Scoop Du JourWade Phillips pulls out of Buccaneers coach search
While the St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins wait to see which one of them former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher will pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers march toward finding their own new head coach.
For the Bucs, at least one name has dropped off the list: Houston Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. ESPN reports that Phillips was scheduled to interview with the team Friday but called them the day before to pull himself out of the race.
The St. Petersburg Times theorizes that Philips sensed that he wasn't the favorite for the job. "No one around the NFL seemed convinced Phillips was the clubhouse leader for Tampa Bay," the Times notes, "even though he's certainly qualified."
Other coaches that have been interviewed by the Bucs, the paper reports, have been seen as disciplinarians while Phillips "is seen as someone who ran a bit of a loose operation when he coached the Cowboys."
Other candidates for the job include four-time NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, former Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress, and Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.
