Phillips Got a Bum Steer at the Start : But the Son Also Rises With Denver’s Defense

SAN DIEGO —  He used to be known only as Bum Phillips’ son. Now he is being hailed as the man who has brought order out of chaos for the Denver Broncos’ defense.

When Wade Phillips served as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints from 1981 to 1985, few people noticed that his unit finished among the top five in the National Football League three times in five seasons. Because his father was the Saints’ head coach, the popular assumption was that he owed his job to nepotism. Besides, the Saints were so bad that not many folks paid attention to them anyway.

The younger Phillips didn’t even emerge from anonymity when he served as the Saints’ interim coach after his father retired with four games left in the 1985 season. Somebody had to take over, and Bum’s son was as convenient a choice as any. Since the Saints were going nowhere, who really cared what coach finished the season?

For the record, the Saints were 1-3 under Wade Phillips, and after that, he went looking for other work.

It looked as if it might be a blessing of sorts in that it seemed to give Phillips a long-awaited chance to establish his identity. As it turned out, he only flitted from the shadow of his father to that of Buddy Ryan, who hired him in 1986 as defensive coordinator and linebacker coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Ryan had been the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator when they won Super Bowl XX, and a clash of monumental egos had led to a bitter feud with Bear Coach Mike Ditka. As much credit as Ryan took for the Bears’ success, and as much as he felt he had to prove in his new job, he might have found it hard to let any of his assistants in Philadelphia play starring roles.

In Phillips’ three seasons under Ryan, the Eagles rose from the depths to the NFC East championship last year. But then Bronco Coach Dan Reeves called with an offer to be his defensive coordinator. As solid as Phillips was with Ryan, he jumped at the chance.

Phillips’ revitalized Bronco defense will be tested Sunday by Jim McMahon and the Chargers.

“It was a tough decision, because I knew they’d have a good football team in Philadelphia for years to come,” Phillips said this week by phone from Denver. “I liked Philadelphia, too. But the Eagles’ defense is always going to be Buddy’s defense, and that’s understandable.

“Here in Denver, I have the opportunity to do more things on my own. Dan (Reeves) doesn’t tell me how to do things. Being the defensive coordinator here is a much easier situation.”

While pleased to be his own man at last, Phillips emphasized that his experience under Ryan was a positive one.

“I learned a lot from Buddy,” said Phillips, 42. “Especially the 46 defense that he put in with the Bears. A lot of teams play it now, over half I would guess, but Buddy is the guy who really knows it. We use parts of it, but only the parts that apply to our talent.”

Phillips’ mention of talent hit upon the basic difference between his defense and that of his predecessor in Denver, Joe Collier.

For years, Collier was considered one of the better defensive coaches in the NFL. But his teachings in Denver for 20 seasons were predicated on complicated schemes, and when the talent level fell off last year, the Broncos’ defense plunged to 22nd in the league, including 27th against the run.

Under Phillips, the defense has climbed to 13th overall and, amazingly, No. 1 against the run. Denver’s opponents have gained just 324 yards on the ground in four games, and that is perhaps the biggest reason the Broncos lead the AFC West with a 3-1 record.

After Collier was fired, columnist Jim Lassiter wrote in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph: “It didn’t require a Ph.D to play Collier’s defense, but it probably helped to have one to understand it. Suffice it to say that Collier’s schemes required players to think a lot.

“Bronco defenders had to have the mental discipline to hold a territory, read the play and, as the offensive set changed, make correct adjustments. The old defense was what coaches call a ‘situation’ defense. Down and distance not only determined the call but dictated the personnel on the field. The best defenders often were on the bench.”

One of the keys was the use of Karl Mecklenburg, the Broncos’ three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, at all seven positions aside from the secondary.

Mecklenburg was outstanding wherever he played, but he said recently, “Sometimes you got all tied up in knots just trying to figure out the call we were in. Now the knots have been cut. Our new philosophy is to make offenses adapt to us rather than us trying to adapt to a different offense every week.”

Nose tackle Greg Kagen, who will miss Sunday’s game because of a knee injury, said, “I love the new defense. Playing where I play is still like being a one-armed paperhanger, but I’m not just sitting in there keying. I’m getting after people.”

If Phillips had his druthers, he would employ the basic 4-3 alignment that worked for Ryan in Chicago and that he used under Ryan in Philadelphia. Instead, because of talent limitations up front, he stuck with the 3-4 that he inherited from Collier.

“If we had four real good linemen, we’d probably play the 4-3,” Phillips said. “But I figure I have no choice but to utilize the personnel we have.

“I like man-to-man coverage in the secondary, too, because that’s the best way to shut down a passing game. But if you don’t have man-to-man cornerbacks, you can’t do it.

“So we’re more of a zone team now. Basically, we play a basketball zone. I call it a match-up zone. We don’t have great cover guys at the corners, and we don’t have fast linebackers, either.”

Of Mecklenburg’s less-demanding role, Phillips said, “He just plays two or three positions now. He’s basically an inside linebacker, but he goes outside sometimes, and in pass-rushing situations, he may be an outside down lineman.”

Unlike Ryan, Phillips doesn’t believe in a gambling defense.

“We haven’t blitzed a whole lot,” Phillips said. “We haven’t had to. Blitzing is taking a chance. Luckily, we’ve been ahead most of the time, so situations for blitzing haven’t come up that much.”

Of the Broncos’ top ranking against the run, Phillips said, “That’s what we had to address, our No. 1 priority. We felt that our offense was better than our defense and that we had to get them the ball more often.”

Blitz or no blitz, Simon Fletcher, a fifth-year outside linebacker, leads the league with 6 1/2 sacks.

“If I had to point out one guy who has made the biggest difference, it would be Fletcher,” Phillips said. “I think he’s going to be a great player.”

As for the Broncos’ pass defense, more speed would help. It ranks 12th in the AFC and 22nd in the league, a dropoff from fifth and seventh.

But the Broncos’ rankings against both the run and the pass are misleading. Because they have usually been ahead, their opposition has had to do an uncommon amount of passing.

The biggest surprise--probably on the entire team--has been cornerback Tyrone Braxton. After two seasons in which he never started a game, Braxton has made three interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.

“Randy Robbins has run one back, too,” Phillips said. “It comes from being more aggressive instead of worrying about what coverage they’re supposed to be in.”

Bum Phillips, 66, who coached the Houston Oilers before going to New Orleans, is living in retirement on his ranch in Sugarland, Tex., near Houston.

“He has 500 head of cattle and gets up at 5 every morning,” Wade said. “He watches all our games on satellite and keeps calling me and asking me why I did this or did that. He’s still a head coach in a lot of ways.”

Wade was asked if that might be in his future.

“I think most coaches have that as their ultimate goal,” he said. “Naturally, it’s a goal of mine. Ever since my junior year in college (he was a linebacker at Houston), I’ve known I wanted to coach.

“My four games as interim coach didn’t mean much, though. I wasn’t going to be the head coach, and everybody knew it. It was good experience for me, but it was still Bum’s team and his players. He’s not only my dad; he’s an idol of mine.

“The big thing is that you have to be in the right place at the right time, and who knows whether that will ever happen?”

Reeves is one insider who wouldn’t be surprised if it happened soon.

“Wade is a great coach,” Reeves said. “I get tired of saying my assistants are good and then losing them, but he definitely will be a head coach some day.”