Why Wade Phillips is Not Our DC

[mastdark81]

Looks like an even younger McVay learned from Jay's mistake.

That was a great hire for McVay no doubt about it. I would argue though that the Rams have much more talent on defense for Wade Phillips to work with than we've had the past two years. I don't know what level of interest he really had with the Redskins, but I think he would have been a little crazy to accept that job here.

He wanted to be here and they decided not to hire him.

[riggofan]

Looks like an even younger McVay learned from Jay's mistake.

That was a great hire for McVay no doubt about it. I would argue though that the Rams have much more talent on defense for Wade Phillips to work with than we've had the past two years. I don't know what level of interest he really had with the Redskins, but I think he would have been a little crazy to accept that job here.

He wanted to be here and they decided not to hire him.

Yeah? If that were true, I'd assume he would have showed up for the interview.

Redskins miss out on in-demand Wade Phillips, who agrees to terms with Rams

The Washington Redskins front office was planning to meet with former head coach Wade Phillips about the team’s defensive coordinator job Friday evening, according to a source with knowledge of the search process.

But Phillips, whose defensive acumen was critical to the Denver Broncos’ victory over the Carolina Panthers in last season’s Super Bowl, instead accepted an offer to become defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/foo ... 934b56b550

[SkinsJock]

He (Phillips) wanted to be here and they decided not to hire him.

Yeah? If that were true, I'd assume he would have showed up for the interview.

.. Phillips met with Redskins’ head coach Jay Gruden at Redskins Park, in what he described in his new book, Son of Bum: Lessons My Dad Taught Me About Football and Life, as one of the most bizarre interviews of his life. “My interview with Jay was strong, to say the least. I’d had unusual interviews before – like the one with Marty Schottenheimer that took forever because he asked a million questions about the 3-4 defense – but I had never gone through something quite like this.

[riggofan]

He (Phillips) wanted to be here and they decided not to hire him.

Yeah? If that were true, I'd assume he would have showed up for the interview.

.. Phillips met with Redskins’ head coach Jay Gruden at Redskins Park, in what he described in his new book, Son of Bum: Lessons My Dad Taught Me About Football and Life, as one of the most bizarre interviews of his life. “My interview with Jay was strong, to say the least. I’d had unusual interviews before – like the one with Marty Schottenheimer that took forever because he asked a million questions about the 3-4 defense – but I had never gone through something quite like this.

I think that's referring to 2015. Even that interview doesn't say that he preferred the Redskins job over the Broncos.

[SkinsJock]

He (Phillips) wanted to be here and they decided not to hire him.

Yeah? If that were true, I'd assume he would have showed up for the interview.

.. Phillips met with Redskins’ head coach Jay Gruden at Redskins Park, in what he described in his new book, Son of Bum: Lessons My Dad Taught Me About Football and Life, as one of the most bizarre interviews of his life. “My interview with Jay was strong, to say the least. I’d had unusual interviews before – like the one with Marty Schottenheimer that took forever because he asked a million questions about the 3-4 defense – but I had never gone through something quite like this.

I think that's referring to 2015. Even that interview doesn't say that he preferred the Redskins job over the Broncos.

I think you're right - that explains it - also not sure why anyone good would choose the Redskins over most others

[DarthMonk]

Phillips came into the interview excited at the possibility of coaching with his son again and doing it in a system where he had thrived in the past. The team had the personnel to take the next step and Phillips clearly felt optimistic.

[riggofan]

Phillips came into the interview excited at the possibility of coaching with his son again and doing it in a system where he had thrived in the past. The team had the personnel to take the next step and Phillips clearly felt optimistic.

lol. I don't doubt that he was excited about possibly working with his son, but does anybody honestly believe the 2015 Redskins "had the personnel to take the next step"? That is beyond ludicrous. The team finished 28th in total defense that year.

[SkinsJock]

any good NFL coach, player or FO personnel would not be "excited" about working with this franchise

The Redskins, at this time, would be one of the last places that a good player, coach or FO type would want to work

can't get a job in the NFL? maybe, as a last resort

[DarthMonk]

Phillips came into the interview excited at the possibility of coaching with his son again and doing it in a system where he had thrived in the past. The team had the personnel to take the next step and Phillips clearly felt optimistic.

lol. I don't doubt that he was excited about possibly working with his son, but does anybody honestly believe the 2015 Redskins "had the personnel to take the next step"? That is beyond ludicrous. The team finished 28th in total defense that year.

Maybe the "next step" back then was moving from poor to average instead of from poor to historically bad.

The question was asked about why he'd want to work here and the answer seems pretty obvious and I'm sure he was confident in his ability to take our defense to a better level - and rightfully so.

[Burgundy&GoldForever]

does anybody honestly believe the 2015 Redskins "had the personnel to take the next step"?

No. Nor do I honestly believe Wade Phillips wanted the job. If he wanted the job he would have had the job over Joe Barry. As would several other people.

[DarthMonk]

does anybody honestly believe the 2015 Redskins "had the personnel to take the next step"?

No. Nor do I honestly believe Wade Phillips wanted the job. If he wanted the job he would have had the job over Joe Barry. As would several other people.

I think Phillips wanted the job but Jay Gruden didn't have to win to get his money so instead of hiring someone who might be a potential threat to take over as head coach he hired a friend.

Of course that is just conjecture ... but it fits the evidence.

[Burgundy&GoldForever]

does anybody honestly believe the 2015 Redskins "had the personnel to take the next step"?

No. Nor do I honestly believe Wade Phillips wanted the job. If he wanted the job he would have had the job over Joe Barry. As would several other people.

I think Phillips wanted the job but Jay Gruden didn't have to win to get his money so instead of hiring someone who might be a potential threat to take over as head coach he hired a friend.

Of course that is just conjecture ... but it fits the evidence.

2015 was Gruden's first season as a head coach, not just in Washington but anywhere. I don't believe for a minute that Bruce Allen or Dan Snyder would have signed off on Gruden hiring Joe (my defense led the Detroit Lions to an 0-16 record) Barry over Wade Phillips. Or Gus Bradley. Or Todd Bowles. The idea that none of them (or anyone else with any real qualifications) wanted the job also fits the evidence.

[riggofan]

I think Phillips wanted the job but Jay Gruden didn't have to win to get his money so instead of hiring someone who might be a potential threat to take over as head coach he hired a friend.

Of course that is just conjecture ... but it fits the evidence.

I don't think your idea is crazy or anything, but Phillips took the Denver job in 2015.

The Denver defense was ranked #3 in 2014. 12-4. With Peyton Manning at QB.
The Washington defense was #20 in 2014. 4-12. With Robert Griffin at QB.

I don't know. If you had the opportunity to take one of those jobs, which one would look most appealing to you?

I'm just not buying that Wade Phillips REALLY wanted the Washington job and would have been here if not for the fragile ego of Jay Gruden. Seems like the simplest explanation is the most likely there.

[DarthMonk]

I think Phillips wanted the job but Jay Gruden didn't have to win to get his money so instead of hiring someone who might be a potential threat to take over as head coach he hired a friend.

Of course that is just conjecture ... but it fits the evidence.

I don't think your idea is crazy or anything, but Phillips took the Denver job in 2015.

The Denver defense was ranked #3 in 2014. 12-4. With Peyton Manning at QB.
The Washington defense was #20 in 2014. 4-12. With Robert Griffin at QB.

I don't know. If you had the opportunity to take one of those jobs, which one would look most appealing to you?

I'm just not buying that Wade Phillips REALLY wanted the Washington job and would have been here if not for the fragile ego of Jay Gruden. Seems like the simplest explanation is the most likely there.

That all makes sense and I think my explanation is very simple. It also fits what Phillips said.

[DarthMonk]

Finally, I got a call to interview with the Washington Redskins. Jay Gruden, their head coach, had fired his defensive coordinator, Jim Haslett, and wanted to talk with me about the job. By this point my son Wes was the Redskins’ tight ends coach, so I was looking forward to the possibility of us working together again. But my interview with Jay was strange, to say the least. I’d had unusual interviews before—like the one with Marty Schottenheimer that took forever because he asked a million questions about the 3–4 defense—but I had never gone through something quite like this.

When Jay was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati and I was with the Texans, I faced the Bengals twice in the playoffs, after the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and beat them both times—31–10 and 19–13. I felt he knew my credentials and might have been impressed with the things we were able to do in the previous three games in which we had beaten the Bengals, including one game during the regular season.

We watched a lot of tape of the Texans’ games versus his offense. It seemed to me a lot of the plays were of when Cincinnati did well. Most of the interview was about that. I thought we should have talked more about philosophy, technique, concepts, and my record, but he was the one interviewing me.

After the interview I told Wes of my disappointment. I felt Jay didn’t have as much regard for my coaching as I’d hoped he would. He ended up hiring Joe Barry, a friend of his, to be defensive coordinator. Joe had been with the Chargers, whose defensive coordinator was John Pagano. John had been my linebackers coach when I was the defensive coordinator in San Diego, so Joe basically learned my defensive system through John.

Although I didn’t get the job, I was happy for Joe because I think he’s a good, young coach. Of course, the main reason I had even considered going to Washington was for the chance to work with my son again. But I know Wes has enjoyed working with Jay, and they’ve done a good job with the Redskins.

Meanwhile, the Broncos hired Gary Kubiak to replace John Fox as their head coach. They were trying to get Vance Joseph to be their defensive coordinator. He was the secondary coach for the Bengals and he’d had the same job when I was with the Texans. But Mike Brown, the Bengals’ owner, wouldn’t let Vance out of his contract. (After spending the 2016 season as defensive coordinator for the Dolphins, Vance would become the Broncos’ head coach in 2017 as the replacement for Gary, who decided to retire.) After that, the Broncos called me, so I was obviously the second choice.

I was disappointed that they thought somebody else would do a better job, especially because I had been with Kub in Houston, but that was the way it was. It’s just like when somebody takes your place after you’re fired, or you take somebody else’s place and you get the job. You do the best you can and you don’t worry about how you got the job. You just make the most of the opportunity. It didn’t make me more determined to succeed. It didn’t make me want to try harder—if you’re not already doing the best you can, you shouldn’t be in it. If you don’t love it enough to deal with the fact that you’re always in danger of being fired or that you’re going to be passed over for jobs, you shouldn’t be in it.

[Burgundy&GoldForever]

In this thread we have conflicting stories, one from WaPo which says Phillips was never interviewed and one from Phillips which says he was interviewed. I started to think maybe it was a phone interview but then Phillips says they were reviewing film. It's possible to do that via Skype but not probable. I'm still hung up on the "wanted the job" thing. I mean, Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder would have to be a couple of complete idiots to have Jay Gruden tell them he was hiring Joe Barry over Wade Phillips and go along with it. But "a couple of complete idiots" is where we came in to this freak show, isn't it?

[riggofan]

In this thread we have conflicting stories, one from WaPo which says Phillips was never interviewed and one from Phillips which says he was interviewed.

I don't think they're conflicting stories. I think they're talking about two different years. Phillips was interviewed in 2015. In 2017 he accepted the Rams job before he could be interviewed here.

[mastdark81]

Bottom line is this...the Redskins have paid guys in the past, present, enough money to make a person want to coach here. If they wanted him they would have had him, regardless if this was his strong choice or not. So all this talk about him not or him wanting to be here doesn't really matter.

In 2015 when Haslett was fired Phillips was in the building. In 2017 he didn't come here, the Rams pretty much sealed the deal before an interview with the Redskins was setup.

They dropped the ball and hired Joe Barry instead. Stop making up excuses for our organization.

[mastdark81]

and to answer the original question. He is not here because our organization prefer hiring guys they are comfortable with instead of guys that they are not familiar with. That is their choice, unfortunately the guys that they are familiar with do not have strong credentials.

[DarthMonk]

and to answer the original question. He is not here because our organization prefer hiring guys they are comfortable with instead of guys that they are not familiar with. That is their choice, unfortunately the guys that they are familiar with do not have strong credentials.

Agreed.

[Burgundy&GoldForever]

and to answer the original question. He is not here because our organization prefer hiring guys they are comfortable with instead of guys that they are not familiar with. That is their choice, unfortunately the guys that they are familiar with do not have strong credentials.

Oh, really. Then why didn't they hire Gregg Williams?

[riggofan]

and to answer the original question. He is not here because our organization prefer hiring guys they are comfortable with instead of guys that they are not familiar with. That is their choice, unfortunately the guys that they are familiar with do not have strong credentials.

Yeah, Bill Callahan. Who the f*** are you??

[riggofan]

and to answer the original question. He is not here because our organization prefer hiring guys they are comfortable with instead of guys that they are not familiar with. That is their choice, unfortunately the guys that they are familiar with do not have strong credentials.

Oh, really. Then why didn't they hire Gregg Williams?

Creds were too strong.

[mastdark81]

and to answer the original question. He is not here because our organization prefer hiring guys they are comfortable with instead of guys that they are not familiar with. That is their choice, unfortunately the guys that they are familiar with do not have strong credentials.

Oh, really. Then why didn't they hire Gregg Williams?

Creds were too strong.

honestly I think his personality didn't fit. They weren't comfortable with him hanging with the boys. Same with Scot. He was all about football, not here for a social club with Bruce Allen and Snyder.

[SkinsJock]

this franchise has to undergo a culture change in order for it to be a place that good players and good coaches really want to be a part of

Cousins is not going to be playing here after this season (if he does not sign a long term deal) no matter how much money is offered