The star search continues
Phillips, Lewis get to state their cases
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 9, 2006
Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson moved a step closer Monday toward completing his long list of interviews with head coaching prospects, but he still has a couple to go.
Thompson conducted an interview with San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in the morning and then flew to New York to interview New York Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. A National Football League source could not confirm that Lewis and Thompson had met Monday night, but it is thought they were scheduled to do so.
Lewis, 44, became eligible to be interviewed after the Giants lost to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in a wild-card playoff game. The Packers weren't the only team seeking an interview and it is thought Lewis met or was scheduled to meet with St. Louis, Detroit and possibly New Orleans.
In the meantime, the Packers will have to wait if they want to interview Pittsburgh assistant head coach / offensive line Russ Grimm because the Steelers advanced in the playoffs and are preparing for a game against the Indianapolis Colts this weekend.
Grimm is scheduled to interview with Detroit on Thursday and Green Bay on Friday, which means Thompson's hopes of having the interview process finished at midweek won't be fulfilled. Steelers coach Bill Cowher set aside the latter part of the week for Grimm to conduct interviews with teams interested in him, so he could focus on game preparation.
The Lions appear to be most interested in Grimm, who has been the Steelers' offensive line coach since 2001 and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2004.
Getting the Lewis interview completed was important so Thompson could meet with Packers defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Their interview is expected to take place today.
Bates has been on Thompson's list of candidates since Day 1 and has waited patiently for a chance to state his case. His agent, Gary O'Hagan, said Bates was preparing to meet with Thompson today and deliver a strong presentation.
"I can't imagine a guy being more ready," O'Hagan said.
Once Bates is interviewed, Thompson will have met with seven assistant coaches in his search to replace fired coach Mike Sherman.
In order of the interviews, Thompson met with Dallas assistant head coach / passing game coordinator Sean Payton, Cleveland offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon, Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy, Phillips and Lewis.
In Lewis, Thompson is examining a popular candidate in the field. He is expected to garner three or four interviews and could possibly be pursued for one or two openings.
Lewis was a first-round pick of the Packers in 1983 and played in Green Bay four seasons before it was discovered that he had spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal. Rather than risk a severe injury, Lewis retired and went immediately into coaching, starting out at the college level and graduating to a defensive backs position with the Steelers in 1995.
Five years later, he was promoted to defensive coordinator and in his four seasons at that position, the Steelers ranked 18th, third, fifth and 22nd. Cowher fired Lewis after the 2003 season and Giants coach Tom Coughlin hired him to be his defensive coordinator.
The Giants ranked 23rd in defense last year and fourth this year.
Lewis has been considered for other head coaching positions before, so it's not a surprise his name has come up. He was a finalist for the head coaching job at San Francisco and Atlanta in the NFL and Syracuse University and at his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh.
Earlier in the day, Thompson interviewed Phillips, the 58-year-old former interim head coach of the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons and former head coach of the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills. Phillips served on the Houston Oilers staff under his father, Bum Phillips, for whom Thompson played in the 1970s and early '80s. Wade Phillips and Thompson are considered close friends.
Phillips has been part of a number of winning teams, and posted a 48-42 record as a head coach, although he never won a playoff game. He has gone 31-22 as a head coach since 1998 and in his last six jobs, he has taken over teams that had non-winning seasons and made the playoffs in his first year.
In his interview with Thompson, he said he tried to communicate that he has had success turning around losing teams.
"The thing I have is head coaching experience, winning head coaching experience," Phillips told a Green Bay television station. "I tried to present the things I do well. I can win and the teams I've been with have won quickly."
Meanwhile, the Packers gave the Minnesota Vikings permission to talk to quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell about a job on new coach Brad Childress' staff. Bevell's contract expires Jan. 31 and he probably will be allowed to leave if he is offered the offensive coordinator's job.