Wade Phillips Fired As Head Coach Of Dallas Cowboys; Jason Garrett Named ...

Roemer/AP Wade Phillips argues a call during what turns out to be his final game as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys Sunday.

Jerry Jones kept saying Wade Phillips would not be fired during the season, but even Jones could not take it anymore.

He fired Phillips on Monday, a day after the Cowboys disgraced themselves in a 45-7 loss to the Packers. Dallas is now 1-7 and it won't get any easier this Sunday when they play the red-hot Giants in the New Meadowlands Stadium. Two weeks ago, the Giants KOd Cowboys QB Tony Romo for the season with a broken clavicle in a 41-35 loss.

Phillips will be replaced on an interim basis by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who in 2008 turned down the Ravens and Falcons head coaching jobs to remain in Dallas. Garrett was always considered the natural successor to Phillips, but not under these circumstances.

Garrett, who once was theup quarterback to Troy Aikman in Dallas, also was Kerry Collins'up on the Giants team that went to the Super Bowl following the 2000 season.

The Cowboys start is their worst since Jones' first year owning the club in 1989 when Dallas finished 1-15. But Jones and Jimmy Johnson had inherited the worst team in the league from Tom Landry. This year, the Cowboys were a popular preseason pick to make it to the Super Bowl, which will be played in Jones' year-old $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Feb. 6. But the Cowboys opened the season with losses to the Redskins and Bears and never recovered.

Last year, the Cowboys finished strong in the regular season and then defeated the Eagles in the wild-card round, their first playoff victory since 1996. But they lost 34-3 in the divisional round to the Vikings.

Phillips, 63, took over for Bill Parcells in 2007 and finishes with a 34-22 record in the regular season and a 1-2 playoff record. Phillips' contract runs through the 2011 season. This is the first time Jones has fired a coach in the middle of the season.