Wade Phillips

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Wade Phillips
Candid photograph of Phillips standing with arms akimbo on a football field wearing a dark blue jacket with a Dallas Cowboys logo
Phillips while head coach of the Cowboys
Current position
Title Defensive coordinator
Team Denver Broncos
Personal information
Date of birth (1947-06-21) June 21, 1947 (age 76)
Place of birth Orange, Texas, USA
Career information
Position(s) Linebacker
College Houston
Head coaching record
Regular season 82–61 (.573)
Postseason 1–5 (.167)
Career record 83–66–0 (.557)
Stats
Coaching stats (NFL) Pro Football Reference
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1969 Houston (graduate assistant)
1970–1972 Lutcher Stark HS (defensive coordinator)
1973–1974 Oklahoma State (linebackers)
1975 Kansas (defensive line)
1976–1980 Houston Oilers (def. line)
1981–1985 New Orleans Saints (def. coord.)
1985 New Orleans Saints (interim head coach)
1986–1988 Philadelphia Eagles (def. coord.)
1989–1992 Denver Broncos (def. coord.)
1993–1994 Denver Broncos (head coach)
1995–1997 Buffalo Bills (def. coord.)
1998–2000 Buffalo Bills (head coach)
2002–2003 Atlanta Falcons (def. coord.)
2003 Atlanta Falcons (interim head coach)
2004–2006 San Diego Chargers (def. coord.)
2007–2010 Dallas Cowboys (head coach)
2011–2013 Houston Texans (def. coord.)
2013 Houston Texans (interim head coach)
2015–present Denver Broncos (def. coord.)

Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947)[1] is the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. He is the former head coach of the National Football League's Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He was also an interim head coach for the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and the Houston Texans. His career winning percentage as a head coach is .562.

Personal life

Wade is the son of former NFL coach Bum Phillips and Helen Wilson Phillips.[2] He adored his father, both personally and professionally, stating, “I was blessed to have him as a father and coach. I got to coach with him for 11 years. He taught me everything I know about coaching. He taught me right and wrong. He taught me to enjoy life.” [3] Wade and wife Laurie met in 1964 at Port Neches–Groves High School, where he was the quarterback of the football team and she was the head cheerleader;[2] they have a daughter, Tracy, an actress, dancer and choreographer living in Southern California, and a son, Wes, who is the tight ends coach for the Washington Redskins.

Wade has said this on his personal drive: "Winning is why we play and coach—our team and our fans is why we continue that quest."

Playing career

Phillips attended Port Neches–Groves High School in Port Neches, Texas, and went on to the University of Houston, where he was a three-year starter at linebacker from 1966–68. He held the school record for career assisted tackles[4] (228) until 2011 when the record was broken by Marcus McGraw.[5]

Coaching career

Phillips began his coaching career as graduate assistant to Bill Yeoman at the University of Houston in 1969. From 1970–72 he served as defensive coordinator at the former Lutcher Stark High School (now West Orange-Stark High School) in Orange, Texas. He then coached the linebackers at Oklahoma State University from 1973–1974, under his father who was OSU defensive coordinator at that time. In 1975, Phillips coached the defensive line at the University of Kansas under head coach Bud Moore .[2]

NFL coaching

Phillips began his professional coaching career in Houston as the linebackers coach in 1976 for the team coached by his father, as well as defensive line coach in 1977–1980. He remained on his father's staff as the pair headed for New Orleans. Bum stepped down as head coach of a struggling Saints team in late 1985, and Wade stepped in as interim head coach. He spent the next three years as the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles and then four more in the same position for the Denver Broncos. Phillips replaced Dan Reeves as head coach for the Broncos in 1993, but was fired after a mediocre 1994 season in which management felt he lost control of the team.

Phillips enjoyed a successful coaching stop at Buffalo. He always kept the team competitive and in the playoff hunt. A loss to the Titans in the 1999 playoffs haunted Phillips for the rest of his time at Buffalo. Prior to the game, Wade caused a controversy when he inserted Rob Johnson as starting quarterback, after Doug Flutie was the starter the whole year and led the team to the playoffs.

He has the distinction of having been replaced by a father and a son from two head coaching positions – by Jim Mora at the New Orleans Saints and by Jim Mora Jr. at the Atlanta Falcons. He also has twice replaced Dan Reeves as a head coach.

Before the 2007 season,[6] Phillips was named the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, replacing the retired Bill Parcells. This was the most successful coaching stop for Phillips. He was chosen after Jerry Jones interviewed 10 potential replacements, including former Cowboys and former San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner, former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and former Cowboys quarterback Jason Garrett. In the 2007 NFL Playoffs, he led the Cowboys to another playoff loss, making his playoff record 0–5. The Cowboys failed to make the playoffs in 2008, as the season ended with a 44–6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, preventing a wild card playoff berth.

Prior to the 2009 season, Phillips also took over as defensive coordinator, replacing the fired Brian Stewart. Phillips called defensive plays for the final 10 games of the 2008 season after Stewart was stripped of the responsibilities.[7] In the 2009-10 playoffs,[8] Phillips's Cowboys defeated the Eagles in the wild card round, ending the club's 12 year playoff win drought (6 games total, Phillips was only coach for one of those losses) and earning Phillips his first playoff win.[9] Following the 2009 season, Phillips signed a contract extension through the 2011 season.[10] However, he was fired by the Cowboys on 8 November 2010 following the second worst start in franchise history (one win in their first eight games) punctuated by a 45–7 loss to the Green Bay Packers.[11]

Prior to the 2011 season,[12] Phillips was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans replacing Frank Bush, who was released by Texans owner Bob McNair.[13] The Texans defense made major improvements on defense in Phillips's first year calling Houston's defense. Houston allowed the fourth-fewest points in the league in 2011 (compared to fourth most in 2010), the second-fewest yards allowed (third-most in 2010) and third-fewest yards per play (4.8, compared to 6.0, second-worst in 2010). On 3 November 2013, Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak collapsed at the end of the first half of the Texans-Colts game, he was then hospitalized at a local hospital. In Kubiak's absence, Phillips was given the head coaching duties as the acting head coach for the remainder of the game. On 6 November 2013, the Texans, and Kubiak decided to temporarily hand Phillips the head coaching duties, and named him the interim head coach until Kubiak was medically cleared to return. Exactly one month later, Kubiak was fired after his team had lost 11 games in a row. Once again, Phillips served as interim head coach for the Texans until the end of the season, when former Penn State head coach and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien was hired as the new head coach.[14]

On 28 January 2015, it was announced Phillips would join Gary Kubiak's staff at the Denver Broncos as the defensive coordinator.

Head coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
NO* 1985 1 3 0 .250 3rd in NFC West
NO Total 1 3 0 .250
DEN 1993 9 7 0 .562 3rd in AFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Los Angeles Raiders in AFC Wild-Card Game
DEN 1994 7 9 0 .437 4th in AFC West
DEN Total 16 16 0 .500 0 1 .000
BUF 1998 10 6 0 .625 3rd in AFC East 0 1 .000 Lost to Miami Dolphins in AFC Wild-Card Game
BUF 1999 11 5 0 .687 2nd in AFC East 0 1 .000 Lost to Tennessee Titans in AFC Wild-Card Game
BUF 2000 8 8 0 .500 4th in AFC East
BUF Total 29 19 0 .604 0 2 .000
ATL* 2003 2 1 0 .667 4th in NFC South
ATL Total 2 1 0 .667
DAL 2007 13 3 0 .813 1st in NFC East 0 1 .000 Lost to New York Giants in NFC Divisional Game
DAL 2008 9 7 0 .562 3rd in NFC East
DAL 2009 11 5 0 .687 1st in NFC East 1 1 .500 Lost to the Minnesota Vikings in NFC Divisional Game
DAL 2010 1 7 0 .125 3rd in NFC East Fired in mid-season
DAL Total 34 22 0 .607 1 2 .333
HOU* 2013 0 3 0 .000 4th in AFC South
HOU Total 0 3 0 .000
Total[15] 82 64 0 .562 1 5 .167

* - Interim head coach

References

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  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wade Phillips :: Football Coach :: Biography
  3. Ultimate Texans » Wade Phillips on his late father: ‘He was a legend, and the legend will live on’
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  6. February 8, 2007
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  8. January 9, 2010
  9. Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks – Pro-Football-Reference.com
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. January 5, 2011
  13. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. Gary Kubiak fired as Houston Texans head coach - NFL.com
  15. Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks – Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by New Orleans Saints Defensive Coordinator
1981–1985
Succeeded by
Steve Sidwell
Preceded by Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator
1986–1988
Succeeded by
Jeff Fisher
Preceded by Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator
1989–1992
Succeeded by
Charlie Waters
Preceded by Buffalo Bills Defensive Coordinator
1995–1997
Succeeded by
Ted Cottrell
Preceded by Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator
2002–2003
Succeeded by
Ed Donatell
Preceded by San Diego Chargers Defensive Coordinator
2003–2006
Succeeded by
Ted Cottrell
Preceded by Dallas Cowboys Defensive Coordinator
2009–2010
Succeeded by
Paul Pasqualoni
Preceded by Houston Texans Defensive Coordinator
2011–2013
Succeeded by
Romeo Crennel
Preceded by Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator
2015-present
Succeeded by
N/A