The New Orleans Saints are one of five NFL teams currently looking for a head coach. Barring an added surprise, the rest of the list includes the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Raiders. The New England Patriots hired Mike Vrabel on Sunday, eliminating one open spot.
A consistent interview list has developed for all five teams. New Orleans themselves have either interviewed or are lined up to talk to the majority of this list.
The Saints have either spoken to or requested permission to talk to Aaron Glenn, Anthony Weaver, Kliff Kingsbury, Joe Brady, Mike Vrabel, Mike Kafka, and Kellen Moore along with interim head coach Darren Rizzi.
Other teams are also pursuing these coaches, with a few favorites emerging. Vrabel will be the first off the board with Sunday's reports that he'll land with the Patriots (should we at least pretend to be shocked?). Some others, including Ben Johnson and Brian Flores, are untouchable until their respective teams season ends.
Despite national ''reports'', the Saints have not tipped their hand to who's the favorite for their job. However, it does raise the question of what a contingency plan might be if their top choices are hired by other teams.
Here's one under-the-radar coach that could emerge as a late candidate for the Saints or other teams in need of a coach.
The 45-year-old Phillips has been Minnesota's offensive coordinator for the last two seasons. Minnesota ranked 12th in total offense, including sixth in passing production with quarterback Sam Darnold. Last season, the Vikings were 10th in total offense and fifth in passing yardage.
Phillips is the son of longtime NFL head coach and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and grandson of longtime NFL head coach Bum Phillips. Bum was head coach of the Saints from 1981 to 1985. Wade was the Saints defensive coordinator over that same span, taking over as interim coach following Bum's resignation for the last four games of the 1985 campaign.
Wes Phillips played collegiately as a quarterback at UTEP and professionally with arena football San Diego Riptide. His first coaching job was as QB coach at West Texas A&M, a position he held from 2004 to 2005. In 2006, he was hired at the same position with Baylor.
After one year at Baylor, Wes joined father Wade's staff with the Dallas Cowboys in 2007 as an offensive assistant. He'd serve first as a quality control coach before moving on to the offensive line and tight ends during a Cowboys tenure that lasted until 2013. Even after Wade's departure from Dallas in 2011, Wes remained on the staff for three more years.
In 2014, Phillips was brought in as a TE coach for the Washington Redskins. He'd be with the Redskins for five years until 2018 under head coach Jay Gruden. Other notable assistants on that staff were Sean McVay, Kevin O'Connell, Shane Waldron, Bill Callahan, Greg Manusky, Raheem Morris, and Perry Fewell.
McVay left Washington to become head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. In 2019, he'd bring Wes Phillips onto the staff as the team's TE coach. By 2021, Phillips had also assumed the role of passing game coordinator for a Rams team that won Super Bowl LVI.
Kevin O'Connell was also the Rams offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021. O'Connell then left to become head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2022. He'd bring Phillips with him, giving him the offensive coordinator role for the first time.
First of all, any coach that can help transform Sam Darnold into a serviceable quarterback has qualifications that speak for itself. The third overall choice in the 2018 NFL Draft, Darnold was a major bust for three different teams before landing with the Vikings this past offseason.
Expected to be Minnesota's backup, Darnold was thrust into the starting role after a preseason injury to rookie J.J. McCarthy. Darnold responded with a career-best year, completing 66.2% of his throws for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and his first Pro Bowl berth.
Additionally, coaches from the Sean McVay coaching tree have had success throughout the NFL. Phillips' inexperience as a play-caller is a concern, especially with the fact that O'Connell is the primary play-caller in Minnesota.
This has also been a criticism of several offensive assistants that have worked under McVay, who's the chief play-caller for the Rams. It hasn't prevented others from having NFL success as head coaches elsewhere.
Phillips, O'Connell, and the 13-4 Vikings play McVay's Rams on Monday in a wild-card playoff matchup. Wes Phillips has not officially received any formal head coaching interviews. Other more experienced and better known coordinators are getting the attention, but Phillips could be an underrated option if the Saints or others do not get their initial candidates.
