It was quite a weekend for Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. On Sunday, his team won the Super Bowl primarily because of the players he coaches. The night before, he was selected as the NFL’s best assistant coach.
Those watching Denver’s 24-10 bludgeoning of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday saw a defensive unit assembled before Phillips arrived exactly one year ago (Feb. 9, 2015). In the span of 12 months, a good Denver defense became an excellent defense.
Phillips was the right man for the job. During his 37 years in the NFL, he has coached 27 Pro Bowl players.
When he shows up, defenses get better. In 2011 he joined current Broncos’ Coach Gary Kubiak in Houston, inheriting the league’s 30th-ranked defense. In his first year, the Texans rose to the No. 2 defensive unit, earning him the award the NFL’s top assistant coach.
He spent six years with the Buffalo Bills as both an assistant and as the head coach. In 1999-2000, the Bills were a top three defense.
It certainly did not hurt his chances of success in Denver when he signed on to coach a defense that had Von Miller as a major player. Miller showed the nation how good he was with natural ability combined with the right defensive scheme and the right game plan. Defensive players do not often earn Super Bowl MVP honors as Miller did on Sunday.
Phillips was also reunited with All-Pro outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware. He coached Ware during his four seasons as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Denver had the top-rated defense in the league this year, and some say they were among the top seven of all time. Not quite in the same stratosphere as the 1985 Chicago Bears, but one that not only effectively stopped the other team, but took the ball away from them as well. To hold the Panthers’ offense to only 10 points was a monumental accomplishment.
Twelve months ago, Wade Phillips had been unemployed for more than a year after his stint with the Texans ended at the end of the 2013 season. Now, he is celebrated as the best at what he does.
Balloting for the 2015 Assistant Coach of the Year award was concluded before the playoffs began, but it had a small preview of Sunday’s Super Bowl. Finishing third behind Phillips was Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula.
Both are sons of prominent NFL head coaches. Don Shula won two Super Bowls and coached in six.
Bum Phillips was close to making it to a Super Bowl in the 1970s, but the Pittsburgh Steelers were always blocking the door, as he put it. The elder Phillips pledged to disappointed Houston Oilers’ fans that they would “kick the door in.”
It never happened for Bum, but now his son has earned a Super Bowl ring for the family. Wade Phillips’ Bronco defense kicked in the door and a few other things on Sunday.
