IRVING -- Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Bill Callahan watched coach Jason Garrett's news conference Wednesday and was prepared for the big question to be hurled his way when the rest of the staff met the media Thursday.
"I was thinking about the line of questioning coming in here today. I was wondering what the obvious question was," Callahan said with a laugh.However, when he was asked to address whether he would be calling plays in 2013, Callahan deferred back to Garrett's non-committal remarks Wednesday."I think Jason addressed that [Wednesday]," Callahan said. "I've got the utmost confidence in Coach Garrett and what he believes and how he wants to go about the process of going through play-calling. Again, whatever it may be, so be it."My job and my function as an assistant is to serve the head coach, and I'm going to do that to the best of my ability. Every day that I come to work, you put your best foot forward, and you compete. [Owner] Jerry [Jones] made a great statement. Things have been uncomfortable."Callahan said Jones has never asked him to take over play-calling duties, though his door is always open if the owner wants to talk."I never spoke to Jerry specifically about that," Callahan said. "I get my orders from Jason, and if Mr. Jones wants to talk to me, I'll be more than happy to visit with him."Tight ends coachWhen Wes Phillips joined the Cowboys as a quality control coach/offensive assistant in 2007, there was no secret to how he got the job. His father, Wade, was the head coach.Six years later and two and a half years after his father was fired, Phillips was introduced as the team's new tight ends coach.His ascension up the ranks of the Cowboys coaching staff from a guy who broke down film to helping out with receivers to helping out with special teams to helping the assistant offensive line coach to a full-fledged position coach under a different staff is no secret either.It's the result of the hard work and the respect he earned from Jason Garrett."I'm absolutely proud of it," Phillips said. "That was my goal when I was hired here. I understand I got the opportunity because my dad was in this league. My main drive was to prove I belonged here and I could do the job and do it well."Dooley do-overNewly hired Cowboys receivers coach Derek Dooley doesn't shy from the fact that he was rocked by his firing as head coach at Tennessee last fall.He said he is grateful for Jason Garrett giving him an opportunity to get back into coaching, but he said he needed to be cleansed from the tough ending at Tennessee and actually turned down other opportunities."I felt that I couldn't do a good job to whoever I went until I got cleansed, so to speak," Dooley said. "You've got so many emotions when things like that happen, from disappointment to anger to frustration to blame. It's important to really cleanse all that out and start looking forward."Clarence E. Hill Jr.817-390-7760Twitter: @clarencehilljr
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