1. Bum Phillips served as head coach in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers from 1975 to 1980 and the New Orleans Saints from 1981 to 1985.
18 Facts About Bum Phillips
1. 2.
Bum Phillips was the head coach at Texas Western University for one season in 1962.
3.
Bum Phillips was promoted to head coach of the Oilers on January 25,1975, and he served in that capacity through 1980.
4.
Bum Phillips was fired on New Year's Eve 1980 by Oilers owner Bud Adams.
5.
Bum Phillips was fired because he failed to report a player's in season recreational drug use to Adams until after the season ended.
6.
Bum Phillips offered to resign prior to the 1985 season after Tom Benson purchased the Saints for $70 million from Mecom, but Benson asked him to stay on to help his transition into NFL ownership.
7.
Bum Phillips's son, Wade Phillips, would take over the coaching reins on an interim basis for the remaining four games of the 1985 season.
8.
Bum Phillips finished his NFL head coaching career with 82 wins, the same number of wins as his son.
9.
Bum Phillips later worked as a football color analyst for television and Oilers radio broadcasts.
10.
Bum Phillips subsequently retired to his horse ranch in Goliad, Texas.
11.
Bum Phillips's son, Wade Phillips, has held assistant and head coaching jobs in the NFL and was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from February 2007 to November 2010.
12.
Bum Phillips died at his ranch in Goliad, Texas, on October 18,2013, at the age of 90.
13.
Bum Phillips was survived by his second wife, Debbie, and six children from his first marriage along with almost two dozen grandchildren.
14.
In honor of Bum Phillips coaching both Nederland and Port Neches-Groves High Schools, the rivalry game between his two favorite schools is named the Bum Phillips Bowl.
15.
Bum Phillips was known for his trademark Stetson cowboy hat on the sidelines, except when the Oilers played in the Astrodome or other domed stadiums.
16.
Bum Phillips stated that his mother taught him not to wear a hat indoors; his former boss Bear Bryant similarly refused to wear his trademark houndstooth hat during indoor games.
17.
Bum Phillips wore his cowboy hat with blue jeans and a button down shirt, in contrast to Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry who wore a suit and tie with his trademark fedora.
18.
Besides his trademark cowboy hat, Bum Phillips is known for his colorful quotes, such that Sports Illustrated noted that Wikipedia had a whole section of his page dedicated to these quips.