Texans Hire Wade Phillips As Defensive Coordinator
NFL.com

Houston, TX, Wednesday, January 5, 2011. The Houston Texans hired Wade Phillips as their new defensive coordinator Wednesday, hoping the former Dallas Cowboys coach can turn around a unit that sank toward the bottom of the NFL last season.

Phillips was the head coach in Dallas but was fired in midseason after a 1-7 start. He joins Gary Kubiak's staff two days after the Texans fired defensive coordinator Frank Bush, secondary coach David Gibbs, linebackers coach Johnny Holland and assistant linebackers coach Robert Saleh.

Phillips has an 81-62 record as a head coach with the Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints. He also has been a defensive coordinator for the Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Broncos, Bills, Falcons and San Diego Chargers.

The Texans (6-10) lost eight of their last 10 games, mostly because of a defense that ranked as one of the NFL's worst. Houston finished 30th in yards allowed (376.9 per game) and last against the pass (267.5 yards per game).

Phillips becomes the third defensive coordinator in Kubiak's tenure, which began in 2006 and was on tenuous ground until Texans owner Bob McNair said this week that he was sticking with his head coach. Bush and his predecessor, Richard Smith, had no previous experience at the position, and McNair and Kubiak both said they needed someone with a more proven track record this time.

The 63-year-old Phillips, a defensive coordinator most of his career, ran the defense in Denver from 1986 to 1992, overlapping Kubiak's playing career as John Elway's backup for the Broncos.

The connection between the two goes back to the late 1970s, when Kubiak was a ball boy for the Houston Oilers, who were coached by Wade's father, Bum. The elder Phillips showed up at Texans practice a week ago and chatted with McNair, sparking speculation that his son was in line to join the team.

The Texans' defense was bad from the start this season, yielding 410.5 yards through the first six games. The Texans only started 4-2 because the offense topped 30 points in each of the victories.

Pro Bowl middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans ruptured his Achilles tendon in the sixth game, and the defense never improved.

Kubiak also paid for his gamble to start rookie Kareem Jackson and second-year pro Glover Quin at cornerback. Houston gave up a league-high 33 touchdown passes, and the secondary was repeatedly beaten on long receptions late in games.

The slide in the standings started after the bye week, in a 30-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The unit seemed to show improvement in a 20-0 win over the Tennessee Titans, but the deficiencies in the secondary emerged again in losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Titans and Broncos.

The pass rush also was an issue. Defensive end Mario Williams had 8.5 sacks through the first 13 games, but then went on season-ending injured reserve with a sports hernia. Houston had 30 sacks this season to rank 23rd overall.

Phillips likes a 3-4 defensive alignment, which would be a change from the 4-3 that the Texans have played the last two seasons. Kubiak said Monday that he didn't care what scheme his new coordinator runs as long as it works.

A 3-4 sceheme would require Williams and fellow defensive end Antonio Smith to adjust their techniques and attack more to the inside of the line than the outside.

"If it doesn't suit you, it doesn't suit you," Smith said. "I think that sometimes players get a bad rap in making a decision that best suits them and the longevity of their career, and half the time they're looked at and seen in a bad light because they want to keep their career going on the same course that it was going on. And with a change of defense that doesn't suit you, you're going right on the road to ending your career, if you don't perform at that position.

"Now, if it suits, it suits," Smith said. "And if it's feasible, I can do it. But if it's not, it's just not."

Williams also said the Texans will need to add a massive nose tackle to clog the middle to make a 3-4 alignment work.

"We've got big guys, but it's just a totally different animal," he said.

 

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