Tag: Wade Phillips

Broncos coaching staff update: Rex Ryan buzz heating up

Rex Ryan seems to be a favorite for DC. Meanwhile, Mike Westhoff is in as the new assistant head coach. More staff updates here.

Sean Payton has a new assistant head coach with the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos have hired Mike Westhoff as an assistant head coach, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Legwold. He will oversee the club’s special teams units alongside new special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica.

Westhoff and Kotwica previously worked together under Rex Ryan with the New York Jets from 2009-2012. Ryan is also a candidate to land in Denver. In fact, Ryan was spotted at the Hilton Denver Inverness hotel — about 10 minutes from the Broncos’ facility — on Saturday morning.

Ryan has already interviewed for Denver’s defensive coordinator opening, and he was in town for a second interview over the weekend, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Ryan is considered the favorite for the DC position, but he is not the only candidate.

The Broncos also interviewed Vance Joseph and Kris Richard last week, and Christian Parker, Mike Zimmer and Nick Rallis have also been linked to Denver’s opening in recent weeks. Rallis is no longer a candidate after taking the DC position with the Arizona Cardinals. It remains to be seen if any other candidates will be interviewed.

Elsewhere on the coaching front, Broncos tight ends coach Jake Moreland has left to join the Houston Texans in a lateral move. Denver is expected to hire Declan Doyle to replace Moreland.

The Broncos are also losing “instructional designer” John Viera, who is following Nathaniel Hackett to the New York Jets, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. He was a “coach for the coaches” in Denver last year.

Klis also reported that regardless of who the Broncos hire as defensive coordinator, they hope to keep defensive line coach Marcus Dixon and secondary coach Christian Parker on staff in some capacity.

We are tracking all of Denver’s coaching staff changes on this page.

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Everything you need to know about the XFL, from schedule to rules, which kicks off again in 2023

We’ve got you covered on everything you need to know about the XFL, which kicks off on Saturday.

The XFL makes its anticipated return on Saturday, with commissioner Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s football league returning from a three-year hiatus.

With the NFL all wrapped up for the 2022-23 season, the XFL will give football fans a chance to enjoy the sport as the pros switch over offseason combines, free agent signings and draft prep.

Do you need help on knowing who the teams are? Are there players yous might recognize from the NFL? What does this all amount to in the end?

The XFL has always had a rocky history since the days it was founded by Vince McMahon in 2001. However, Johnson and company will hope this iteration of the semi-pro league will stick around and put down roots with football fans.

Let’s take a look at the things you need to know ahead of Saturday’s kickoffs.

Wade Phillips says Texans are getting ‘high quality person’ in DeMeco Ryans

Legendary defensive guru Wade Phillips — @sonofbum — says the Houston Texans are getting a “high quality person” in new coach DeMeco Ryans.

Wade Phillips only spent one year coaching DeMeco Ryans, but it was all he needed to see.

Phillips’ first season with the Houston Texans was 2011, which was the final year the 2006 second-round pick spent of his 86-game career with Houston. As the Texans transitioned from a 4-3 to a 3-4, Ryans made an impression on Phillips with the way he carried himself throughout the organization.

“The Texans are going to get a high quality person first,” Phillips told the 33rd Team. “He was captain of the football team when I went to the Texans. Everybody liked him. Everybody respected him. Very, not only well liked, but attention to detail kind of guy. I think he’ll be really well.”

According to Phillips, who was with the Texans from 2011-13, Ryans has a transparency with his talents and success that is easy to pick up on.

“It comes out quickly on some people how well they do when they take over as a coordinator,” said Phillips. “He took over as a coordinator in all facets of the defense. They played really well. I think that is a direct reflection on him. Obviously the other coaches and so forth on defense, but anytime a guy goes in and has that kind of defense, certainly you have good players, but you still have to utilize good players. And I think that’s what he’s learned to do very quickly in his career.”

One of the players that Ryans was able to get the most out of during his tenure with San Francisco was linebacker Fred Warner, who earned his first of two first-team All-Pros in 2020, the last year that Ryans was his position coach before taking the defensive coordinator gig in 2021.

Said Phillips: “He’s not only well liked, but he’s respected and he played ball, play in the NFL. So, he will be respected by the players, too. But I think he will gain that and be able to utilize that to get the team together. They’re obviously very down, but you know, he was with the Texans when they were down at one time, too.”

The Texans completed their transition from a fledging expansion team to a contender in the AFC South by the time Ryans left. With the 38-year-old returning to the Texans, the expectation is he will leave the club that has finished with three consecutive double-digit loss seasons better than when he found them.

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Wade Phillips tweet perfectly sums up lame Colts-Broncos game

Wade Phillips nailed how bad Colts-Broncos was on Thursday

The Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos were giving a new definition to the meaning of dreary on Thursday Night Football.

Leave it to someone, ex-NFL head coach Wade Phillips, who has seen just about every kind of football game, to sum up how lousy this contest was.

Bravo.

Phillips is an XFL head coach so he may see plenty more bad football in 2023. He has Cowboys connections, as does Ben DiNucci, who offered commentary on Twitter.

Ranking the XFL coaching staffs based on how much I’d like to play for them

Would you rather play for Wade Phillips or Rod Woodson?

The XFL is coming back in 2023. It doesn’t have teams yet. It doesn’t even have team *names* yet — though we’re all rooting for a Memphis Maniax revival. But it does have coaches.

Well, most of the teams have coaches.

The league announced its head coaches back in April, dropping a list of names like Wade Phillips, Bob Stoops, and Hines Ward onto a football-starved nation. Those leaders had their coaching trees expanded Wednesday when coordinators and personnel directors were unveiled. There’s a fair amount of recognizable talent coming to Dwayne Johnson’s pet project, ranging from longtime college staples (June Jones) to NFL veterans trying to accelerate their move up the coaching ranks (Bruce Gradkowski).

So who did the best? Well, without any rosters it’s pretty difficult to say. What we can figure out is which teams might be the most appealing to the players who’ll be drafted this October. Who would I most like to play for? Using my scientific method of “these guys seem cool,” here are my very official, very well-researched rankings.

Wade Phillips, Jim Haslett named among 8 XFL head coach hires

Wade Phillips, Jim Haslett named among 8 XFL head coach hires:

The XFL is going to return in 2023. Their next crop of coaches will have some Buffalo Bills influence.

Amongst all the next bench bosses, the most well known is Wade Phillips.

Phillips, 74, was Buffalo’s defensive coordinator under Marv Levy. Upon Levy’s retirement, Phillips took over as head coach.

The team was competitive under Phillips, making the playoffs–An appearance which led to the infamous “Music City Miracle.” His head coach tenure in Buffalo was from 1998 to 2000.

Phillips continued coaching in the NFL, also serving as the Dallas Cowboys head coach from 2007-2010. He has not worked in the NFL since 2019 but has expressed a desire to do so.

Eventually, Phillips started to catch some notoriety on social media in recent years. His Twitter account handle is, “Son of Bum,” which is a tribute to his late father, Bum Phillips:

The other Buffalo connection is Jim Haslett.

A second-round pick of the Bills in 1979 NFL draft, Haslett was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year from his linebacker position. Haslett played with the Bills until 1985, briefly attempting a return to football after suffering an injury with the New York Jets in 1987.

Most recently, Haslett was the Tennessee Titans linebackers coach. He was also the New Orleans Saints head coach from 2000 to 2005.

Reportedly the XFL has not yet announced if the league will operate in individual locations–teams representing one city each–or if all will play from a centralized location. The XFL previously returned in 2020 and worked from different markets, but things were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other head coaching hires made by the XFL thus far include:

  • Bob Stoops
  • Terrell Buckley
  • Hines Ward
  • Rod Woodson
  • Reggie Barlow
  • Anthony Becht

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Former Cowboys HC Wade Phillips tabbed to lead XFL team in 2023

He went 34-22 and won 2 NFC East titles with Dallas; Wade Phillips will be the head coach once again when the XFL takes the field in 2023. | From @ToddBrock24f7

A former Cowboys head coach is the man in charge once again, in a league designed to give second chances.

Wade Phillips, who coached in Dallas from 2007 until halfway through the 2010 season, has been named one of eight head coaches for the XFL’s return in 2023.

The 74-year-old will join Bob Stoops, Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson, Reggie Barlow, Anthony Becht, and Jim Haslett as the head coaches for the revamped spring league co-owned by Dwayne Johnson.

Phillips is the son of legendary NFL coach Bum Phillips and has been roaming league sidelines since first working under his dad with the Houston Oilers in 1976.

He’s been everything from a defensive line coach to a Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator, but he’s also been the head coach for more teams- six- than any man in NFL history. He served in an interim capacity for the Saints, Falcons, and Texans, and he had official head coaching stints in Denver, Buffalo, and Dallas.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hired Phillips prior to the 2007 season to replace the retired Bill Parcells; he beat out Norv Turner, Ron Rivera, Jason Garrett, and several others for the job.

Despite leading the team to a 34-22 record and two NFC East titles, his Cowboys were unable to win a postseason game under his command. Phillips did not survive his fourth year in Dallas; he was fired after a 1-7 start in 2010.

Phillips served most recently as the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator, a role that earned him his first championship ring and Assistant Coach of the Year honors for that team’s 2015 season. He was not brought back following the 2019 season, though, and he had expressed frustration at not getting another shot at a head coaching job anywhere else in the league.

The new XFL will begin play in February of next year. While the eight head coaches have been announced, it is not yet known which team each man will lead.

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Former Saints coaches Jim Haslett, Wade Phillips now leading XFL teams

The XFL announced its eight head coaches for the 2023 season, including former Saints coaches Jim Haslett and Wade Phillips:

This is cool: the XFL announced their eight head coaches for the 2023 season on Wednesday, including two coaches with New Orleans Saints ties. Jim Haslett worked as Saints head coach from 2000 to 2005, and he’s joined on the XFL’s roster by Wade Phillips, New Orleans’ defensive coordinator from 1981 to 1985 and whose Saints run ended as interim head coach. We don’t yet know whether the XFL is returning to the same cities as last time, or which teams each coach will be running.

The other six XFL head coaches include Bob Stoops, Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson, Reggie Barlow, and Anthony Becht. Of that group, only Stoops returns from the XFL’s first relaunch back in 2020. The start-up spring league did well with national broadcasts on FOX and some crossover appeal through sideline reporting from Saints star Cameron Jordan, but the COVID-19 pandemic put an early stop to it. The XFL has since changed ownership and is now being managed by an investment group headlined by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia.

As for Haslett: he guided the Saints to the franchise’s first playoff victory in his first year on the job, going 45-51 as head coach before his dismissal after the 2005 season – which the Saints played entirely on the road in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Over the years Haslett has worked as a defensive coordinator and position coach in the NFL, most recently joining the Tennessee Titans as inside linebackers coach in 2020.

Phillips first arrived in New Orleans as defensive coordinator for his father, former Saints head coach Bud Phillips. He went on to work as a defensive coordinator for seven different NFL teams with stops as a head coach for the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys, with interim looks on the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans. He’s accomplished an 82-64 record in the regular season but just 1-5 in the playoffs. We’ll see where Phillips and Haslett end up coaching and how often they’ll be running up against each other once the XFL shares more details.

Former Rams DCs Wade Phillips and Jim Haslett to be head coaches in XFL

Wade Phillips and Jim Haslett are back in the coaching ranks, joining the XFL as head coaches for the 2023 season

Wade Phillips hasn’t gotten another opportunity to coach in the NFL since the Rams let him go after the 2019 season, but he’s found a job coaching elsewhere. It was announced on Wednesday that Phillips will be a head coach in the XFL, which is returning to action in 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 season to end prematurely. Former Rams defensive coordinator Jim Haslett will also be one of the eight XFL head coaches.

The other six are Bob Stoops, Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson, Reggie Barlow and Anthony Becht. Becht has ties to the Rams, too, spending one season as a tight end in St. Louis in 2008.

Phillips, 74, is one of the best defensive coordinators in NFL history, spending time with a number of franchises, from the Houston Oilers to the Los Angeles Rams. During his time in L.A., the Rams went 33-15 in the regular season and reached the playoffs twice, but they never finished in the top 10 in yards allowed defensively.

Haslett was the Rams’ defensive coordinator from 2006-2008, also serving as the interim coach in 2008 after Scott Linehan was fired four games into the season.

Potential DC replacements for Vance Joseph if he gets hired by Dolphins

If the Dolphins hire Vance Joseph as their head coach, here are some potential candidates for the Cardinals to replace him as DC.

The Arizona Cardinals could see some changes on their coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has interviewed for the vacant head-coaching position for the Miami Dolphins.

There is a growing feeling that Joseph is the favorite to be hired for the job, meaning the Cardinals would need a new leader of the defense.

Who could be his potential replacement?

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