I recently finished the Wade Phillips book, Son Of Bum. He’s been in the league forever – the defensive equivalent of Norv Turner. And Phillips is now taking his act to the Rams. So it makes sense to take at look at his overall body of work.
Below are some charts showing what Phillips has done since 1990. He also coached in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but I’m leaving that stuff out – too dated.
Phillips has tended to be successful recently. Both of his Denver defenses ranked 4th in scoring defense. Five of his last six defenses have ranked in the top 10. Since the NFL went to 32 teams, 10 of Phillips’ 14 defenses have at least ranked above-average in scoring defense.
That’s attaching him to all teams where he was either the defensive coordinator or the head coach.
| WADE PHILLIPS DEFENSES (Points) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Points | Rnk |
| 1990 | Denver | 374 | 23 |
| 1991 | Denver | 235 | 3 |
| 1992 | Denver | 329 | 19 |
| 1993 | Denver | 284 | 10 |
| 1994 | Denver | 396 | 25 |
| 1995 | Buffalo | 335 | 12T |
| 1996 | Buffalo | 266 | 6 |
| 1997 | Buffalo | 367 | 23 |
| 1998 | Buffalo | 333 | 15 |
| 1999 | Buffalo | 229 | 2 |
| 2000 | Buffalo | 350 | 18 |
| 2002 | Atlanta | 314 | 8 |
| 2003 | Atlanta | 422 | 30 |
| 2004 | San Diego | 313 | 11 |
| 2005 | San Diego | 312 | 13 |
| 2006 | San Diego | 303 | 7 |
| 2007 | Dallas | 325 | 13 |
| 2008 | Dallas | 365 | 20 |
| 2009 | Dallas | 250 | 2 |
| 2010 | Dallas | 436 | 31 |
| 2011 | Houston | 278 | 4 |
| 2012 | Houston | 331 | 10T |
| 2013 | Houston | 428 | 24T |
| 2015 | Denver | 296 | 4 |
| 2016 | Denver | 297 | 4 |
His defenses have tended to play well against the run. Of his last 12 defenses, all but two ranked in the top 12 (for rushing yards gained).
Of Phillips’ last 22 defenses, only five ranked below-average against the run. Pretty impressive.
| WADE PHILLIPS DEFENSES (Rushing) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Run | Avg | TD | Rnk |
| 1990 | Denver | 456 | 1,963 | 4.3 | 16 | 17 |
| 1991 | Denver | 411 | 1,794 | 4.4 | 8 | 19 |
| 1992 | Denver | 489 | 1,963 | 4.0 | 10 | 23 |
| 1993 | Denver | 397 | 1,418 | 3.6 | 6 | 4 |
| 1994 | Denver | 432 | 1,752 | 4.1 | 12 | 17 |
| 1995 | Buffalo | 453 | 1,626 | 3.6 | 16 | 11 |
| 1996 | Buffalo | 495 | 1,669 | 3.4 | 12 | 14 |
| 1997 | Buffalo | 493 | 1,792 | 3.6 | 11 | 15 |
| 1998 | Buffalo | 375 | 1,493 | 4.0 | 11 | 5 |
| 1999 | Buffalo | 407 | 1,370 | 3.4 | 9 | 4 |
| 2000 | Buffalo | 444 | 1,559 | 3.5 | 13 | 6 |
| 2002 | Atlanta | 441 | 2,047 | 4.6 | 12 | 23 |
| 2003 | Atlanta | 499 | 2,308 | 4.6 | 21 | 29 |
| 2004 | San Diego | 355 | 1,307 | 3.7 | 15 | 3 |
| 2005 | San Diego | 386 | 1,349 | 3.5 | 14 | 1 |
| 2006 | San Diego | 386 | 1,613 | 4.2 | 13 | 7 |
| 2007 | Dallas | 381 | 1,513 | 4.0 | 12 | 6 |
| 2008 | Dallas | 402 | 1,706 | 4.2 | 11 | 12 |
| 2009 | Dallas | 365 | 1,448 | 4.0 | 7 | 4 |
| 2010 | Dallas | 402 | 1,734 | 4.3 | 11 | 12 |
| 2011 | Houston | 378 | 1,536 | 4.1 | 8 | 4 |
| 2012 | Houston | 390 | 1,560 | 4.0 | 5 | 7 |
| 2013 | Houston | 454 | 1,958 | 4.3 | 11 | 23 |
| 2015 | Denver | 408 | 1,337 | 3.3 | 10 | 3 |
| 2016 | Denver | 482 | 2,085 | 4.3 | 15 | 28 |
Phillips’ defenses have also played well against the pass. Of his last 20 defenses, 75 percent of them ranked above-average in terms of passer rating (which is a balance of yards per play, touchdowns, interceptions and completion percentage). He’s been in the top 10 in four of the past five years.
Phillips tends to put together defenses that do a good job of getting after the quarterback. His last 10 teams have averaged 46 sacks.
He has benefitted recently from working with Von Miller and J.J. Watt, but the Rams also have some pass-rushing talent (Aaron Donald is probably the best defensive tackle in the league).
| WADE PHILLIPS DEFENSES (Passing) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Yards | Pct | TD | Int | Sack | Rate |
| 1990 | Denver | 229 | 59% | 22 | 10 | 34 | 90.0 |
| 1991 | Denver | 194 | 52% | 12 | 23 | 52 | 60.6 |
| 1992 | Denver | 215 | 58% | 21 | 15 | 50 | 83.0 |
| 1993 | Denver | 248 | 56% | 21 | 18 | 46 | 77.2 |
| 1994 | Denver | 269 | 57% | 28 | 12 | 23 | 88.5 |
| 1995 | Buffalo | 242 | 53% | 14 | 17 | 49 | 70.0 |
| 1996 | Buffalo | 213 | 52% | 11 | 14 | 48 | 66.8 |
| 1997 | Buffalo | 213 | 57% | 17 | 15 | 46 | 76.8 |
| 1998 | Buffalo | 217 | 55% | 27 | 18 | 43 | 78.2 |
| 1999 | Buffalo | 181 | 53% | 12 | 12 | 37 | 68.2 |
| 2000 | Buffalo | 198 | 59% | 18 | 16 | 42 | 77.4 |
| 2002 | Atlanta | 224 | 55% | 23 | 24 | 47 | 72.8 |
| 2003 | Atlanta | 250 | 64% | 28 | 15 | 36 | 94.0 |
| 2004 | San Diego | 262 | 61% | 19 | 23 | 29 | 76.6 |
| 2005 | San Diego | 243 | 60% | 20 | 10 | 46 | 84.7 |
| 2006 | San Diego | 223 | 57% | 19 | 16 | 61 | 76.6 |
| 2007 | Dallas | 233 | 59% | 19 | 19 | 46 | 75.1 |
| 2008 | Dallas | 211 | 61% | 19 | 8 | 59 | 86.2 |
| 2009 | Dallas | 242 | 60% | 19 | 11 | 42 | 83.5 |
| 2010 | Dallas | 259 | 64% | 33 | 20 | 35 | 92.8 |
| 2011 | Houston | 208 | 52% | 18 | 17 | 44 | 69.0 |
| 2012 | Houston | 243 | 53% | 29 | 15 | 44 | 80.0 |
| 2013 | Houston | 207 | 59% | 29 | 7 | 32 | 93.9 |
| 2015 | Denver | 222 | 60% | 19 | 14 | 52 | 78.8 |
| 2016 | Denver | 200 | 55% | 13 | 14 | 42 | 69.7 |
Phillips is an older coach, of course, but I think he was a good choice for the Rams. That might be one of the more underrated defenses.
—Ian Allan