At age 67, new Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has signed up for one final football project: Build a better Vonster.
Linebacker Von Miller can be the most destructive force in the NFL universe. Phillips was hired in Denver to make it happen. His mission is to unleash the Hall of Fame talent in Miller.
“That’s what you do. That’s what a defensive coordinator is in the NFL. You take the talent of the players, and the really talented ones, you do what they do well and let them do it,” Phillips said Tuesday. “It’s not the scheme itself; it’s the players.”
While all the fuss has been about whether Peyton Manning wants to spend the next 12 months of his life wearing a Broncos uniform, it would be foolhardy to think a 39-year-old quarterback is going to boost Denver to legitimate championship contention. That heavy lifting would be better left to Miller, a soon-to-be 26-year-old linebacker in his prime who has been named to the Pro Bowl three times since being the second pick of the 2011 NFL draft.
In the defensive scheme favored by previous defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, the Broncos played sound football. But they didn’t play intimidating football. During the playoff loss to Indianapolis that cost upheaval of the coaching staff at Dove Valley, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had enough time in the pocket to take a selfie before throwing picture-perfect passes.
The beast that is J.J. Watt was created in Houston with the help of Phillips, whose creativity as defensive coordinator with the Texans allowed Watt uncommon freedom to wreak havoc in a pass-happy league. It should probably be noted that Miller is obsessed with proving he can be no less than the equal of Watt, selected nine slots after the Broncos linebacker in the first round of the 2011 draft.
So I wondered aloud: Is it reasonable to think Miller can be as dominant as Watt?
“There’s no doubt about it. I think everybody knows we’re going to the a 3-4 (defensive alignment). The outside ‘backers, you want them to be the rush guys,” Phillips replied.
“I’ve always said, ‘Hey, if he can rush well, if he’s a really great rusher, let him rush.’ “
Unleash the Vonster.
This is the second tour of duty for Phillips in apountry. He went 16-16 and lost one playoff game as head coach from 1993-94.
“I was a lousy head coach,” Phillips said, “but I’m a pretty good defensive coordinator, and that’s what I do well.”
In a drawl stolen from Hank Hill, the team’s new defensive coordinator always has been quick with a quip. In a sport often ruled by uptight autocrats, Phillips is the rare football coach unafraid to show his funny bone and aim the punch line at himself. But nobody understands the passion and the pressure of Broncomania better than Phillips.
In a span of a few short days during September of 1994, Phillips suffered the death of his father-in-law and a home loss to the Los Angeles Raiders. Both personally and professionally, it was a sad week to be Phillips. As the beleaguered coach walked toward the locker room after the humiliating 48-16 loss to the Raiders dropped Denver’s record to 0-3, rowdies in the South Stands of old Mile High Stadium lambasted Phillips with chants of “Wade must go!” and pelted the son of a Bum with epithets too profane to print.
“There’s no such thing in my vocabulary as a vote of confidence. There’s no need for any vote of confidence here. We’re 0-3. That’s the sad part of it,” Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said at the time. Although it pained him, Bowlen would fire Phillips at season’s end, paving the way for Mike Shanahan and the franchise’s glory years.
“When you’ve coached for 32 teams, you almost have to come back to one you’ve been with before,” said Phillips, chuckling.
That Phillips is back to work in Denver two decades later is a testament to his thick skin, forgiving heart and proven ability to promote the aggressive nature and instill a swagger in defenders who believe they can be the most powerful force on any NFL field.
Phillips can build a defense capable of making the Broncos championship contenders, regardless of who plays quarterback. In the last, great project of his long NFL career, where does Phillips begin? That’s simple.
Unleash the Vonster.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
