Wednesday, January 10
Phillips would like to coach expansion Texans



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."




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