Source: Phillips Not on LaFleur’s Defensive Coordinator List
University of Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is one of at least nine candidates for the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator vacancy.
Longtime defensive mastermind Wade Phillips is not on that list.
According to a source who confirmed Leonhard as part of a list compiled by ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, Phillips is not a candidate for coach Matt LaFleur as he searches for Mike Pettine’s replacement.
Phillips, who will turn 74 in June, has been a defensive coordinator, interim coach or head coach for 40 NFL seasons. That includes in 2007 with the Los Angeles Rams, when LaFleur was the offensive coordinator.
For LaFleur, whose teams have fallen a step short of the Super Bowl in each of his first two seasons on the job, Phillips’ Year 1 history might have been appealing.
As defensive coordinator of the Rams, they went from 23rd in 2016 to 12th in 2017. As coordinator of the Broncos, they went from 16th in 2014 to fourth in 2015. As defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans, they went from 29th in 2010 to fourth in 2011. As head coach in Dallas, the Cowboys went from 20th in 2006 to 13th in 2007. As defensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers, they went from 31st in 2003 to 11th in 2004. As defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons, they went from 24th in 2001 to eighth in 2002.
Added together, those defenses improved 15.2 spots in the scoring ledger in his first season on the job. The Packers finished 13th season under Pettine. With those improved defenses, those teams averaged an additional five wins in his first season.
“Going to two straight NFC Championship Games, we couldn’t have done it without Mike Pettine,” LaFleur said on Monday. “Just felt like it was one of those deals where just needed some new leadership on that side of the ball, so that’s just the direction that we decided to go.”
