New Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has a new book, Son of Bum. Written with our friend Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, the memoir includes Wade’s memory of an awkward interview with Washington coach Jay Gruden after Gruden got the D.C. gig in 2014.
“By this point my son Wes was the Redskins’ tight end coach,” Phillips explains (via Mark Bullock of the Washington Post), “so I was looking forward to the possibility of us working together again. But my interview with Jay was strange, to say the least. . . . When Jay was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati and I was with the Texans, I faced the Bengals twice in the playoffs, after the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and beat them both times -- 31-10 and 19-13. I felt he knew my credentials and might have been impressed with the things we were able to do in the previous three games in which we had beaten the Bengals, including one game during the regular season.
“We watched a lot of tape of the Texans’ games versus his offense. It seemed to me a lot of the players were of when Cincinnati did well. Most of the interview was about that. I thought we should have talked more about philosophy, technique, concepts, and my record, but he was the one interviewing me.
“After the interview I told Wes of my disappointment. I felt Jay didn’t have as much regard for my coaching as I’d hoped he would. He ended up hiring Joe Barry, a friend of his, to be defensive coordinator.”
Coupled with Wade’s lamentations about being paid less than his top lieutenant in Dallas, the book apparently has a degree of candor that makes it a “must” read. And so I will.