New Vikings OC Wes Phillips Will Be Key in Implementing Kevin O'Connell's Vision

Phillips will be O'Connell's right-hand man in Minnesota, just like O'Connell was Sean McVay's No. 2 in LA.

Wes Phillips needed a haircut for this press conference. 

So, just a couple days after moving to Minnesota, the Vikings' new offensive coordinator found his way to a barbershop in the area and couldn't help but overhear some of the conversations being had. Everyone was talking about his new team.

"Excited to be in a football town, a football state, a football region," Phillips said. "I had to get a haircut because they told me I had a press conference, so I’m sitting there waiting for a haircut, and people getting haircuts and the people cutting the hair, all they’re talking about is the Minnesota Vikings. I didn’t get as much of that in LA. There's a lot of things to do there."

Phillips, along with quarterbacks coach Chris O'Hara, followed Kevin O'Connell to Minnesota when the Rams' former OC became the Vikings' head coach. Now the first-time OC will serve as O'Connell's top lieutenant — in a role similar to the one O'Connell held on Sean McVay's staff over the past two seasons.

He won't call the plays, but Phillips will be a huge part of implementing the Vikings' offensive scheme, installing and teaching plays and concepts, developing game plans, and much more.

"Obviously the play-calling aspect is extremely important on gameday, but when you're in this thing you realize the collaboration it takes to get those plays on the page and to detail out what's important from week to week based on the scheme, the defense, the plays that you're trying to execute," Phillips said. "So there's a lot of things that kind of lead up to the final product there where Kevin will be calling the plays."

Phillips, 43, is entering his 17th year as an NFL coach. The son of Wade Phillips and grandson of Bum Phillips, he comes from an impressive legacy. And while Phillips did get his start in the league on his father's Cowboys staff in 2007, he worked his way up to this point on a different side of the ball than the one his family has been known for. Across stints in Dallas, Washington, and LA, he's been a quality control coach, an assistant offensive line coach, a tight ends coach, and a passing game coordinator. Prior to that, he was a QB coach at the college level.

"[He's] a really, really good mind from a standpoint of how we want to throw the football and marry it with the running game on early downs, but more importantly how to go score," O'Connell said. "He's been a huge part of building every offensive red zone plan I've had working alongside him over the past few years both in Los Angeles and in Washington. I've seen him develop and take good players and make them great and take young players and turn them into really high quality starting caliber players when not a lot of people in the building may have thought that was possible. What does that tell me? He can develop. He can teach. He can lead. He can obviously motivate.

"From a scheme standpoint, there's nobody else I could've brought with me that would be more aligned with how I see the game. [Wes] can be an extension of me up in front of the offensive unit and a guy that I trust to not only lead our group, but help me lead on the offensive side with the rest of our coaches."

Phillips touched on several interesting topics during his first Vikings presser on Thursday. Here are some of the quotes that stood out.

On how coaching has changed over the years:

"There was a time when you could probably walk up and kick a player in the butt, and that was accepted. I’m glad we’ve changed in some of those aspects. There was coaching from fear in a lot of ways, but really, even my family, my grandfather, was like, ‘I’d rather have a guy who wants to do it than who was scared and scared of me and try to make him do it.’ Really, all we’re trying to get these guys to understand is why we want to do it, and if they understand the ‘why’ most of the time that means they’re going to be performing better. ... the days of getting on them and trying to coach from fear is not going to work anymore. These are grown men that have earned the respect, that have earned the right to be here."

On the importance of the running game in the modern NFL:

“I think any coordinator who's good will tell you the running game is important, but I would say that winning the game is most important. You're going to play some teams who, scheme-wise, they make it very difficult to run based on their personnel and their scheme. A guy that comes to mind is Todd Bowles. Always had one of the best defenses against the run and you see a lot of people's press conferences after they play Todd Bowles' defense, and they say, 'Why did you abandon the run, why did you abandon the run?' It's like a broken record. Well there's a reason for that. They're daring you to throw it a lot of times, and sometimes that's what you've got to do to win the game. So the running game is certainly important, and you always feel better about staying on track, not being in second and longs, third and longs where more of your playbook is available. So yes, the run game is critical, but in the end it's about winning the football game."

On coaching Justin Jefferson:

“As excited as you can be. Certainly one of, if not the best, receivers in the league. I came from a place with a really good one [in Cooper Kupp]. Extremely talented, extremely competitive, can win from aligned outside, aligned inside, really anywhere on the field. Has speed and transition. Can’t say enough about him; really excited to work with him."

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