Ex-Broncos HC & DC Wade Phillips is Returning to Head-Coaching Ranks in XFL
If you mention Wade Phillips's name in Broncos Country, expect an instant reaction of positivity and gratitude for the defensive expert. The son of legendary NFL head coach Bum Phillips, Wade has been one of the longest-tenured coaches in the league and holds a head coaching record of 82-64 with a .562-win percentage.
After spending two years out of coaching, it now appears that the 74-year-old defensive guru is back in professional football. On Wednesday, Phillips announced his intentions to coach in the 2022 season via social media.
"So excited and honored to be picked as an XFL Head Coach. Great that XFL is back and so happy to be back myself," Phillips tweeted.
Phillips returns to the gridiron as one of the XFL’s eight head coaches led by league owners Dany Garcia and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The defensive mastermind originally played quarterback at his Orange, Texas, high school before becoming a three-year starter at linebacker for the University of Houston in the mid-1960s.
Phillips worked his way up in the collegiate coaching ranks working as a graduate assistant at Houston before taking a defensive coordinator position at Lutcher Stark High School in Texas. He later joined the Oklahoma Sooners under his father, who was the defensive coordinator, and enjoyed a brief stint at Kansas before breaking into the NFL.
After multiple defensive coordinator positions with the Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles, the Broncos hired him to call defensive plays in 1989. Phillips and the Broncos appeared in Super Bowl XXIV, where they were boat-raced by the San Francisco 49ers 55-10. Phillips eventually replaced Dan Reeves as head coach only a few years later and went 16-16 in his two seasons, including a trip to the AFC Wild Card round against the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993.
Following his termination from Denver, Phillips enjoyed both defensive coordinator and head-coaching stints with the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and Houston Texans from 1995-to 2013. He later returned to the Mile High City, reuniting with new head coach Gary Kubiak and transformed the Broncos defense into one of the most top ranked and aggressive units of all time.
Phillips’ 2015 defense in Denver, led by the famed ‘No Fly Zone’ secondary, dismantled top-ranked Carolina Panthers and NFL MVP Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50. Denver beat Carolina 24-10 to bring home its third Lombardi Trophy marked iconically by then-GM John Elway’s exclamation, “This one’s for Pat!”
In addition to winning his first world championship, Phillips was named the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year and the Super Bowl 50 defense is still in the conversation for being the all-time best defensive unit alongside others like the 1985 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and 2013 Seattle Seahawks.
In 2017, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay hired Phillips as defensive coordinator where his defense once again squared off against Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. While the Rams' defense kept the G.O.A.T. out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, Los Angeles lost 13-3 to New England.
The Rams did not renew Phillips' contract after the 2019 season when they failed to make the playoffs. You might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but who needs to when that same dog has seen it all?
From championship losses to trophies, confetti, and everything in between, Phillips wants to do what he loves. Coach football and develop players.
Good luck, Coach.
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