IRVING, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys aren't changing coaches. Instead, coach Wade Phillips plans to change.

After seeing Super Bowl hopes fizzle into a 9-7 season that wasn't good enough to make the playoffs, team owner Jerry Jones has vowed to bring back Phillips, and Phillips on Monday vowed to do things differently.

"We know thing must improve. The only way is to change things," Phillips said. "To get to the standard we want, I don't see another way."

Phillips said he and Jones already "talked man to man" about what went wrong and what needs to be done about it. All he's decided so far is that he needs a plan; he's only started putting it together. However, he said both coordinators will be back and he expects all the star players to return.

Considering his laid-back demeanor and reputation as a players' coach, Phillips seems to be saying he plans to get tough. However, he'll be 62 when training camp starts and going into his 33rd season in the NFL, so it remains to be seen whether someone so established can become a different kind of leader.

"My personality is not going to change so much as what you ask players to do," he said.