Getty Joe Philbin, Mike McCarthy
Joe Philbin has worked for three NFL organizations, served as a coordinator and head coach, and won a Super Bowl. He’s been promoted and demoted, hired and fired. He’s experienced the highs, the lows. Peaks. Valleys. Everything the sport could throw at you.
Yet, upon arrival, something about the Dallas Cowboys stopped the 58-year-old, once a fan, in his tracks. His decision to become the team’s new offensive line coach, reuniting with Mike McCarthy, was instantly reaffirmed.
“Truth of the matter is I grew up in Massachusetts, but in those days the Patriots were not the Patriots we now know of,” Philbin said Monday, per The Athletic. “I must have had some premonition I was going to be bald, and Tom Landry was someone I looked up to. The way that the Cowboys did things, in all honesty, I was a Cowboys fan.
Yesterday, I walked outside for the first time — they’ve kind of had me locked up — and I got to the far end zone, and I took a look at the Ford Center. I was like, ‘Oh God, are you kidding me?’ If you love football and you love coaching, and you get an opportunity to coach for the Dallas Cowboys, it’s hard to say no, I would imagine.”
In assembling his Cowboys hierarchy, McCarthy valued experience above all else. And few have more skin in the game — in the trenches, particularly — than Philbin, whose resume is underscored by multiple stints with the Packers, where he climbed the corporate ladder.
He was employed as Green Bay’s assistant OL coach in 2003 before tight ends coach was added to his title, from 2004-05. He was promoted to OL coach in 2006 and offensive coordinator in 2007, a position he held until 2012 when the Miami Dolphins named him head coach.
Philbin compiled a 24-28 record in Miami and was fired during the 2015 campaign. He landed an assistant HC/OL coach gig with the Indianapolis Colts in 2016. Two years later, he returned to Titletown as McCarthy’s de facto OC. Philbin replaced McCarthy when the latter was fired in December 2018; the former went 2-2 as the Packers’ interim HC.
Out of football in 2019, Philbin was tapped to replace Jason Garrett-era OL coach Marc Colombo. He’s among several recently-hired staff members with Green Bay ties, joining assistant OL coach Jeff Blasko, linebackers coach Scott McCurley, assistant secondary coach Al Harris, offensive assistant Scott Tolzien, and assistant HC Rob Davis.
Philbin inherits arguably the best O-line in the business. Dallas spawned three Pro Bowl blockers this year: left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick, and right guard Zack Martin. The front-five was key to producing the league’s top-ranked offense in total yards, the second-best passing attack, and fifth-ranked ground game.
“I feel very fortunate, very privileged to be here,” Philbin said, per The Athletic. “It was not like (McCarthy) had to twist my thumb or anything.”
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Henry Speaks for First Time
The Cowboys made available to the media earlier this week a bevy of assistants, their hires — long reported — now official. New wide receivers coach Adam Henry was among those who held an introductory gathering at The Star.
A Texas native with “so many Cowboys fans in my family,” Henry arrives from Cleveland where he instructed Pro Bowl pass-catchers Odell Beckham Jr. and (personal hype man) Jarvis Landry, both of whom he knew from their days at LSU. Fortunately, he has another dynamic pair to tutor in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup.
And though Henry’s a doer rather than a thinker, and can’t accurately gauge the Cowboys’ wideouts until they’re on the field, he’s excited about the opportunity in front of him.
“This is a very young, talented group,” he said, per The Athletic. “It has a lot of possibilities. … I’m a guy who likes to get on the grass, get with them, talk to them, talk through things and see what they know and what they don’t know, because you can assume a lot of things on tape.”
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