IRVING, Texas - If there was one theme Wade Phillips tried to emphasize during his first news conference as new head coach, it was the importance of creating a family atmosphere.
If his first two coaching hires are any indication, Phillips is certainly doing just that.
Phillips not only hired someone from the recent Cowboys' family, but his own personal family as well.
Former Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen, who played seven seasons before retiring last year because of a neck injury, has been added to the coaching staff as an assistant linebackers/defensive quality control coach.
Phillips also hired his son, Wesley, to the staff as an offensive assistant/quality control coach. The younger Phillips spent last year as quarterbacks coach at Baylor University and had interviews lined up for similar coaching jobs in the NFL at both San Diego and Cleveland.
And the Cowboys appear close to making a third new hire after interviewing veteran coach Ray Sherman on Tuesday. Sherman, the current wide receivers coach in Tennessee, met with Wade Phillips, Wesley Phillips and offensive coach Jason Garrett on Tuesday about becoming the Cowboys' wide receivers coach.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones also confirmed on Tuesday that inside linebackers coach Vincent Brown will not be returning to the staff next season. Brown, a former player under Bill Parcells with the Patriots, coached on the Cowboys' staff for only one year, working under linebackers coach Paul Pasqualoni. With Nguyen virtually replacing Brown, the Cowboys now have only four coaches from last year's staff: Todd Bowles, Tony Sparano, Kacy Rodgers and Pasqualoni.
Both Jones and Phillips said the Cowboys will interview three more coaches on Wednesday for some of the remaining vacancies that include running backs coach, special teams coach, tight ends coach and possibly even defensive coordinator.
While Phillips said he does not have a set timetable to complete the staff, Jones said he is hopeful to get "most of it buttoned down this week."
While Nguyen and Wesley Phillips clearly won't have the impact of some of the other assistants, Phillips expressed his excitement about Nguyen, a former Texas A&M standout who joined the Cowboys in 1999 as a third-round pick.
Phillips admitted he didn't know Nguyen that well himself, but said it didn't take long to hear enough great things about the former linebacker.
"We have a mutual friend that knows him and of course, everyone here knows him," Phillips said of Nguyen. "You didn't hear anything but great comments about a super person he is and a greater worker he is; all the things you're looking for. And a great coach, he has all the attributes going in. And everyone says, everything that Dat does, he's going to do well. I feel real positive about that."
Nguyen played nine games of the 2005 season before a neck injury forced him to injured reserve that season, and then later to retirement the following summer.
While Nguyen has been a teammate to more than half of the current roster, Phillips said he's not worried about him fitting in as a coach.
"Well, it depends on the respect they have," Phillips said of his current players. "This is a no-brainer in my opinion. All the players he played with have great respect for him. He's got great leadership."
Nguyen is expected to work closely with Pasqualoni, who served as overall linebackers coach last season.
While Phillips might not have known Nguyen that well, that's not the case for Jones, who called the move everything but a perfect fit.
"I think it's a natural," Jones said of adding Nguyen to the staff. "I've said this to him and others: Whatever Dat went into it, I wanted some of it. I would've been an investor for him if he would've gone into business. He's got that kind of ambition, energy, focus. He's going to get it done, whatever he does."
It's likely Phillips feels the same about his own son, Wesley, who likely will be the youngest coach on the Cowboys' staff at the age of 27.
Wade Phillips said he always remembered the feeling when his father, Bum, added him to his staff with the Houston Oilers.
"He said, 'I'm not going to punish him because he's my son,'" Wade Phillips recalled. "If he's a good enough coach, he deserves to be looked at. And he's ready.
"I'm very proud of him as a son, but I've really proud of him as a coach."
Wesley Phillips, a former quarterback at UTEP, seemed excited about the opportunity to not only work in the NFL, but to follow in similar footsteps his father took.
"I didn't know if I'd ever get a chance to work with him," Wesley said. "He's been in the NFL my whole life. I certainly always hoped it would happen. I know he's always talked about working with his dad in Houston and New Orleans and it was always something I looked forward to."
Wade Phillips said his father didn't worry what the other coaches thought when he was brought on board with the Oilers. And he said he didn't think adding Wesley would be a problem either.
"If they know me well enough, I think they'll think the same thing they thought about my dad," Phillips said. "He wasn't going to hire someone who wasn't going to do the job. He's a team guy. And that's what I am. And I'm not going to hire someone who can't do the job for us. And I think once people know me, they'll realize that."
Good Timing
While Jerry Jones said Tuesday he had no doubts Wade Phillips wanted to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he was relieved the Chargers' head coaching vacancy became open after he officially joined the Cowboys.
Phillips, who spent the last three years on Marty Schottenheimer's staff in San Diego as the defensive coordinator, appeared to fill the NFL's last head coaching vacancy this off-season when he was hired in Dallas last Thursday.
However, one has opened up in San Diego after the Chargers surprisingly fired Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season that ended with a playoff loss to New England in the AFC Divisional round. While Schottenheimer and Chargers general manager A.J. Smith seemed to be on different pages, the organization apparently was frustrated over the Chargers losing several key assistants, including Phillips and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who became the head coach in Miami.
"Wade, in my mind, wanted to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said. "But I can tell you when I saw (Monday) night that Marty Schottenheimer, had been fired, how relieved I was that Wade had signed his contract.
"In my mind, he would've been the coach of the Chargers had he not gotten the job of the Dallas Cowboys. But I want to emphasize, he really did convince me that the Cowboys job was a big interest him. But I also know how valued he was as a coach with the Chargers."
San Diego is reportedly interested in meeting with a few candidates who interviewed with the Cowboys before Phillips' hiring, including Ron Rivera, Norv Turner and Gary Gibbs.
