WADE PHILLIPS

'Wade Phillips' (born June 21, 1947 in Orange, Texas) is the current head coach for the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys. He is also a former head coach of the New Orleans Saints, where his record was 1-3, the Denver Broncos, where his record was 16-17, the Buffalo Bills, where he was 29-21 and led the Bills to the playoffs in two of three seasons, and the Atlanta Falcons where he posted a 2-1 mark. His career winning percentage as a head coach is .533. He is considered one of the best defensive minds in football, and served as defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers for the last three seasons. He is also the father of dancer/choreographer, Tracy Phillips, who appeared as Helena in My Chemical Romance's music video for the song "Helena".^[1] Wade is the son of former NFL coach Bum Phillips.

Contents

College Years

Coaching Career

College Years

Phillips attended the University of Houston and was a three-year starter at linebacker.

Coaching Career

Phillips began his coaching career in Houston as the defensive line coach for the team coached by his father. He remained on his father's staff as the pair headed for New Orleans. Bum stepped down as head coach of a struggling Saints team in late 1985, and Wade stepped in as interim head coach. He spent the next three years as the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles and then four more in the same position for the Denver Broncos. Phillips replaced Dan Reeves as head coach for the Broncos in 1993, but was fired after a mediocre 1994 season in which management felt he lost control of the team (although many felt he was just a placeholder while Broncos owner Pat Bowlen attempted to secure the services of then San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan).
The most successful coaching stop for Phillips was at Buffalo. He always kept the team competitive and in the playoff hunt. A loss to the Titans in the 1999 playoffs haunted Phillips for the rest of his time at Buffalo. In this same season he caused a controversy when he inserted Rob Johnson as starting quarterback at the last game of the season, after Doug Flutie was the starter the whole year and led the team to the playoffs.
He has the distinction of having been replaced by a father and a son from two head coaching positions – by Jim Mora at the New Orleans Saints and by Jim Mora Jr. at the Atlanta Falcons. He also has twice replaced Dan Reeves as a head coach.
On February 8, 2007, he was named the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, replacing the retired Bill Parcells. He was chosen after Jerry Jones interviewed 10 potential replacements, including former Cowboys and former San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner, former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and former Cowboys quarterback Jason Garrett.
Wade is the father of model and entertainer daughter Tracy Phillips and son Wes Phillips, who is currently following in his footsteps in football.