DENVER -- It used to happen frequently, at least before the Broncos' locker room became, as defensive end Antonio Smith called it, the "no fun zone." Wade Phillips would hear music blaring from some defensive player's speakers in defiance of head coach Gary Kubiak's rule about no audible music in the locker room. Phillips, 68, would stroll in to check on his guys. Sometimes he would taunt linebacker Von Miller, who habitually plays Connect Four at a round table in the middle of the defensive side of the room. But often, Phillips would stop in front of Smith or one of his fellow defensive linemen, give the player a serious look, and then break out into a dance.
"I call it spontaneous flash mobs, where he just walks through the locker room and breaks out dancing for no reason," Smith said. "I think he thinks he's really dancing good, but it looks kind of horrible. ... I think he's just one of those people who wants to make you smile and take your mind off the stresses of the game."
The leader of the NFL's No. 1 defense -- and it's not particularly close -- Phillips has been coaching football for 45 years. He's been a head coach for six NFL teams, including three times as an interim who took over a flailing outfit, and in 12 seasons coaching 146 games he has amassed an 82-64 record, tying his legendary father, Bum, in wins. Phillips grew up learning the nuances of NFL defenses from his father, the best coach he said he ever worked for, and from the equally colorful Buddy Ryan.
Still, and maybe it's just an age thing, Phillips and "flash mob" don't seem to fit. Same with Phillips and Twitter. The guys who play for him, however, insist otherwise.
"If you knew him, you wouldn't be surprised," Denver safety Omar Bolden said. "That's just who he is."
Even if Kubiak, irked by a couple of losses and the unmitigated mayhem in his locker room, made the music stop.
Bum's son
Who is Wade Phillips? Look no further than his Twitter handle: @sonofbum. When he opened an account in August 2009, before his third regular season as Cowboys head coach, Phillips thought, "That's who I am. I am Bum's son."
On this day 40 yrs ago the Houston Oilers hired O.A. "Bum" Phillips as their new head coach.
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) January 26, 2015Dad had been a legend coaching all levels of football in the football-crazed state of Texas before a 10-year career as a head coach in the NFL. Almost always coaching in a cowboy hat and boots, Bum Phillips was known for his defensive prowess, his booming personality and his one-liners. He wasn't the most successful coach of his generation, but he was one of the most colorful.
"I was proud of the fact, for one thing, that he was my dad. I guess that was a big part of it. And a lot of people call me 'SOB,'" Phillips said, chuckling at his joke. "Nah, I'm just kidding."
Is he? It's hard to tell. That is part of the Phillips' charm. But his love for his father is undeniable. And he misses him.
Phillips is the oldest of Bum and Helen Phillips' six children and their only son. He played quarterback and linebacker in high school in Texas, with his father as his coach. Wade got offers from Alabama and Texas A&M, but after Bum took an assistant coaching position at the University of Houston, Wade had no choice. His father said, "You're coming to Houston," and so Wade did. That's also how Wade got into the NFL.
He was coaching the University of Kansas' defensive line in 1975, and a year later Bum summoned him to Houston to coach the Oilers' linebackers. Father and son worked together in Houston for five years and then moved together to New Orleans, where Bum coached the Saints with Wade as his defensive coordinator. When Bum resigned with a month left in his fifth season in 1985, Wade took over as interim head coach. Their decade together coaching in the NFL was done.
But that didn't mean father didn't counsel son through a peripatetic NFL career that took Wade to Philadelphia, Denver, Buffalo, Atlanta, San Diego, Dallas and Houston before joining Kubiak's staff back in Denver as defensive coordinator this year. In the final few years before Bum's death in 2013, and especially when Wade was the Texans' defensive coordinator, the two would talk after every game.
Wade had what he called "a little saying." If Houston won a game by a point or two, he would tell his father, "Well, we kicked their ass," Wade said. Bum would reply: "Yeah, you did." But if the Texans lost, Bum was always positive. He would tell Wade, "You did a lot of good things," followed by inquiries about why they did one thing defensively and not another. Bum Phillips died on Oct. 18, 2013, at age 90, and his son still thinks to call him after every game.
"It's still hard," Wade said. "It really is. You know, I mean everybody's obviously close to their parents, but he was my dad, and he was my coach. He coached me in high school. He was my mentor, so to speak. I looked up to him as my hero, and I coached with him and for him for 10 years. So all those things in one person, it's just been hard."
That's why in September, as what would have been Bum's 92nd birthday approached, Wade told his defensive players about his father. He spoke openly and emotionally about his love and respect for his father, how he learned almost everything he knows about football from him. Wade's sayings aren't as legendary as his father's, but his sensibility is the same.
"There's two ways to roll in this league," said Reggie Herring, the Broncos' linebackers coach who also has coached with Wade Phillips in Dallas and Houston. "It's Xs and Os, and then there's actually teaching the fundamentals of the game. There's some of that going on in some franchises. Coach Wade believes in the basics of football, and that's teaching fundamentals -- know what to do and how to do it and then have fun doing it."
Phillips told his players he was dedicating their Sept. 27 game at Detroit to his dad. He would coach for Bum, as he had quietly so many times before, to honor and respect him.
"That was big for us," said Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware, who also played for Phillips in Dallas in 2008 when he had 20 sacks. "We knew how much passion he had and what that meant to him. That put even more importance of that game on us, and also to make sure we're on board with him, let him know, 'You're not just a coach; we're on board with you, and we're going to give you all we've got.'"
The Broncos forced three turnovers that day, including a Matthew Stafford fumble and interception in the fourth quarter that preserved a 24-12 win. The Broncos held the Lions to 28 rushing yards and sacked Stafford four times. It wasn't as eye-popping a performance as holding Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers to 77 passing yards, but it was just the kind of ending Bum would've appreciated.
"People that really don't know (Wade Phillips) have a tendency to paint him a certain way," Herring said, "but at the end of the day, don't ever mistake his kindness as a weakness. He knows football. He knows how to win. He has a plan. He's just got it."
Highly social
So about that tweet: Phillips meant no disrespect to the Green Bay coaching staff or front office or Rodgers or Packers nation. He likes puns. That's what he does.
Chicken Parm tastes so good-I like it especially with Cheese
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) November 2, 2015On Nov. 11, 2012, after his Houston Texans defense held Chicago to six points and forced four turnovers, Phillips tweeted, "It was Bear-ly legal what the BullsonParade did tonight." After beating the Browns 26-23 in overtime in October, Phillips tweeted, "Had some brownies yesterday. They were tough but satisfying in the end." And then there was this one on Nov. 2, the day after Denver held Green Bay to 140 total yards and 10 points and sacked Rodgers three times: "Chicken Parm tastes so good-I like it especially with Cheese."
"I thought that was kind of funny, I can't lie," cornerback Chris Harris said. "That's something that you never expect any coach to say."
"Hey, it's all fun and games," Smith said. "Sometimes if you read behind the lines, it might be a shot, but it's a funny shot. It's funny."
Phillips got plenty of blowback from Packers fans.
"Oh yeah, I got quite a bit, a lot of mean things," he said. "Like I said, I thought it was just fun. I've said we caged the lions or we had brownies after the Browns game, and none of the Browns fans cared. I try to use a pun every once in a while. Open the gate."
Or close it. Since tweaking the Packers, Phillips has tweeted sparingly. He offered condolences to Doug Flutie after Flutie lost both his parents, made a comment about the win over the Bears and said he was "glad Gronk will be okay" after Rob Gronkowski was injured in the Broncos' win over the Patriots on Sunday.
Gary Kubiak has known Phillips since Kubiak was a high school quarterback growing up in Texas. Bum Phillips invited Kubiak to be a ball boy for the Oilers and later invited him to training camp. Years later, Kubiak hired Phillips to be his defensive coordinator in Houston and then again in Denver. While Kubiak isn't on Twitter, he was made aware of Phillips' tweets.
What a team win last night against a great opponent. Glad Gronk will be ok--hate to see anyone injured
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) November 30, 2015"I think I'm too busy to do that," Kubiak said. "I don't know. I barely text."
Kubiak then turned the question around.
"Is it a good account?" he asked.
Told it was colorful and amusing, Kubiak said, "Well, good.
"I've got enough things to worry about," he said. "I won't be doing that. You won't be following me, I promise you that."
Even so, Phillips' players say they hope Phillips won't stop twisting the knife on Twitter.
"He's a funny guy," safety David Bruton Jr. said. "He likes to have fun. I feel like that's fallen into the defense where we have fun even when we're out there busting our butt on the practice field or in a game."
Phillips could gloat more on Twitter if he wanted. Through Week 11, the Broncos had the No. 1 overall defense and the No. 2 passing defense. They also ranked second in sacks per pass play and fourth in points per game allowed. The players credit Phillips, their unpredictable coordinator, the one who after a Week 2 win against Kansas City photobombed some players as they used Snapchat to celebrate a win that was set up by a forced fumble in the final minute.
"He'll say, 'Play fast,'" linebacker Brandon Marshall said. "He'll tell us to play fast, and he'll tell us, 'Mistakes are mine.' He doesn't want us to worry about mistakes. If you're out there worrying about mistakes so much, that's a lot of time you'll play slow or you'll play timid. He just says, 'Mistakes are mine.' He feels that way because he's prepared us so that we don't have to worry about mistakes."
As for his dancing prowess, Phillips said he ranks fourth in his family behind his daughter, Tracy, a choreographer in Los Angeles; his wife, Laurie; and his son, Wes, the tight ends coach in Washington.
"I'm so bad that I think (the players) laugh because I'm bad, but just being around a couple of people that can dance and love to, maybe a little bit rubbed off but not much," Phillips said. "I'm a lot better than my dad. He couldn't" -- Phillips stops, stomps his foot on the ground and claps his hands over his head -- "keep rhythm to the beat. I can at least do that."
Son of Bum is fun whether the music is on or not.