Wade Phillips Lands Defensive Coordintor Job For Los Angeles Rams
One of the best defensive minds in football was scheduled to visit the Washington Redskins on Friday. However, Wade Phillips agreed to join the Los Angeles Rams as their defensive coordinator and will not interview with Washington.
In the immediate aftermath of Joe Barry‘s firing by the Washington Redskins, the fans took to the Web to clamor for a specific replacement. Their favorite candidate was one of the best defensive coordinators in the game, but it was unclear whether or not he would be available. The man that the fans wanted was Wade Phillips.
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Phillips is a veteran coach of the NFL. Formerly the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Phillips has spent the last five years as the defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos. In 2015, he coached the league’s best defensive unit and the Broncos were able to ride that to a Super Bowl title. So the question about Phillips is, why was he available in the first place?
Well, the retirement of Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak meant that there would be some shake ups on the staff. Phillips ended up being one of them. New head coach Vance Joseph is a defensive minded guy who wanted to bring in someone to execute his defense. Phillips was not that guy, and that is what put him on the market.
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Phillips was never going to be out of work for long. He has an excellent resume, and there are a lot of teams that will be happy to have him on the staff. Still, his fit in Washington appeared to be extremely solid. According to Carol Maloney of NBC4 Sports, the Redskins were going to bring in Phillips for an interview on Friday. Maloney broke the news on her Twitter account.
Phillips had interviewed with the team prior to the hiring of Barry, so he has been in consideration in the past for the position. Unfortunately, former Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay beat Jay Gruden to the punch and was able to get Phillips to agree to a deal on Thursday night, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The fact is that Phillips would have been able to work well with the Redskins 3-4 personnel. Phillips has long run a 3-4 defense, and he has worked wonders with pass rushers and has been great at developing linebackers.
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Moving forward, it will be interesting to see what other options the Redskins have. The Redskins have expressed heavy interest in Gus Bradley for the job, and interviewed him earlier in the week. However, Bradley is rumored to be the top option for the Chargers defensive coordinator spot, under new head coach Anthony Lynn, so that may eliminate the team’s top option. Without Phillips or Bradley, the team could be forced to take a lesser option, which would not be good news for them long term.