Building a strong defense with dose of humor is Phillips’ forte
Wade Phillips’ reputation for delivering funny one-liners might rival his renown for deploying a Super Bowlwinning 3-4 defensive scheme.
In February, while attending Super Bowl activities in Houston with 31-yearold coach Sean McVay, the Rams’ 69-year-old defensive coordinator produced real and virtual laughs with a zinger on Twitter.
“Rams have the only staff with DC on Medicare and HC in Daycare,” Phillips tweeted.
Since their hiring in January, McVay has called on the experienced Phillips for feedback on roster evaluation, free agents, draft prospects and handling various situations as a head coach.
But Phillips, an NFL coach since 1976, recently downplayed McVay’s seeking his advice.
During rookie minicamp, Phillips, with typical dry humor, said: “Most of my experiences were bad things, so I know if he does anything wrong, I can tell him, ‘Hey, I
did that and it didn’t work.’ ”
The McVay-Phillips dynamic will turn up a notch on Monday when the Rams begin organized team activities in Thousand Oaks.
The 10 workouts, conducted over three weeks, cannot include live contact. But the offense and defense can participate in 11-on-11 situations.
That will allow Phillips to continue to install a scheme similar to what the Denver Broncos deployed during their Super Bowl run two years ago.
Phillips also had success with the scheme in Houston, Dallas and other coaching stops during his 39-year NFL career.
Last season, the Rams ranked ninth in the NFL in yards allowed but 23rd in points allowed.
“We’ve got to shore that down some,” Phillips said. “But, I think we have an opportunity to do that with the personnel we have.”
During the offseason, the Rams traded end William Hayes, released end Eugene Sims and allowed safety T.J. McDonald to sign elsewhere.
They signed cornerbacks Kayvon Webster and Nickell Robey-Coleman, linebackers Connor Barwin and Carlos Thompson, and defensive linemen Tyrunn Walker and Mike Purcell. They also drafted safety John Johnson, linebacker Samson Ebukam, rush end Ejuan Price and defensive tackle Tanzel Smart.
About 70% of the defense had been installed, Phillips said. Much was done in April during a veterans minicamp.
“We did things just like that,” Phillips said, snapping his fingers. “From the classroom to the field, they really picked it up well.
“Now, we’ve got more things to put in.”
During OTAs, Phillips will get a better sense of how players fit. Robert Quinn’s transition from end to outside linebacker and Lamarcus Joyner’s switch from cornerback to safety are among priorities.
Phillips has a knack for improving defenses quickly.
In 2010, for example, the Houston Texans ranked 30th in yards allowed. Phillips was hired as defensive coordinator in 2011 and the Texans ranked second.
“I’ve had a lot of good players,” he said. “But, I attribute some of it to the way that we teach them — we don’t make many mistakes.
“We make sure we don’t make many mental mistakes, as far as alignment and assignment. Then, we work really hard on fundamentals and techniques and try to improve each player.”
And Phillips does it with a dose of humor.
“He seems kind of quiet,” Quinn said, “but he throws jokes out, so if you don’t really pay attention, you might miss them. He knows what he’s talking about.”
The Rams’ offense, of course, also is in need of massive improvement after ranking last in the NFL for two consecutive seasons.
McVay has said he will call plays, but offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur is overseeing the installation of a scheme that figures to include elements of what worked for McVay as the Washington Redskins’ coordinator and what LaFleur picked up as quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Offensive line coach Aaron Kromer also has worked as an NFL coordinator.
Veteran receiver Tavon Austin, whom McVay has described as a possible centerpiece of the passing game, will not participate in OTAs because of recent wrist surgery. Austin is expected to be ready for training camp in late July.
So quarterback Jared Goff will get plenty of reps with offseason acquisition Robert Woods, second-year pros Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas, and rookies Cooper Kupp and Josh Reynolds, among others.
“The idea is to kind of have that quarterback be a point guard and be a great distributor to all your guys,” McVay said.
“You want to be able to get them touches and get them involved.”
LaFleur said Goff had been coming in to the facility early and staying late in an effort to learn.
“When you get a new guy in an offense, there is a transition period with that,” LaFleur said, “but he’s done a nice job at picking it up at a surprisingly quick pace.”