New Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell appears set to bring at least one more Rams assistant with him to Minnesota.
The Vikings are expected to name Wes Phillips, the former Rams tight ends coach, as the next offensive coordinator under O'Connell, who was introduced last week as Mike Zimmer's successor. According to multiple reports, Phillips will reunite with O'Connell in Minnesota for a third stop after they coached together in Washington and Los Angeles.
Phillips, 43, brings a family legacy as the son of Wade Phillips, who coached 42 seasons and made it to three Super Bowls, and grandson of Bum Phillips, the legendary Oilers and Saints head coach. But more importantly for O'Connell, Phillips is expected to help carry over a Rams culture to Minnesota that O'Connell cited as a reason that Los Angeles hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after beating the Bengals in the Super Bowl.
"It'll be very, very important for me," O'Connell said this month, "to make sure I have some folks with me who can help do that."
In addition to Phillips, the Vikings are adding quarterbacks coach Chris O'Hara — a former Rams assistant who worked closely with receivers last season — to the 2022 staff. The team also interviewed Rams running backs coach Thomas Brown and Chargers receivers coach Chris Beatty for offensive coordinator.
Phillips coached three seasons in Los Angeles, most recently as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator while working closely with O'Connell to orchestrate the Rams' air attack. He previously spent five seasons as Washington's tight ends coach, working alongside O'Connell for two seasons (2017-18) and then-Washington coordinator Sean McVay (2014-16) for three seasons.
Phillips left Washington to rejoin McVay and O'Connell in Los Angeles in 2019 as tight ends coach, eventually taking over as passing game coordinator last season. Rams tight end Kendall Blanton said O'Connell and Phillips were in lockstep as coaches.
"A lot like Wes," Blanton said of O'Connell this month. "He's a light in the room. A great personality, and a great coach."
Phillips got his start in 2007 working as a quality control/offensive assistant with his father, Wade, who was head coach in Dallas. Phillips stayed three more seasons in Dallas after Wade was fired in 2010. He worked with the offensive line and special teams before leading his first position, tight ends, in 2013.
Phillips would be the Vikings' seventh offensive coordinator in the past seven seasons, joining Norv Turner, Pat Shurmur, John DeFillipo, Kevin Stefanski, Gary Kubiak and Klint Kubiak. He would be the last major piece to the Vikings' new offensive staff, joining O'Hara, running backs coach and run game coordinator Curtis Modkins, tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Brian Angelichio, and offensive line coach Chris Kuper. The Vikings will also retain receivers coach Keenan McCardell.
But Phillips wouldn't be calling plays in Minnesota. O'Connell will be the seventh play-caller for Vikings quarterbacks in the same span. O'Connell will be the first Vikings head coach to call offensive plays since Brad Childress in 2010.
