bradie James suggested Phillips is tired of hearing all the talk about him being soft.
"Camp has been tough," James said. "We have had more practices this year than before. But coach has been getting criticized, and for those guys to be late, he took it personal. It was disrespectful."
Several key players, including Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Tony Romo, addressed the team after practice about the need to be accountable.
"He will treat you like a man until you don't treat him like one by doing things like being late," Romo said of Phillips. "He will tell you about it. And if it happens a second time, he will cut the guy."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/football/nfl/cowboys/stories/MYSA080507.10C.NZ.State.10CCowboysSider0805.en.321 362e.html