Denver Broncos general manager John Elway has tapped his former head coach from 1993-94, Wade Phillips, to be his team’s new defensive coordinator. Phillips returns to the Broncos after a year out of football.
From 2011-13 Phillips was the defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans under new Denver head coach Gary Kubiak. Phillips was the interim coach for the Texans in the final part of the 2013 after Kubiak was fired.
Phillips, the son of former coaching legend Bum Phillips, has made a career of calling defenses in the NFL. Phillips’ first defensive coordinator job was with the New Orleans Saints from 1981-85 under his father. After that, Phillips was the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1986-88, then the Broncos from 1989-92.
After is first head coaching job went south, Phillips called the defense for the Bills from 1995-97 before spending two seasons as their head coach. From 2002-03 Phillips ran the Atlanta Falcons defense before moving on to San Diego, running the Chargers unit from 2004-06.
In all, Phillips has been an NFL head coach three times with the Broncos, Bills and Dallas Cowboys. Phillips has served as an interim head coach for the Saints, the Falcons and the Texans.
Phillips replaced Jack Del Rio who took over as head coach of the Oakland Raiders on Jan. 14.
49ers settle on Geep Chryst as offensive coordinator
After filling their open head coaching position in-house with the promotion of Jim Tomsula last week, San Francisco has done the same with its vacant offensive coordinator position. After losing out to higher-profile candidates, the 49ers have cut bait, hiring Geep Chryst as its offensive coordinator and he coached the team’s quarterbacks for the last four seasons.
Chryst has been an offensive coordinator once before, under Mike Riley with the San Diego Chargers from 1999-2000.
Chryst’s promotion was rumored to be a possibility over the last few days, but should still come as a surprise. Last season starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick undeniably regressed and was a big reason the team missed the playoffs this season. The offense could end up getting an overhaul, with the possible losses of running back Frank Gore, wide receiver Michael Crabtree and guard Mike Iupati to free agency.
Geep replaces departed offensive coordinator Greg Roman who was hired to the same position with the Buffalo Bills on Jan. 13.
Louisville defensive coordinator rejects offer from Oakland Raiders
Jack Del Rio tried to woo Louisville University defensive coordinator Todd Grantham to the NFL, but was officially turned down Wednesday. Grantham will remain with the Cardinals for the 2015 season.
Grantham’s defense in Louisville led the nation with 26 interceptions and finished sixth in the country in total defense and were the No. 10-ranked rushing defense.
The Raiders were prepared to offer Grantham a two-year deal, but something about the Raiders or Del Rio’s desire to be “hands-on” with the defense, soured him on the job.
Grantham has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL before with the Cleveland Browns from 2005-07.
Duron Carter, son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, agrees to deal with Colts
Duron Carter’s two seasons with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League have paid off. Carter, 23, was one of the best receivers in the CFL last season, catching 75 passes for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns.
Carter went undrafted in 2013 after flaming out in college, transferring from Ohio State to Alabama, then Florida Atlantic and finally Coffeyville Junior college. Carter rarely saw action at the major college level due to academic eligibility.
Neil deGrasse Tyson adds voice to DeflateGate Belichick skeptics
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will surely rue the day he decided to discuss his football science experiments last Saturday. Wednesday, America’s most famous physicist and host of Fox’s Cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson weighed in, calling into question Belichick’s findings.
Tyson posted the full statement on his Facebook page. There’s a lot of real math there but, to sum it up, the Patriots would have had to inflated their footballs with 90-degree air, not room-temperature as Belichick plainly stated, for the 50-degree temperatures at Foxboro Stadium two Sundays ago to have the effect Belichick claimed in his press conference.
