INDIANAPOLIS – Familiarity has been a staple as new coach Wade Phillips has gone about assembling the Cowboys' coaching staff, and that continued Wednesday when Wade Wilson interviewed for the vacant quarterback coaching job.
Wilson served as the Cowboys' quarterbacks coach from 2000-02 before spending the last three seasons with Chicago. Wilson played for the Cowboys from 1995-97, when he was a teammate of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, and played 19 years in the NFL. In 2004, Wilson coached four quarterbacks who started at least three games, and in 2005, he tutored rookie Kyle Orton, who won 10 games.
Wilson would be the third former Cowboy to join Phillips' staff, joining Garrett and Dat Nguyen.
Wisconsin co-offensive coordinator Paul Chryst turned down the quarterback coaching position after an interview with the Cowboys.
The other major spot to fill is special teams, and Phillips interviewed Oregon State's Bruce Read recently. Read has five years of NFL experience, having held the special teams coaching jobs with San Diego (1999-2001) and the New York Giants (2002-03) between stints at Oregon State.
In 2001, San Diego led the NFL in kick-return average, and punter Darren Bennett was named to the Pro Bowl. In 2003, the Giants improved in eight special teams statistical categories over the previous year.
Phillips is scheduled to arrive in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine today, while owner and general manager Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones are due in Friday.
