Wes Phillips (born February 17, 1979) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He is the son of former

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

, Buffalo Bills, and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

head coach

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also ser ...

and the grandson of former

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

head coach

Bum Phillips Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips Jr. (September 29, 1923 – October 18, 2013) was an American football coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers fro ...

Early years

Wes Phillips was born in Houston, Texas when his grandfather was the head coach of the Houston Oilers and his father was serving as their defensive line coach. The younger Phillips attended the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

, where he earned three letters playing football for the

Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

after playing and graduating from

Williamsville North High School Williamsville North High School, known locally as "North" or "Will North" is a public high school in the Williamsville Central School District of Williamsville, New York. The school offers a comprehensive program with multi-level instruction in ...

. He was a backup quarterback during the 2000 season, when UTEP won the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

title. As a senior, Phillips became the starting quarterback, completing 143 of 257 passes for 1,839 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while also scoring two rushing touchdowns. In 2001, he graduated from

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

with a bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Playing career

Phillips played professional football in 2002 and 2003 as a quarterback with the

San Diego Riptide The San Diego Riptide was a professional arena football team based in San Diego, California. The team played its home games at the San Diego Sports Arena. The team was originally coached by Cree Morris, then Mouse Davis and finally by Sean Ponde ...

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

league.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Following his playing career, Phillips returned to his alma mater

, where he spent one season as a student assistant. In 2004, he was hired as quarterbacks coach at

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on S ...

. In 2005, the Buffaloes went 10-2 and won the

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in T ...

with an 8–1 mark with NCAA Division II's top-ranked passing offense. Phillips helped guide the development of quarterback

Dalton Bell Dalton Bell (born March 9, 1983) is a former Canadian football quarterback.. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He was later signed by the Seattle Seahawks. He signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 200 ...

, who was a finalist for the

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Har ...

. After two seasons, Phillips was then hired for the same position at Baylor in 2006.

Dallas Cowboys

After his father (Wade) was hired as head coach of the Cowboys in 2007, Wes joined his father's staff as a quality control/offensive assistant coach. Working together for the first time, the coaches Phillips helped the Cowboys to win NFC East titles in 2007 and 2009. But after a 1–7 start in 2010, Wade Phillips was fired. Wes remained in Dallas working under his father's successor

Jason Garrett Jason Calvin Garrett (born March 28, 1966) is a former American football player and coach and current broadcaster. He previously served as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for the 2010s from 2010-2019. Garrett has also been offensive coordi ...

, and was promoted to the position of assistant offensive line coach in 2011 and

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, before being named tight ends coach for the 2013 season.

Washington Redskins

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Phillips joined the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

as tight ends coach under new head coach

Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...

. It was here that Phillips first began working with

Sean McVay Sean McVay (born January 24, 1986) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He became the youngest NFL head coach in the modern era when he was hired by the Rams in 201 ...

, who had preceded Phillips as Washington's tight ends coach before being elevated to offensive coordinator. With the Redskins, Phillips worked with notable tight ends like

Vernon Davis Vernon Davis (born January 31, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Maryland, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers sixth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. In 2009, Davis co-led the NFL in touchdown rec ...

and Jordan Reed, the latter of whom made the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

following the 2016 season.

Los Angeles Rams

On February 12,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Phillips joined the Los Angeles Rams as tight ends coach, where he was again reunited with both McVay, now the Rams' head coach, and his father, who was the Rams' defensive coordinator. He remained with the organization in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

even though his father did not. In

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, Phillips added the title of pass game coordinator in addition to his role as tight ends coach. Phillips earned his first

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

when the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

Minnesota Vikings

On February 20, 2022, Phillips was hired by the

to serve as the team's offensive coordinator for the 2022 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Wes 1979 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baylor Bears football coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches Players of American football from Houston Sportspeople from Houston UTEP Miners football coaches UTEP Miners football players Washington Redskins coaches West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coaches National Football League offensive coordinators