Wade Phillips enters his first season as the head coach of the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas after serving as head coach of the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks in 2023. Phillips led the Roughnecks to a 7-3 overall record in the regular season and a berth in the XFL South Division Championship Game as the top seed. Phillips, one of the best defensive minds in professional football, helped the Roughnecks lead the XFL in total defense allowing just 270.3 yards per game and ranked second in scoring defense (18.2 ppg). Houston also boasted one of the top scoring offenses in the league averaging 24.7 points per game.

Before joining the XFL in 2023, Phillips was previously with the Los Angeles Rams, where he spent three seasons as the Defensive Coordinator. Over his 40-year career, he has coached at the college and pro level with the University of Houston, Oklahoma State University, the University of Kansas, the Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, and Los Angeles Rams. He served as head coach for the Saints, Broncos, Bills, Falcons, Cowboys, and Texans. 

Phillips has an 83-69 (.546) NFL head coaching record, a Super Bowl ring (50), and won AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year (2015). Additionally, five of his players have won Defensive Player of the Year: Reggie White, Bryce Paup, Bruce Smith, J. J.Watt and Aaron Donald and two have won Defensive Rookie of the Year awards.

Phillips attended Port Neches–Groves High School. He would then enroll at the University of Houston, where he was a three year starter at linebacker. He held the program record for career assisted tackles (228) for 43 years, until it was broken in 2011. His coaching career began in 1969, when he was a Graduate Assistant for his alma mater.