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| Wednesday, January 10 Associated Press | |||
| ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- After being fired as Buffalo head
coach on Sunday night, Wade Phillips is quickly moving on.
On Wednesday, Phillips said he is looking
forward to becoming an NFL head coach again, possibly with the
expansion Houston Texans, who start play in 2002. Phillips, 53, said he
expects to interview with Houston in the coming weeks, though
nothing has been formally set up.
"The Jets aren't doing anything. I don't know what they're
doing and (the Houston job) is the only other job available that I
know of," Phillips said.
The Houston job also holds added significance for the Texas-born
Phillips, who served as an assistant for the Houston Oilers (1976-80) under
his father, Bum Phillips. Wade Phillips is also
a University of Houston alumnus.
"It's home. It's where I started out, where I went to college,
my hometown," Phillips said. "Those kinds of things are certainly
attractive."
Phillips was fired after the Bills went 8-8 this season and
missed the playoffs for the first time since 1997. In three seasons
at Buffalo, Phillips went 29-19 but never won a playoff game.
Phillips said he has talked to Texans owner Bob McNair at league
meetings and is impressed with the way McNair has set up the
franchise. He also called Texans general manager Charlie Casserly
one of the top GMs in the league.
The possibility of coaching a first-year team in the NFL may
seem a daunting task, but Phillips claims it's really not much
different than the situation facing any new head coach.
"The last two head coaching jobs I took over teams that had
losing records," Phillips said. "There's always a challenge in
coaching I think, especially when you first take over as a head
coach. Most of the time you're taking over teams that hadn't done
well or are new or need new players or whatever."
The Bills went 6-10 the season before Phillips took over and
went 10-6 in his first season in Buffalo. The Denver Broncos
finished 8-8 in 1992 under Dan Reeves and improved to 9-7 the next
season under Phillips.
One twist in the possibility of Phillips going to the Texans is
that he would have to compete with Buffalo defensive coordinator
Ted Cottrell -- who is interviewing in Houston on Thursday -- for the
job. Phillips and Cottrell coached together in Buffalo, and Phillips
has said publicly that Cottrell is the best choice to succeed him
as Bills head coach.
Even with the support of Phillips and the Bills players,
Cottrell will have to convince new Buffalo general manager and
president Tom Donahoe -- who was hired Wednesday -- he is the best
man for the job. Cottrell has no previous working relationship with
Donahoe and the new GM may choose to go with a coach he knows.
Although Phillips supports Cottrell as the best choice to be the
Bills next head coach, he said he's not wasting any time worrying
about his old employers.
"I hadn't thought about them," Phillips said. "I'm going
forward with the other things I have to do." | ALSO SEE
Donahoe accepts Bills' offer to become president, GMBills players lobby for Cottrell to succeed Phillips Bills fire Phillips because he wouldn't ax assistant | ||