Ageless ex-Broncos coach Wade Phillips vows to again lead Houston in XFL after he turns 76

May 4—Romeo Crennel was an interim NFL coach with Houston in 2020 when he was 73. The legendary George Halas coached Chicago until he was 72 in 1967. And Seattle's Pete Carroll, 72 in September, has a chance to stand alone as the oldest NFL coach ever if he's still active in 2025.

But those longevity feats pale in comparison to Wade Phillips when it comes to all of pro football. Phillips turns 76 on June 21, and he has no plans to slow down.

Phillips, a former head coach and two-time defensive coordinator with the Broncos, told The Denver Gazette he expects to return next season as head coach of the XFL's Houston Roughnecks.

"If they will have me back, I will be," he said. "I expect to be back, for sure."

So how long does Phillips anticipate he will coach?

"I don't know," he said. "They might have to scrape me off the field. We'll see. I enjoy it. I missed being out of it and so getting back to doing it was great for me. It's not a long season. It kind of fits well with my son Wes at the Vikings (as offensive coordinator). I can still go to their games."

Phillips led the Roughnecks to a 7-3 record in the regular season and a South Division title before a 25-11 playoff loss to the Arlington Renegades Saturday, Prior to that, Phillips hadn't been a coach since he was defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 at age 72.

After being let go by the Rams, Phillips campaigned for several years to get another job as an NFL assistant. But nothing materialized, and he joined the XFL for its spring season that got underway in February and will conclude with a May 13 championship game between Arlington and the D.C. Defenders.

"I think that train has left the station," Phillips said of his NFL days being over. "I haven't had any interest. Nobody's contacted me in a couple of years and I don't foresee that happening. ... No one's interested in even a senior assistant. I got the senior part down really well, and maybe even the assistant part. ... The only reason I retired is because I couldn't get a job."

Phillips, the son of legendary NFL coach Bum Phillips, has had quite a pro career himself. In stints with the Broncos from 1993-94, Buffalo from 1998-2000 and Dallas from 2007-10 and interim jobs with New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston, he went 82-64 as a head coach. In 28 seasons as an NFL defensive coordinator, including 1989-92 and 2015-16 with the Broncos, he had numerous impressive units. He helped lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl after the 1989 season and won a Super Bowl with them after the 2015 season.

Phillips had been hoping to add an XFL championship to his resume. But after beating Arlington 23-14 and 25-9 during the regular season, they were stunned at home.

"We had a good year but a bad playoff game," Phillips said. "But coaching again was really fun. It's what I have done for most of my life. Just being with the coaches and working with the players was great. The players were exceptional. Their attitude and wanting to play football made it really enjoyable."

The Roughnecks led the XFL in total defense and were second in scoring defense. Their top player on defense was edge rusher Trent Harris, who had a league-high 9 1/2 sacks and will head to Denver next weekend as a veteran tryout player at a rookie minicamp.

"The Broncos ought to sign him,' Phillips said of Harris, who played in 19 regular-season games with Miami and the New York Giants from 2019-21. "He's a really good player."

The XFL is in its third incarnation as a spring league. It debuted in 2001 before ceasing operations. It started up again in 2020 before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, after the XFL's return in 2023, Phillips believes it has a bright future.

"If you watch the games, I thought we had a lot of good players," Phillips said. "Some of them will be in the NFL, and that was our goal to help those guys get an opportunity."

Phillips spent 43 seasons in the NFL after becoming the defensive line coach of the Houston Oilers under his father in 1976. He has mostly good memories of the eight seasons he spent in Denver.

"I probably lived in Denver more than I lived anywhere my whole life with those stints," he said. "We had a great first year there when we went to the Super Bowl when I was defensive coordinator and the second I time I went as a defensive coordinator, we won the Super Bowl. So it was a good place for me, for sure."

But Phillips was frustrated at being let go following the 2016 season, when the Broncos went 9-7 and head coach Gary Kubiak stepped down.

"I thought they should have stuck with me the last time I was there," he said.

Since his departure, the Broncos have had six straight losing seasons.

"It didn't turn out great for them, I'll say that," Phillips said with a laugh.

Now, the Broncos have first-year head coach Sean Payton. Phillips expects he will turn around a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since defeating Carolina 24-10 to win Super Bowl 50 in February 2016.

"I don't think there's any doubt he can build teams," Phillips said. "He's a great offensive coach and they've certainly had some offensive problems. ... Sean's a great fit. He does a lot with less talent than other coaches do. He's a really good coach because of that."

Phillips said there weren't any discussions with Payton about a possible job on Denver's staff. The Broncos did hire a 75-year-old in assistant head coach Mike Westhoff, but he had worked with Payton in the past with New Orleans.

As for NFL head coaches, Crennel was 73 when he went 4-8 in an interim role with the Texans in 2020. Halas was 72 when he went 7-6-1 for the Bears in 1967.

In the NBA, San Antonio's Gregg Popovich is the oldest coach ever at 74. Baseball has the oldest skippers ever with Connie Mack having managed the Philadelphia Athletics at age 87 in 1950 and Jack McKeon with the Florida Marlins at age 80 in 2011.

When asked if he would like to coach until he's 80, Phillips said it might depend on "whether they'll have me." He shrugged off people saying he's too old now, and brought up President Joe Biden being 80.

"People get older," he said. "I mean, look at the president right now They're saying he's too old. It can happen in any profession."

And like Phillips, Biden will be looking next year to extend his time on the job.