Revamp
Co-head coach in everything but name? Wade Phillips agrees to become the Texansdefensive coordinator
There will be no surprises with the Houston Texans defensive coaches revamp. Former Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has agreed to be the Texans' new defensive coordinator.
Phillips first told KTRK Ch. 13 of his hiring. The channel's sports director Bob Allen spoke to Phillips by phone to break the story.
Texans coach Gary Kubiak is now expected to turn over almost all the defensive responsibilities to Phillips, a former head coach who led the Cowboys to the playoffs in 2007 and 2009. Dallas started this season 1-7 though and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fired Phillips.
The son of former Oilers coach Bum Phillips, Wade Phillips has long been a favorite of Texans owner Bob McNair and both McNair and Kubiak spoke glowingly of Phillips on Monday, the same day that the Texans fired four defensive coaches, including coordinator Frank Bush. Phillips faces an immense challenge in Houston, taking over a unit that ranked dead last in the NFL in pass defense in 2010, a unit that was singled out and blamed for Houston's disappointing 6-10 season by McNair.
Both Kubiak and Phillips are Houston guys (Phillips went to the University of Houston) who coached on Denver Bronco staffs. Phillips was considered such a front-running lock for the job in Houston that no other candidates were even mentioned by name in the days leading up to the KTRK report.
Phillips is expected to scrape the Texans' 4-3 defense to put in his beloved 3-4, a scheme change that could dictate several personal moves on defense this offseason.