Reports: Browns to Hire Wade Phillips as Defensive Coordinator, Andrew Berry as General Manager
According to Benjamin Allbright of Pro Football Network and Dustin Fox of 92.3 The Fan, Wade Phillips appears to be the next defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns. Phillips was mentioned as a possible hire earlier in the day according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. This is also confirming the reports that have been ongoing that Berry will be the team's general manager.
For a rookie head coach in Kevin Stefanski, hiring Phillips would be the same move that Sean McVay made when he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams. Philips, who has been coaching in the NFL basically as long as Stefanski and McVay have been alive, offers a tremendous amount of experience and helps ease the transition to being a head coach. While the Rams opted to move on from him after this season, he was invaluable to helping them get established which earned them a chance to win the Super Bowl.
Phillips runs a 4-3 under scheme, which would be a slight change for the Browns, but what has made Phillips so successful is his ability to adjust his scheme to his talent. The Browns obviously have an immense amount of talent on the defensive front anchored by Myles Garrett, Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon, but if he can maximize Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, the Browns could be a good defense quickly.
Wade Phillips is 72 years old. Andrew Berry, 31, and Kevin Stefanski, 37, have been on this planet for a combined 68 years.
