Wade Phillips on evolving defenses, zone blitzes & coaching the greats

Q&A: Wade Phillips on evolving defenses, zone blitzes and coaching the greats

Ted Nguyen

https://theathletic.com/1842966/2020/06/09/qa-wade-phillips-on-evolving-defenses-zone-blitzes-and-coaching-the-greats/?source=twittered

Would you ever guess that Wade Phillips, 72, is spending more time video conferencing than most millennials? It’s 2020 and anything is possible. In a span of four weeks, the longtime NFL head coach and defensive coordinator has held more than 100 remote clinics for coaches all over the globe via Zoom. He’s talked to coaches from high schools, large college programs and even European teams.

His approach to the game is simple but it has proven to be successful and consistent. As a coordinator, his defenses finished in the top 10 on 13 occasions. Although his system hasn’t changed much, the secret to its success is the flexibility it has to empower players. Phillips’ greatest strength as a coach is his ability to find out what players do best and show them ways to do it within his system. To learn more, I sat in on one of his clinics and then caught up with him afterward about his philosophy and players he’s coached and what he’s doing now.

What made you decide to do all those remote clinics?

WP: I just thought it would be something to do. My daughter, Tracy … she’s a dancer and some guy in California was doing stuff for the dancers — giving back. I thought that was a good idea.

You talk so much about the importance of understanding what players do best and letting them do it. What is your process like with evaluating players when you first get to a team?

WP: I watch the year before, obviously. I see what I think on film and then you change a little bit when you see them move around. Back in Houston (in 2011), we didn’t even have (an) offseason so all I had was the film from the year before. Brian Cushing stood out so I utilized him as an example. That’s what I’ve always done. It hasn’t changed, really.

I wanted to go through some players that you coached recently and talk about their strengths/ weaknesses and how you used them in your system. Shawne Merriman?

WP: He had (17) sacks in 12 games (in 2006). He’s certainly a dominant force. Hard worker. He’s one of those guys (who) when we ran sprints after practice, he would run more. If guys were lighting weights, he lifted more. Those kinds of guys — they do more than everyone else and perform better, too.

Terrence Newman?

WP: Smart. Really smart guy. The real smart ones last longer because they know (and) realize their skills are descending but they are able to make up for it because they are smart, because they know how to adjust. He was more of an off corner but he could do both. He was a good off player, reading quarterbacks quickly. He had good eyes. He was a very good decision-maker.

J.J. Watt?

He was exceptional. He was so explosive. I couldn’t believe it, really. We saw him in college, drafted him, and they booed him when he came in because they never heard of a guy from Wisconsin. One of the things we noticed about him is that he had more passes broken up than their secondary. He naturally knocked the ball down. Just shows you the football player he is. We beat Cincinnati in a playoff game (in the 2011 season). He intercepted the ball with the quarterback like 4 yards from him. He caught it somehow and returned (it) for a touchdown and changed the whole game.

He played five-tech mostly. We had him on the strong side because he could play so well and he could pass rush from anywhere.

Von Miller and Demarcus Ware?

WP: The great ones can rush the passer and see the quarterback. Some of them rush the passer but are looking at the offensive lineman the whole time, then get by him, then locate the quarterback.

The great ones that I’ve had make the right decision on how to get past the blocker but they also could see the quarterback. That’s why we did so well against Cam Newton during the Super Bowl (after the 2015 season), because Demarcus and Von both could rush the passer but you could tell them to just rush the quarterback.

Someone that wasn’t good as them, I told them, “You rush the passer, make sure to contain them, and not let them outside the pocket.” But those guys, who make the right decisions, you have to let them go. You can’t hamper them in with, “Don’t let (the quarterback) out of the (pocket).” And we sacked (Newton six) times in that game and he didn’t run for 100 yards like he did in every other game. So, it’s just players and what they could do.

Pass rush is about feel. You have to feel where are you, where (the quarterback) is, and how to get by a (blocker) in a short area. The really great ones, they have that feel. They could beat him inside, outside to get the quarterback.

Most great players have some sort of acceleration. They could move a little faster when they need to. (Miller) could do that. He had it all: strength, quickness, speed.

Aqib Talib?

WP: He has a great knack for not only interceptions but running with it and scoring. Real smart player. Great leader. He was one of the leaders on the team that won the Super Bowl. I’ve had a lot of great players but he was a real leader on that defense. We talk about Peyton Manning — rightfully so — but (Talib) was just as good as a leader on defense as Peyton was on offense.

Marcus Peters?

WP: He’s a real savvy football player. He didn’t have great speed but adequate speed. He’s a guy that could cover a guy man-to-man and the quarterback throws it to someone else and he’d get the interception. (Offenses) would try to work that against him sometimes but he was just very unusual to have the perception that he had. He had a real knack for knowing where the football was going, whether he’s playing zone or man. He made a couple of interceptions where he played man-to-man on one guy and they threw it to a tight end and he intercepted (it), which is phenomenal.

Aaron Donald?

WP: (In the clinic, Phillips talked about how people thought Donald wasn’t going to be as productive in a 3-4 because he mainly played on a four-man line as a three-technique defensive tackle before Phillips became the Rams’ defensive coordinator.)

I don’t know if you heard me in the clinic. (Donald) played in 4-3 (as a) three-technique. In our (3-4) defense, we put him (at) three-technique and we covered up the center and tackle so he’d be one-on-one with the guard all the time.

Corey Littleton?

WP: All those guys would have been just as good without us (coaches). Corey has a knack to get the football. We tried to cover him where he didn’t have to take on many blockers and just go to the ball because he had a slight build. But he could find the football, diagnose really well, and he could run. He’s a good rusher on the back. If you could put him on back one-on-one, he could beat people there. So, we tried to utilize those things.

How does coaching defense change from 10 years ago to now?

WP: The game always changes. Offenses always have the rules on their side. We went from run-and-shoot plays to zone read and (run-pass options). There’s always something different. When I first got in the NFL, everybody was running two backs and then somebody ran an ace formation with one back and two tight ends and the whole game changed. There’s always a change. Defense is recognition. I’ve coached in high school and college. I’ve seen the wishbone, wing T. Defense always has always having to make adjustments for what offenses are coming up with. Seems like something new — jet motion now. We didn’t see whole a lot of motion run 42 years ago when I started. Now, we see a whole lot of motion. Usually, defenses will catch up some because of recognition. We start recognizing the plays quicker.

How do you see the 3-4 defense moving forward into this new era?

WP: We see colleges going to it. They’re playing a 3-3, 3-5. They are utilizing different skill sets but they are lining up three-man fronts. A lot of colleges are doing it. I don’t see it going away.

Their game is a little different because of the hash marks. The NFL, way back, moved the hash marks closer so the quarterback could throw better to both sides of the field. What happened was, there’s such a wide side of the field in college that they can’t defend it. Colleges are more prolific offensively than pro teams are because of the wide side of the field, and college quarterbacks aren’t nearly as good as pro quarterbacks, but there is so much room out there.

Is there a favorite blitz or pressure that you like to call?

WP: Any one that works. I like zone blitzes, zone dogs, zone blitzes. You could overload one side and have a zone behind it. It depends on the team. We’d just rush DeMarcus and Von and played zone behind it. Normally, when you’d rush the two outside ‘backers, you’d play man-to-man with a five-man rush. Normally, your zone blitzes are better with three of them coming from one side and two on the other side, overloading one side with three or four (rushers) on one side.

No one runs a balanced zone blitz (without an overload to one side) with a five-man rush. But (Miller and Ware) were so good, we just bowed to them and played zone behind them. We were probably the one team that had done that. But it was successful because they were so good.

Does your approach change at all if or when you get your next coaching job?

WP: Yeah. I think we adjust to what we have. Utilize the guys that you have. For example, T.J. Ward at Denver — he was a great blitzer from the secondary so he was the guy we blitzed. It’s simple but some people have their scheme and don’t take into consideration who they have. I don’t know why. Some people get caught up with, “Hey, this is our scheme and you have to play it this way.” That’s what I try to get over to coaches, especially young coaches. There are different ways to do it. Players are all different.