And perhaps the weight of those lofty expectations may not have crushed the Wade Phillips career so abruptly.

FORBES: Why Experts Failed To Predict Cowboy's Failures And Why Phillips Had To Go

That atmosphere has ramped up with the injury to starting QB Tony Romo, their abysmal record of 1-7 which has them now sitting at in dead last in the NFC East, and the firing of head coach Wade Phillips.

FORBES: Poor Showing By Cowboys Shouldn't Change Outlook for Jerry Jones on NFL Lockout

Head coach Wade Phillips was fired.

FORBES: Fans Injured at Cowboys Stadium, New Blow to Jones' Bowl Plans

It might have been Wade Phillips.

WSJ: Jason Gay: Just One Year Until Superbowlmageddon

So that is why as a professor of sports business and a lawyer looking at sports contracts, I see so much to interest me during the hiring and firing season which began with the firing of head coach Wade Phillips by the Dallas Cowboys and got a second casualty when Colorado fired Dan Hawkins.

FORBES: The Coaching Carousel