Okay, so, I got really curious the other day about Wade Phillips and his coaching career in the NFL. You know, the guy’s been around forever, and I always see his name pop up but never really knew the teams he coached. So I decided to dig in and find out more.
First thing I did was hit up the internet. Just typed “Wade Phillips NFL coaching career” into the search bar. Lots of stuff came up, but it was all scattered.
So, I started picking through the results. One of the first things I noticed was that his dad, Bum Phillips, was also a coach. Wade actually started his career with the Houston Oilers, where his dad was the head coach. He coached the linebackers in ’76 and then the defensive line from ’77 to ’80. That’s kind of cool, right? Father and son coaching together.
Next, I found out that they both moved to the New Orleans Saints after that. But things didn’t go so well there, and Bum stepped down in ’85. I guess Wade stayed on for a bit, though.
Then I really got into it. There was this one site that listed all his coaching jobs, year by year. It was pretty detailed! I spent a good amount of time going through that, writing down each team and his record for each season. It was interesting to see how he moved around.
- 2019 Los Angeles Rams – Defensive Coordinator (9-7-0)
- 2018 Los Angeles Rams – Defensive Coordinator (13-3-0)
- 2017 Los Angeles Rams – Defensive Coordinator (11-5-0)
- 2016 Denver Broncos – Defensive Coordinator (9-7-0)
After that, I found some lists of other famous coaches. I knew some of the names, like Andy Reid and Mike Tomlin, but there were also some older ones I recognized, like Don Shula and Bill Belichick. That got me thinking about how Wade’s career compares to those guys. He’s been around for a long time, so he must have done something right.
Then I stumbled upon a page that had his birthdate (June 21st) and his head coaching record. I added that to my notes, even though it wasn’t my main focus.
One article talked about how he’s now coaching for the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL. That’s cool that he’s still coaching. And then there was another piece specifically about his time as head coach of the Denver Broncos. I just skimmed that one, but it was good to know.
Finally, I found a summary of his overall head coaching record. It said he had 82 wins and 64 losses. And that included his time with the Saints, Broncos, Bills, Falcons, and Cowboys. Pretty impressive!
So, yeah, that was my little research project on Wade Phillips. I learned a lot more than I expected. He’s definitely had a long and interesting career. It was fun to piece it all together. I guess the big takeaway for me is that he’s been a part of a lot of teams and has had a pretty successful run overall.
