Broncos defense reveres Phillips
DENVER — Wade Phillips returns to Denver this weekend and several Broncos can’t wait to hug it out with their former defensive coordinator.
Phillips was the Broncos’ beloved bandmaster when they were riding firetrucks in a downtown parade and Von Miller was showing off the Super Bowl trophy 2½ years ago. “Coach Phillips is football royalty,” a man for whom “the moments were never too big and the moments were never too small,” said Miller, who recalled Phillips depressurizing his defense before Super Bowl 50 by declaring: “All the mistakes are on me and you can just go out there and play.”
“It just shows you what type of coach that he is,” Miller said. “He’s dope.”
Now 71, Phillips is leading a revitalized Rams defense for 32-year-old Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay, who brings a 5-0 team to Denver on Sunday to face the reeling Broncos (2-3).
This game was supposed to mark Aqib Talib’s return, too. But the star cornerback is sidelined with an ankle injury, which bums out Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. “Definitely. You love having that competition,” Harris said. “He’s going to talk mess to me if we lose, and if we win, then I’m definitely hollering at him.”
The Broncos didn’t renew Phillips’ contract after the 2016 season and McVay was thrilled to hire him shortly after becoming the youngest head coach in
modern NFL history.
“You’re probably going to have a tough time finding anyone that doesn’t really like him and enjoy being around Wade,” McVay said. “He’s got a great way about himself, a great feel for this game, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s all about making sure that he listens to people, wants to try and put players in great spots.”
Denver’s defenders still talk glowingly about their time with Phillips. “He’s an old guy, but he acts young,” Harris said. “He tries to be hip with everything and he just loves the game. It’s not hard to play for a coach that really loves the game, really wants to win.”
Broncos coach Vance Joseph called Phillips “my football father,” a football genius and a great man.
“He was a killer on Sundays,” Joseph said. “He had great timing with his calls and he was going to be aggressive. I’m watching this defense and it’s Wade Phillips.”
Phillips, who began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for his father, Bum, in Houston in 1969, is doling out praise and pointers with his 10th NFL franchise. “Man, Wade’s been around since dinosaurs have been here,” Broncos linebacker Shane Ray said. “So, I think he’s just got that feel.”