Wes Phillips

Last updated
Wes Phillips
Minnesota Vikings
Position: Offensive coordinator
Personal information
Born: (1979-02-17) February 17, 1979 (age 45)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Career information
High school: Williamsville North (Williamsville, New York)
College: UTEP (1999–2001)
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
As coach
Coaching stats at PFR

Wes Phillips (born February 17, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He is the son of former Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips and the grandson of former Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints head coach Bum Phillips. [1] [2]

Contents

Early years

Wes Phillips was born in Houston, Texas, when his grandfather was the head coach of the Houston Oilers and his father was serving as their defensive line coach. The younger Phillips attended the University of Texas at El Paso, where he earned three letters playing football for the Miners after playing and graduating from Williamsville North High School. [3] He was a backup quarterback during the 2000 season, when UTEP won the Western Athletic Conference title. As a senior, Phillips became the starting quarterback, completing 143 of 257 passes for 1,839 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while also scoring two rushing touchdowns. In 2001, he graduated from UTEP with a bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Playing career

Phillips played professional football in 2002 and 2003 as a quarterback with the San Diego Riptide of the af2 arena football league.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Following his playing career, Phillips returned to his alma mater UTEP, where he spent one season as a student assistant. In 2004, he was hired as quarterbacks coach at West Texas A&M University. In 2005, the Buffaloes went 10–2 and won the Lone Star Conference with an 8–1 mark with NCAA Division II's top-ranked passing offense. Phillips helped guide the development of quarterback Dalton Bell, who was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy. After two seasons, Phillips was then hired for the same position [4] at Baylor in 2006. [1]

Dallas Cowboys

After his father (Wade) was hired as head coach of the Cowboys in 2007, Wes joined his father's staff as a quality control/offensive assistant coach. Working together for the first time, the coaches Phillips helped the Cowboys to win NFC East titles in 2007 and 2009. But after a 1–7 start in 2010, Wade Phillips was fired. Wes remained in Dallas working under his father's successor Jason Garrett, and was promoted to the position of assistant offensive line coach in 2011 and 2012, before being named tight ends coach for the 2013 season. [5]

Washington Redskins

In 2014, Phillips joined the Washington Redskins as tight ends coach [6] [7] under new head coach Jay Gruden. It was here that Phillips first began working with Sean McVay, who had preceded Phillips as Washington's tight ends coach before being elevated to offensive coordinator. With the Redskins, Phillips worked with notable tight ends like Vernon Davis and Jordan Reed, the latter of whom made the Pro Bowl following the 2016 season.

Los Angeles Rams

On February 12, 2019, Phillips joined the Los Angeles Rams as tight ends coach, [8] where he was again reunited with both McVay, now the Rams' head coach, and his father, [9] [10] who was the Rams' defensive coordinator. [11] He remained with the organization in 2020 even though his father did not. In 2021, Phillips added the title of pass game coordinator in addition to his role as tight ends coach. Phillips earned his first Super Bowl ring when the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. [12]

Minnesota Vikings

On February 20, 2022, Phillips was hired by the Minnesota Vikings to serve as the team's offensive coordinator for the 2022 season. [13]

On April 2, 2024, the Vikings suspended Phillips for the first three weeks of the ensuing season as a repercussion for his 2023 DUI arrest. [14]

Personal life

On December 8, 2023, Philips was arrested in Minneapolis at approximately 9:45 PM CST on suspicion of drunken driving after showing signs of impairment during a routine traffic stop for speeding, with his blood alcohol content later revealed to be 0.10. He was released early the next morning after posting $300 bond. [15] [16] [17] Three days later, Phillips publicly admitted to driving while drunk and apologized. [18] On February 15, 2024, Phillips pled guilty to an amended misdemeanor charge of careless driving. He paid $378 in fines and was ordered to serve eight hours of community service. [19] On April 2, 2024, the Vikings announced that Phillips would be suspended without pay for three weeks as a result of the conviction, with the ability to return to the team on April 23, 2024. [20]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Baylor taps grandson of Bum Phillips to be QB coach". ESPN.com. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  2. ↑ McDaniel, Amy. "Third generation NFL coach Wes Phillips shares knowledge in San Angelo". San Angelo Standard-Times. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  3. ↑ Reporter, Jay Skurski News Sports. "Williamsville North graduate, Rams tight ends coach Wes Phillips looks back fondly on his time in Buffalo". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  4. ↑ "Phillips Hired As QB Coach". Baylor University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  5. ↑ "Meet Wes Phillips: Three things to know about the Rams' new tight ends coach". TheRams.com. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Redskins hire Wes Phillips to coach tight ends". Washington Post. January 17, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Dallas Cowboys TE coach Wes Phillips interviews with Redskins". Dallas News. 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  8. ↑ Klein, Gary. "Wes Phillips joining Rams staff as tight ends coach". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  9. ↑ "Watch: Wes Phillips talks about his dad Wade, Rams coaching staff". Rams Wire. 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  10. ↑ Associated Press. "Wes Phillips leaves Redskins to join dad on Rams coaching staff". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  11. ↑ Klein, Gary (February 12, 2019). "Wes Phillips joining Rams staff as tight ends coach". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Super Bowl LVI - Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals - February 13th, 2022". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  13. ↑ "Vikings hire Rams' Phillips as new O-coordinator". 21 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Vikings' Wes Phillips suspended after careless-driving resolution". espn.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  15. ↑ Baca, Michael (9 December 2023). "Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips arrested for DWI". NFL.com. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Goessling, Ben. "Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips suspended without pay for three weeks". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  17. ↑ "Vikings OC Wes Phillips to plead guilty to careless driving from Dec. 8 arrest". www.fox9.com. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  18. ↑ Krammer, Andrew (December 12, 2023). "Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips apologizes for drunken-driving arrest". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Vikings OC Wes Phillips to plead guilty to careless driving from Dec. 8 arrest". www.fox9.com. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  20. ↑ "Vikings suspend Phillips 3 weeks over traffic stop". ESPN.com. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
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