User:AUColonist/Wes Phillips

Wes Phillips (born February 17, 1979) is an American football coach and former college player who is the current tight ends coach of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He has coached for 12 seasons in the NFL and is the son of current Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and the grandson of former Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints head coach Bum Phillips.

Early years
Wes Phillips was born in Houston, Texas during the time that his grandfather was head coach of the Houston Oilers and his father was serving as defensive line coach. The younger Phillips attended the University of Texas at El Paso, where he earned three letters playing football for the Miners. He was a backup quarterback during the 2000 season, when UTEP won the Western Athletic Conference 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, Phillips graduated from UTEP with a bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Phillips played professional football in 2002 and 2003 as a quarterback with the San Diego Riptide of the af2 arena football league.

Coaching career
Following the end of his playing career, Phillips then returned to UTEP, where he spent one season as a student assistant. In 2004, he was hired as quarterbacks coach at West Texas A&M University. In 2005, the Buffaloes went 10-2 and won the Lone Star Conference with an 8-1 mark with NCAA Division II's top-ranked passing offense. Phillips helped guide the development of quarterback Dalton Bell, who was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy. After two seasons, Phillips was then hired for the same position at Baylor University in 2006.

After Wade Phillips was hired as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2007, the younger Phillips joined his father on 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 Phillips remained with Dallas working under his father's successor Jason Garrett, and was promoted to assistant offensive line coach in 2011 and 2012, before being named tight ends coach for the 2013 season.

In 2014, Phillips joined the Washington Redskins as tight ends coach under new head coach Jay Gruden. It was here that Phillips first began working with Sean McVay, 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 and Jordan Reed, the latter of whom made the Pro Bowl following the 2016 season.

On February 12, 2019, Phillips joined the Los Angeles Rams as tight ends coach, where he is again reunited with both McVay, now the Rams' head coach, and his father, who serves as the Rams' defensive coordinator.

Personal life
Phillips and his wife Anna were married in 2009 and have two daughters, Ivy and Minnie, and a son, Mac.