Wade Phillips Knows New Job May End Soon. After All . . . : HE’S JUST BUM’S SON

Being a head coach in the NFL isn’t easy when your old man is a Bum.

Just ask Wade Phillips, who this week was handed one of the least-coveted jobs on the bayou when he was named interim coach of the New Orleans Saints.

“I thought it would be the happiest day of my life when I got to be a head coach in the NFL,” he said.

Monday’s press conference, though, was no champagne brunch. There’s little joy in being named to replace your own father in the job at which he failed.

After five years and a 27-42 overall record, 62-year-old Bum Phillips handed in his cowboy hat on Monday and was last seen headed toward the Texas border. Yeah, Bum had seen enough. Saints fans had screamed their last obscenity at the coach whose first name expressed their sentiments exactly.

His flat-top haircut would no longer be used as a landing pad for Superdome coffee grounds.

No, Bum was finished all right and would be handing this big ol’ mess to his son.

Gee thanks, dad.

Wade Phillips, Son of a Bum, was 15 minutes late for his scheduled conference phone hookup with the L.A. media Wednesday.

“The President, general manager, assistant GM and the P.R. Director have resigned,” Phillips said with a chuckle when he finally made it to the phone. “I’ve had a few problems here organizing things.”

Just another wacky week in the life of the New Orleans Saints.

After Phillips resigned Monday, Saints owner Tom Benson Jr. named Wade interim coach. And interim in this case means interim. Wade was the Saints defensive coordinator under Bum and was basically named coach to prevent something akin to team mutiny. Wade’s here to salvage what’s left of a 4-8 season. He’s here to make sure 22 guys show up for Sunday’s game with the Rams at the Superdome.

Benson told him he was going to give him a fair shot at the Saints’ job next season.

But, as Wade says, who’s kidding who?

“I’m my own person but my last name is Phillips,” Wade said. “I started to tell him (Benson) that I was adopted.”

He has a sense of humor, which is good.

“Realistically, I’m not going to be the head coach,” Phillips said. “The reason I took it over is because I felt I could hold the team together. I’m real close to these guys.”

Wade knew his father was going to quit a week ago after a 38-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers. But it was a surprise to most when he announced his resignation the day after a win. The Saints defeated the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, 30-23.

Wade said he tried to talk his dad out of it.

“But you can’t talk Bum out of anything,” Wade said. “You just listen to him most of the time. Once he makes a decision, he doesn’t ride the fence. One thing I’ve learned from him is that you have to go ahead and make decisions. Now a lot of people said he made the wrong decision by doing this, the wrong decision for trading so-and-so, but at least he made those decisions. He’s not a fence rider.”

Wade, 38, probably wasn’t ready to become a head coach. But on Monday, the Saints were thrown right in his lap. Of course, there are a few fewer mouths to feed these days. Leaving along with Phillips were Saints President Eddie Jones, offensive coordinator King Hill, personnel director Pat Peppler and publicist Greg Suit.

The players, of course, were curious as to what was going on.

Benson, the owner, and Wade met with the team Monday.

“Mr. Benson came in and explained the whole situation, exactly what happened,” Wade said. “We didn’t want to leave them in the dark.”

Phillips said he then met with members of the team individually to answer any questions. It wasn’t an easy day for anyone.

“There weren’t a whole lot of questions,” he said. “I wrote them little notes explaining what I felt. It was emotional enough that I couldn’t say a whole lot of things.”

Until Wade Phillips is out of town, it will be impossible to rid New Orleans of Bum Phillips.

Wade Phillips knows it. He’ll find out for sure Sunday when he runs onto the field at the Superdome.

“I’m sure we’ll get our share of boos,” Wade said.

Bum Phillips was supposed to have been a savior for this franchise when he arrived five seasons ago from the Houston Oilers. But the Saints, in their 19th NFL season, still remain the only team never to have made the playoffs. And never have the Saints enjoyed a winning season. Twice they have finished 8-8, but that doesn’t get you to the Super Bowl.

For Saints fans, frustration is something that comes along with season tickets. And fans tend to relieve their frustration on coaches.

Phillips, in his 10-gallon cowboy hat, was such an easy target.

He has long been criticized for his decisions on and off the field. Last season, Phillips traded a No. 1 draft pick to obtain running back Earl Campbell from the Houston Oilers. But until last week, Phillips’ final game, Campbell had pretty much been a bust.

Much of the criticism seemed justified.

In last year’s game against the Rams, for instance, Phillips kept two Heisman Trophy winners (Campbell and George Rogers) on the bench and instead played Hokie Gajan. He also shuffled quarterback Ken Stabler and Richard Todd in and out of the lineup and admitted after the loss that it may have been a mistake.

Saints fans have shown their affection by dumping an assortment of concessions on Phillips, including cups of coffee.

Wade, if it’s the last thing he does in New Orleans, will fight to preserve the name of his father.

“I think people have a right to boo or cheer,” he said. “I don’t think they have the right to be rude or abusive. I don’t think it carries that far over. . . . The way I look at it and the way he looks at it is that he’s the winningest coach that has ever been here. And he’s the winningest coach that’s ever coached the Houston Oilers. I don’t think he has to look back on anything. He’s been 7-9, 8-8 and 4-5 the last three years. Those are real good seasons for this team.”

And how many coaches, Wade said, would resign and walk away from the last three years of a contract worth $1.3 million with no settlement?

“He always felt like if you didn’t work for it, you didn’t deserve it,” Phillips said. “It shocked the players more than anyone else because of contracts and the way they are. It’s something unusual.”

But Bum’s gone now, and it’s time for Wade to carry on.

He knows this is his chance, maybe his only chance, to impress someone who might be in need of another coach named Phillips some day.

“It does help me,” he said. “It gets my name out. I’ve got a chance, I think, one of these days, to be a head coach in this league. . . . I’m the head coach now and I’m going to do the things that I want, for four games anyway. I’m certainly not going to second-guess the last regime. My mother’s on my side.”

Wade, of course, will always be the son of Bum. And that’s OK by him. Wade Phillips almost has as many pairs of boots as his father.

“I don’t have anything but boots,” Wade said. “But I’m more of a drug-store cowboy. Bum’s a real cowboy.”