Game Day Thoughts

Bud Grant, Tom Landry, Don Shula, John Madden, the Chucks (Noll and Knox) were the coaches that dominated my football youth. In my little mind they held the keys to the game that I was quickly growing to love. Then, Bum Phillips entered the scene. I never knew what to make of him. He seemed part mascot. His character seemed too big. Like his stetson. It seemed to take him no time at all to turn the Houston Oilers into a dominant football team. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the late '70s, one of the all-time great teams, found the greatest challenge within their division. Steelers-Oilers in those days were battles. Bum Phillips was hilarious off the field and brilliant on the field. "I don't mind being called Bum," Phillips once said, "just as long as you don't put a 'you' in front of it." Most people became aware of Phillips when he replaced Sid Gillman as the Oilers coach in 1975. I did. In my walks through football history, I was amazed to discover that Phillips impacted football decades before that. In the late '50s, Texas A&M head coach Bear Bryant met with a young Texas high school coach to discuss that coach's unique zone blocking techniques. Bum Phillips was that young Texas high school coach. Bryant hired him. He was one of the early architects of the 3-4 defense. Sid Gillman hired him as defensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers. When Gillman moved on to the Oilers, he brought Phillips with him. Football legends Bryant and Gillman knew the astute football coach that Bum Phillips always was. He was hilarious too.

I was saddened to hear that Bum Phillips passed away Friday. He was 90.

Wade Phillips
@sonofbum
Bum is gone to Heaven-loved and will be missed by all-great Dad, Coach, and Christian.

"There's two kinds of coaches.
Them that's fired and them that's gonna be fired."
      -Bum Phillips


It always feels off to have an NFL Sunday without the Minnesota Vikings. Two weeks ago it was a bye week. This time it's their date with the New York Giants on Monday. It opens up my morning for visits with games that I would not otherwise see. Cincinnati-Detroit might get the call today.

Or, Chicago-Washington.

Wait, Dallas-Philadelphia. Hell, I don't know.

Jadeveon Clowney woke up.

It was interesting and depressing to see Cal and Stanford play UCLA in consecutive weeks. Stanford has a nice defense for the simple reason that they pursue to the ball and they tackle. UCLA plays that gashed Cal last week weren't nearly as successful against Stanford.

Stanford is up at least 14-0 at the half if the receivers catch the football. They started catching the ball in the second half and game over. Stanford wins 24-10.

Kodi Whitfield's one-handed touchdown catch for Stanford was one of the best catches that I've ever seen.

The Stanford Tree gets more ridiculous with each passing year.

I would love to see UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr on the Vikings defense next season.

You gotta love a coach-quarterback combo named Dabo and Tajh. Their #3 Clemson team won't stay #3. Florida St. took them apart.

I'm all in on Florida St. quarterback Jameis Winston.

Winston's first touchdown was a nice throw and catch with receiver Kelvin Benjamin. I first became aware of the freakishly skilled Benjamin in Bryan Mealer's terrific book Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football's Forgotten Town. At 6-5 and 234 lbs with deceptive speed, Benjamin can be a nightmare for a defense. The skill is there. The want-to has to get there.

Cal 17 Oregon St. 49. Well, the Bears defense did keep the Beavers under 50. It didn't look like that was going to happen.